London ? A British newspaper reported Sunday that Israeli pilots were training to strike targets in Iran with low-yield nuclear weapons, but Israel swiftly denied the report and analysts expressed doubts about its reliability.

Citing unidentified Israeli military sources, The Sunday Times said the proposals drawn up in Israel involved using so-called “bunker-buster” nuclear weapons to attack nuclear facilities at three sites south of the Iranian capital.

Israel has never confirmed it has nuclear weapons, although the Jewish state is widely believed to possess a significant stockpile.

Iran says its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes like generating electricity.

The Sunday Times reported that Israeli military officials believed Iran could produce enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapons within two years, and the newspaper said Israeli pilots had made flights to the British colony of Gibraltar to train for the 2,000-mile round trip to the Iranian targets.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office declined to comment on the report. “We don’t respond to publications in The Sunday Times,” said spokeswoman Miri Eisin.

However Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev denied the report, saying: “if diplomacy succeeds, the problem can be solved peaceably.”