White House Denies Inviting Bibi for Talks After Iran Deadline
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
An Israeli newspaper said President Barack Obama has invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for talks in Washington next month after a deadline for reaching a nuclear agreement with Iran.
But the White House denied the report.
A spokesman for Netanyahu’s office had no immediate official comment on the report. Officials speaking on condition of anonymity, however, told reporters that no such invitation had been received.
The mass-circulation Yedioth Ahronoth daily quoted unidentified sources at the State Department as saying Obama had invited Netanyahu for talks in mid-July, after a June 30 deadline for a major powers deal with Iran on its nuclear program.
Netanyahu has criticized the emerging deal Israel fears will allow Iran the means of making a bomb, while also granting it sanctions relief that could help bankroll its guerrilla allies in the region.
Iran says its nuclear projects are peaceful.
