US, Israel resume 'strategic dialogue' on Iran's nukes

The United States and Israel yesterday resumed a "strategic dialogue" over Iran's nuclear programme for the first time since US President Barack Obama assumed office, officials said.
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg met with Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to pick up the regular consultations, which were held during the Bush administration.
"During this meeting, the first at this level since the (2009) beginning of President Barack Obama's administration, strategic issues of prime importance will be discussed," foreign ministry spokesman Ashley Perry told AFP.
Another Israeli official said the talks would focus primarily on Iran's nuclear programme, which Israel considers its greatest strategic threat.
A US official described the consultations as a "regularly scheduled annual dialogue" covering a range of regional and security issues not tied to specific events.
The talks are part of "an ongoing process that the United States values as a meaningful tool to discuss a wide range of issues that concern both of our countries," the State Department said.
The meeting came during a visit to the United States by Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak in which he was to meet with several top US officials.
Israel has called for tough international sanctions on Iran's energy sector to persuade Tehran to halt its nuclear enrichment programme, which Israel and the West suspect is aimed at creating an atomic weapon.
Iran has insisted the programme is purely for civilian purposes.
Israel, the region's sole if undeclared nuclear power, has viewed Iran as its greatest threat because of the nuclear issue and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's repeated predictions of the Jewish state's demise.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she hoped to see a UN Security Council resolution on new sanctions against Iran over its contested nuclear programme in the "next 30 to 60 days."
The chief US diplomat said President Barack Obama's administration has gained greater international support for tougher action against Iran because of its offer to engage rather than isolate the Islamic Republic.