In this file photo taken on Aug 27, 2021, US President Joe Biden (right) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington DC. (NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP)
JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and US President Joe Biden held a phone conversation on Sunday over Iranian nuclear and other international issues, the prime minister's office said in a statement.
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful
The two leaders discussed "regional challenges" and in particular the "growing Iranian aggression, and the steps to block the Iranian nuclear program," it said.
Bennett congratulated Biden on the operation to kill the IS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, noting that "the world is now a safer place."
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The Israeli prime minister invited the US president and his wife to visit Israel, said the statement, adding that the two leaders agreed to be "in regular contact."
The phone conversation came as the international talks in Vienna on reviving the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, between world powers and Iran enters the final stretch.
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Earlier on Sunday, Bennett told his weekly cabinet meeting that "we are responsible for dealing with the Iranian nuclear program and, of course, we are monitoring the Vienna talks."
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.