Former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen speaks at a Cyber Week at Tel Aviv University on June 24, 2019. Photo: Flash90.

The former head of Mossad on Tuesday poured cold water on Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s claim that Iran is closer to a nuclear weapon than ever, saying that the claim is “not true.”

Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported that Yossi Cohen, who presided over recent Israeli intelligence efforts to delay and/or halt Iran’s nuclear program, said at a conference hosted by the Jerusalem Post that Iran “isn’t even close to getting a military-grade nuclear weapon or nuclear capability.”

“This is because of continuing actions undertaken by ‘certain forces’ in the world,” he said, apparently in reference to Israel’s covert actions, which have included stealing documents, sabotage, and the assassination of Iran’s top nuclear scientist.

“The statement that Iran is in a better situation than it was in the past, in my opinion, based on the intelligence material that I read several months ago — this statement is not true,” Cohen asserted.

“The Iranians have less capability to do things than they did in the past,” he said. “They have less international support for what they’re doing.”

Cohen’s claims are in stark contrast to recent statements made by Prime Minister Bennett.

At a joint press conference with outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday, Bennett said, “In the last three years, the Iranians have made a giant leap forward in their nuclear enrichment capability. The Iranian nuclear program is at its most advanced stage.”

In a speech late last month to the UN General Assembly, Bennett warned that “Iran’s nuclear program has hit a watershed moment, and so has our tolerance. Words do not stop centrifuges from spinning.”