The Israeli government was ordered by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Thursday to draft plans to deal with the possibility of a nuclear attack by Iran.

Quiet preparations are being made to address the risk presented by the Islamic Republic's continued nuclear development activities, which have accelerated in recent weeks despite sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

The U.S. and Israel are convinced that Iran is building an atomic bomb, despite President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's protestations that his nation's nuclear programs are being carried out solely for domestic energy use.