Germany's Chancellor says dialogue between Washington and Tehran would be useless as long as Iran is hell-bent on destroying Israel.

Wishing Barack Obama "the best of luck" ahead of his inauguration on Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel said it could "makes sense" for the incoming US administration to seek diplomatic relations with Iran.

She, however, said Germany was skeptical on Obama's chances of success, AFP reported.

"On the European Union side we have held talks with Iran on multiple occasions, but unfortunately very unsuccessfully over a long period of time," Merkel said.

The US, Israel and their European allies -- Britain, France and Germany -- accuse Iran of developing a military nuclear program, while the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) signatory denies the charges.

Officials in Tehran contend that the only aim of their program is the civilian applications of the technology.

"I think it will remain clear that so long as Iran keeps its nuclear program so opaque, and as long as it wants to destroy Israel, there will of course be points when we will say that on this basis we cannot come together," Merkel added.

Barack Obama, who will become the 44th US president Tuesday, has vowed to engage Iran in "aggressive diplomacy" to resolve the controversy surrounding the Iranian program.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for his severe criticism of Israeli acts against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, has been accused of harboring ill intentions against Israel.

Tehran, however, insists it does not intend to wage war against any nation. In July, the Iranian president himself confirmed that the country "has no plans to attack Israel."

Under its claim that President Ahmadinejad is anti-Semitic, Tel Aviv insists Iran has plans to "wipe Israel off the map" and has threatened to militarily take out Iran's nuclear infrastructure.

In September, the Iranian president told CNN's Larry King that as a result of its crimes, Israel would disappear in the same way as apartheid South Africa and the Soviet Union.

The recent Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, launched on December 27, has sparked widespread global condemnation because of the massive number of civilian casualties in the densely-populated coastal sliver.

MD/HGH