TEHRAN — The office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the situation in Syria and the Iranian nuclear dossier was focus of a telephone conversation between Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Putin and Netanyahu “discussed current topics of the international agenda and some issues of the bilateral relations in the context of the Russian president’s visit to the occupied territories scheduled for January 2020,” it said, according to TASS.

According to the Kremlin press service, the conversation was initiated by the Israeli side.

Earlier this month, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz was quoted as saying Israel was considering military action against Iran for its nuclear program, which is under the strict monitoring of the UN’s nuclear watchdog.

“Is bombing Iran an option that Israel is considering?” Katz was asked by Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper.

“Yes, it is an option. We will not allow Iran to produce or obtain nuclear weapons. If it were the last possible way to stop this, we would act militarily,” Katz replied.

Meanwhile, Iran has on numerous occasions declared that its nuclear program is for civilian purposes and that it does not plan to obtain nuclear weapons.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has also issued a fatwa saying production, stockpiling and use of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, is haram (religiously forbidden).

Also, in 2015, Iran signed a nuclear agreement with six world powers that limited its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief. Despite the fact that Tehran fulfilled its obligations under the deal, officially known as the JCPOA, the United States withdrew from the JCPOA and put maximum pressure on the Islamic Republic.

MH/PA