Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will meet with US President George W. Bush today, seeking a post-election picture of US policy towards Iran and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

His visit comes in the wake of mid-term elections which have seen huge losses for Bush's Republican party.

"It is the right time... to exchange views with the president on what is expected in the coming two years," Olmert said before leaving Israel.

"The main subjects will be the situation in the Middle East and the Iranian issue," he told reporters, referring to Tehran's nuclear programme, which the US says could lead to the development of atomic weapons.

Israel, widely believed to be the only country in the Middle East to have nuclear weapons, fears a nuclear Iran would pose a threat to its existence.

Iran, whose president has called for the Jewish state's destruction, says it intends to use its uranium enrichment programme for electricity generation.

Olmert told reporters travelling with him that Iran needed to fear the consequences of not heeding international demands over its nuclear programme.

"If someone wants to reach a compromise with Iran he must understand that Iran won't be ready to do so unless it is afraid," Olmert said.

Iran said on Sunday its Revolutionary Guards would respond swiftly if Israel attacked the Islamic Republic.

"If Israel takes such a stupid step and attacks, the answer of Iran and its Revolutionary Guard will be rapid, firm and destructive and it will be given in a few seconds," Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told a news conference.

Last week's mid-term US election demonstrated the deep popular dissatisfaction with the war in Iraq, but also raised speculation in Israel that Bush could try to cap his two-term presidency with progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Olmert heaped praise on moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last week, calling him "upfront, decent and against terror," in an apparent signal that he would be the focus of any new US or Israeli peace efforts.

"The Palestinian issue is on the agenda. There is no way we can ignore it. We have to find the best partner," said Olmert.

But any moves on the Palestinian front would likely require a remake of the government headed by Hamas, an Islamist group that has rejected demands by the US and other peace brokers to change its position towards Israel.

Hamas and Abbas have been trying to form a unity government in hopes of easing Western sanctions against the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority which have crippled Palestine's economy.

In the Newsweek interview, Olmert said the recent inclusion of a far-right politician into his cabinet would not alter his position toward the Palestinians. "You can read my lips. I'm ready for territorial compromises, and I haven't changed my mind," he said.

Source: China Daily