Israeli general: 'Rational' Iranian leaders not pushing nuclear bomb April 25, 2012 -- Updated 1955 GMT (0355 HKT) Israel's top general says Iranian leaders are "very rational" He said he doesn't believe Iran has moved forward on nuclear weapon Sanctions have not rolled back Iran's nuclear program, Netanyahu says (CNN) -- Israel's top general said Iran is led by "very rational people" and doesn't appear poised to build a nuclear bomb that would threaten his nation. Iran "is going step by step to the place where it will be able to decide whether to manufacture a nuclear bomb," Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz told Israel's Haaretz newspaper in Wednesday editions. It hasn't yet decided whether to go the extra mile. The head of Israeli Defense Forces set a different tone than that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who suggested to CNN on Tuesday that time is running out for Western sanctions on Iran to have a meaningful effect on Tehran's nuclear program. But "they haven't rolled back the Iranian program -- or even stopped it -- by one iota." Iran maintains it is not planning to build a bomb. Iranian Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to Gantz, likely won't build a bomb if he believes his facilities are vulnerable to Israeli attack. "I think the Iranian leadership is composed of very rational people," Gantz told Haaretz. But I agree that such a capability, in the hands of Islamic fundamentalists who at particular moments could make different calculations, is dangerous. The chief of state said the military is preparing for all possible scenarios. "If the sanctions are going to work, they better work soon," Netanyahu said CNN.