Israel would attack nuclear facilities in Iran to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said on Monday in an interview with the news website Newsmax. "I think they would," Cheney said when asked if he thinks Israel would launch a preemptive attack against Iran. "I think Iran represents an existential threat [to Israel], and they'll do whatever they have to do to guarantee their survival and their security. Cheney said he did not want to base his prediction on discussions with Israeli leaders, saying, "I wouldnt want to do that, but he added, Ive had a number of conversations with a lot of Israeli officials, and I think they correctly perceive Iran as a basic threat. Cheney served as vice president of the U.S. for two terms under former U.S. President George W. Bush. During his terms, Cheney took a hard line stance against Iran, Iraq and Syria. In an interview with The New York Times last month, Cheney claimed he urged Bush to bomb a suspected nuclear reactor site in Syria in 2007, and that he was "a lone voice" for military action against the country. Cheney said other advisers were reluctant to strike the suspected nuclear site because of "the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq's stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction" prior to the 2003 invasion of that country. Israel is widely believed to have bombed the Syrian site, which the U.N. later said it believed to be the site of a nuclear reactor. The former U.S. vice president's comments on Iran echo previous statements made by both American and Israeli officials. In July, former CIA officer Robert Baer told a Los Angeles radio show that Israel would probably attack Iran in September. Referring to former Mossad chief Meir Dagan's warnings weeks earlier that an Israeli attack on Iran could lead to a regional war, Baer said Dagan's comments tell us with near certainty that [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is planning an attack, and in as much as I can guess when its going to be, its probably going to be in September, before a [U.N. General Assembly] vote on the Palestinian state. While Baer didnt reveal the sources behind his predictions of an attack on Iran, he referred to Dagans statements as no bluff. In June, Dagan warned that, An aerial attack against Irans nuclear reactors would be foolish." His remarks drew harsh criticism from Israeli politicians and journalists, who urged him to remain quiet about a possible strike. The former Mossad chief was quoted by The New York Times as saying that attacking Iran would mean regional war, and in that case you would have given Iran the best possible reason to continue the nuclear program. The regional challenge that Israel would face would be impossible, he added.