White House denies 'rift' with Israel over Iranian nuclear weapons Tehran insists its nuclear program is peaceful. Although the United States has accused Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapon capability under the cover of a peaceful program, the Obama administration has said it does not believe Iran has yet decided whether to build an atom bomb - if it in fact develops the ability to do so. Mr Netanyahu's strong words risk antagonising 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. On Tuesday, Ms Nuland said the Iranian situation is 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 Netanyahu's attempts to exploit the US campaign season to push Obama into a difficult position. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing a sensitive diplomatic matter. The US officials stopped short of accusing Netanyahu of taking sides in the election, but the Israeli prime minister has a longtime relationship with Republican candidate Mitt Romney and with Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate and top donor to the Republican Party. Romney, who visited Israel in July, has repeatedly criticised Obama's handling of the nuclear issue. Obama and Netanyahu have long had a rocky relationship because of policy differences and a lack of personal chemistry. In one notable incident, a frustrated Obama left a White House meeting with Netanyahu to go eat dinner with his family. US and Israeli officials confirmed on Tuesday that Obama would not meet with Netanyahu when the Israeli leader goes to New York for the UN General Assembly later this month. Both sides cited scheduling issues and rejected suggestions that Netanyahu had been snubbed.