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JERUSALEM, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Plenty of experts have offered their views over the years on whether the United States is prepared to launch a military attack against Iran's nuclear program, but when a former head of the CIA says that is an increasingly likely possibility, it is arguably time to sit up and take note.

Michael Hayden was sworn in as the 20th director of the Central Intelligence Agency On May 31, 2006, at a time when Iran was very much a key focus for the American overseas intelligence arm.

He offered his assessment of the Iranian nuclear threat on Sunday's edition of "State of the Union", a news chat show on the American television network CNN.

"Iran doesn't seem to be paying much attention to the sanctions. As far as we know, they are still trying to get nuclear capability. If it should, is there any alternative to taking out their facilities?" the show's anchor Candy Crowley asked Hayden.

"It seems inexorable, doesn't it? We engage. They continue to move forward. We vote for sanctions. They continue to move forward. We try to deter, to dissuade. They continue to move forward," the retired Air Force general replied.

In his opinion, Tehran does have a secret nuclear weapons program, despite its denials. He maintains that Iran "will get itself to that step right below a nuclear weapon, that permanent breakout stage, so the needle isn't quite in the red for the international community."

That, Hayden contends, "will be ... >>>