The White House is denying that President Barack Obama extended an invitation to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu following the expected finalization of nuclear deal with Iran at the end of this month.
Reports surfaced earlier this week that Obama had invited Netanyahu to the White House for a mid-July meeting about Iran and the nuclear deal the Western powers hope to finalize by June 30.
Netanyahu has been a fierce critic of the administration’s diplomacy with Iran, having warned that a deal would only embolden Tehran and endanger the Jewish state.
However, the White House denied late Wednesday that Netanyahu had been invited to any such meeting, according to comments provided to the Washington Free Beacon.
"No invitation has been extended, though certainly we’d expect that there will be occasion for the two leaders to meet in Washington at some point going forward," a White House official, who could not be named, told the Free Beacon in response to an inquiry.
It has been rumored for some time that the two leaders would meet to discuss Iran, but nothing has been formalized at this point.
Officials in the Israeli Prime Minster’s Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the White House’s stance.
However, Israeli officials have reportedly told regional publications that an invitation had not been extended at this time, according to YNet.