US stops updating Israel about developments in Iran nuclear talks: Report

Washington has stopped updating Tel Aviv about developments in negotiations between the P5+1 group of countries and Iran over Tehran’s nuclear energy program, according to a report by Israel's Channel 2.

The channel reported on Sunday that the Obama administration made the move in response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to accept an invitation by US House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner to address Congress on Iran next month without coordinating with the White House.

According to the report, the lead US negotiator with Iran, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Wendy Sherman, has stated she will no longer be updating Israelis about the ongoing negotiations.

US National Security Advisor Susan Rice has also reportedly announced she is cutting ties with Yossi Cohen, Netanyahu's national security adviser.

However, an unnamed Netanyahu regime official told an Israeli English newspaper that the report is not correct.

The official claimed that US and Israeli officials met last week in Munich, Germany, and discussed the Iranian nuclear issue and documents were exchanged between them, adding that Cohen will soon visit Washington.

Earlier this month, Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said Boehner misled Netanyahu by telling him that both Republicans and Democrats would support his speech about Iran before Congress.

Hanegbi acknowledged during an interview with 102 FM Tel Aviv Radio on February 6 that Democratic lawmakers had been particularly “pained” by Boehner’s invitation to Netanyahu to address the US Congress on Iran.

Hours after US President Barack Obama threatened to veto any Iran sanctions bill during his State of the Union address on January 20, Boehner invited Netanyahu to Congress to speak about the “threat” of Iran.

The invitation to address the new Republican-dominated Congress was extended without consultation with the White House or the State Department.

Netanyahu’s speech is scheduled for March 3, only two weeks before the Israeli premier stands for reelection on March 17.

An unnamed senior Obama administration official reportedly said that Netanyahu “spat in our face” by accepting an invitation to address Congress without coordinating with Obama.

“There are things you simply don’t do. He spat in our face publicly and that’s no way to behave,” he told Israel’s Haaretz newspaper late last month.

A number of Democrats in Congress have criticized Boehner for his unilateral invitation saying they will not attend Netanyahu's show.

Iran and the P5+1 states - the US, France, Britain, Russia, China and Germany - are in talks to narrow their differences and pave the way for a final, long-term accord aimed at putting an end to the 12-year-old dispute over Tehran’s nuclear energy program.

The scale of Iran’s uranium enrichment and the timetable for the lifting of anti-Iran sanctions are seen as major sticking points in the talks.

The illegal sanctions on Iran have been imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Tehran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear program.

Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

Meanwhile, the Israeli regime is widely believed to be the sole possessor of a nuclear arsenal in the Middle East with more than 200 undeclared nuclear warheads.

Tel Aviv has rejected global calls to join the nuclear NPT and does not allow international inspectors to observe its controversial nuclear program. 

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