White House denies rift with Israel

The White House denied reports that Mr Obama had rejected Mr Netanyahu's request to meet him in Washington next week. No such request was made or rejected, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

The unusual late-night announcement from the White House comes after Mr Netanyahu criticised what he called the world's failure to spell out what would provoke a US-led military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities.

Mr Netanyahu has urged the US to set "red lines" for Tehran, but the Obama administration has refused.

"Those in the international community who refuse to put red lines before Iran don't have a moral right to place a red light before Israel," Mr Netanyahu said yesterday.

His strong words risk antagonising Mr Obama in the midst of a closely fought a re-election campaign and could strain relations with the US, Israel's closest and most important ally. Relations between the two leaders have often been tense in the past.

Differences between the two counties over how to deal with Iran have boiled over into palpable tensions in recent weeks.

On Monday State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said "it is not useful" to set deadlines or declare "red lines".

She and White House press secretary Jay Carney also noted that Mr Obama has stated unequivocally that the United States will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear weapon.

Yesterday Ms Nuland said the Iranian situation was a matter of "intense discussion" with Israel. She declined to elaborate, saying she did not want to conduct diplomacy in public.

Some US officials have bristled at what they see is Mr Netanyahu's attempts to exploit the US campaign season to push Mr Obama into a difficult position.

The US officials stopped short of accusing Mr Netanyahu of taking sides in the election, but the Israeli Prime Minister has a long-time relationship with Republican candidate Mitt Romney and with Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate and top donor to the Republican Party.

Mr Romney, who visited Israel in July, has repeatedly criticised Mr Obama's handling of the nuclear issue.

Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu have long had a rocky relationship because of policy differences and a lack of personal chemistry. In one notable incident, a frustrated Mr Obama left a White House meeting with Mr Netanyahu to have dinner with his family.

US and Israeli officials confirmed yesterday that Mr Obama would not meet Mr Netanyahu when the Israeli leader goes to New York for the United Nations General Assembly later this month.

Both sides cited scheduling issues and rejected suggestions that Mr Netanyahu had been snubbed.