Obama seeks 'comprehensive solution' on Iran nukes with phone call to Rouhani Israel's Netanyahu will see Obama on Monday in what promises to be a tense meeting Republicans warn against relaxing economic sanctions against Iran while it is presumed to be building a nuclear weapon A senior White House official assured reporters that the U.S. and Iran still 'need to build trust' before a deal can be struck Observers have noted that while Obama is negotiating with Hassan Rouhani, he refuses to deal with Republicans on a 2014 budget deal Iranian President Hassan Rouhani declined to meet with Obama during the UN General Assembly session this week, but spoke with him on the phone Friday President Barack Obama surprised reporters in the White House press briefing room Friday by saying he had spoken personally with Iranian president Hassan Rouhani about a resolution to his nation's nuclear standoff with the West. The call, a senior White House official said, was initiated when Iranian officials 'reached out' to the White House about a conversation between the two leaders. 'Just now I spoke on the phone with President Rouhani," Obama said, adding that he communicated 'my unique respect for the Iranian people.' 'We're mindful of all the challenges ahead,' he told reporters. The very fact that this was the first communication between an American and Iranian president since 1979 underscores the deep mistrust between our countries. 'But,' he added, 'it also indicates the prospect of moving beyond that difficult history. I do believe that there is a basis for a resolution. Ultimately, Obama said, he sees 'a new opportunity to make progress in Tehran,' and 'believe[s] we can reach a comprehensive solution.' The two men spoke through an interpreter, the White House said, boasting that Obama was able to offer a farewell in Farsi at the end of the call. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit the White House on Monday in what promises to be a tense meeting. In a conference call with reporters, a senior official said the U.S. would 'continue to keep the Israeli government updated on the process of this diplomatic effort,' and conceded that 'the Israeli government has every right to be skeptical of the Iranian government' given past 'inflammatory statements' Tel Aviv has seen coming out of Tehran, including 'threats towards Israel's existence.' The Drudge Report, an influential news clearinghouse website, pointed out after Obama spoke that he had, in the same press event, both announced his negotiation with Tehran over its nuclear program and insisted that he would refuse to negotiate with Republican lawmakers in Congress over a budget deal for the 2014 fiscal year. Obama met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March in Jerusalem, but relations will be strained by the White House's decision to talk directly with Iran, whose nuclear ambitions Israel sees as a existential threat Obama spoke minutes after Rouhani posted, and then deleted, a tweet breaking the news that the two had spoken on the phone Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif (R) shared laughs during a special meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany on Thursday The U.S., Israel and the United Nations have long suspected that Iran was developing a nuclear weapons system. But Obama insisted that since Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Hosseini Khamenei has 'issued a fatwa' against the use of nuclear weapons, America is willing to endorse Iran's right to use nuclear reactions to produce energy. The senior White House official said that the bulk of the Obama-Rouhani call focused on the nuclear issue, and that the two parties agreed their staffs should 'work expeditiously' to resolve the conflict. The official underscored the 'need to build trust' with Iran, and repeated Obama's call for 'meaningful, transparent, and reliable actions' from Rouhani. Rouhani on Friday referred to the U.S. as a 'great' nation, breaking decades of precedent. He was wrapping up his week-long UN trip and returning to Tehran. 'I want it to be the case that this trip will be a first step, and a beginning for better and constructive relations with countries of the world,' he told reporters, 'as well as a first step for a better relationship between the two great nations of Iran and the United States of America.' Obama, originally expected to address only the budget stalemate in Congress, stunned reporters by leading off with a description of his phone call with the Iranian leader Rouhani, outwardly less of a hard-liner than his predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has said he is willing to work with the U.S. government, but he may just be angling for relaxed economic sanctions Obama also asked Rouhani about the fate of three Americans: Saeed Abedini (L), Amir Mirzai Hekmati (C) and Robert Levinson (R). Abedini was imprisoned for setting up home-based Christian prayer meetings. Hekmati was sentenced to death for espionage. And Levinson, a former FBI agent, disappeared. 'The environment that has been created is quite different from the past,' Rouhani said in a markedly conciliatory tone, praising his foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for their historic meeting on Thursday. As a result, he said, 'the understanding between our peoples will grow and our governments will first stop the escalation of tensions, and then defuse those tensions.' Skeptics, however, have insisted that Iran is buying time as it completes a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel and throw the entire Middle East into a new level of turmoil. Iran is suffering under the weight of crushing economic sanctions, with only nations like Syria, Russia and North Korea willing to trade and infuse hard currency into the Islamic republic. Any bilateral agreement with America is likely to include the relaxation of those sanctions, providing new economic activity that could equip Iran to double-cross the U.S. and pursue its nuclear-weapons ambitions more quickly. Netanyahu warned the UN last year that Iran was nearing the point of no return beyond which it would be impossible to stop it from arming itself with weapons of mass destruction. House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Ed Royce, a California Republican, warned that Obama shouldn't let up the pressure on Iran. 'Our damaging sanctions have gotten Rouhani on the phone,' said Royce. We must increase the economic pressure until Iran stops its nuclear drive. Royce told Fox News this week that the U.S. should 'double down' on sanctions in order to avoid repeating mistakes the American government made with North Korea, which stalled for time while marching its weapons program forward. Rouhani addressed a high-level meeting on nuclear disarmament during the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, saying that his country sought only the peaceful use of nuclear technology for energy production Rep. Ed Royce (R) told Fox News this week that the U.S. should 'double down' on sanctions against Iran in order to avoid repeating the mistakes the American government made with North Korea The senior White House official added that Obama had inquired with Rouhani about the fate of two Americans being held in Iranian prisons, and a third man who has gone missing there. Saeed Abedini faces an eight-year prison sentence in Iran for setting up a network of home-based Christian prayer meetings. Amir Mirzai Hekmati awaits retrial for espionage after his death sentence was overturned in 2012. Both men are dual U.S.-Iranian citizens. Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent, went missing in 2007 on an island off the Iranian coast, while he was investigating cigarette counterfeiting there. Rouhani sent a tweet at 3:35 p.m. Friday - and later deleted it - saying that he had spoken with the U.S. president. Obama was expected to speak at 3:30 p.m., but was delayed for 11 minutes.