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Update: Israel denies spying on U.S., Iran nuclear talks

Xinhua, March 24, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon on Tuesday denied allegations that the Jewish state spied on closed-door talks between the United States and other world powers over a nuclear deal with Iran.

"The accusations are utterly false and Israel does not conduct espionage against the United States or Israel's other allies, " Ya'alon was quoted by the Ha'aretz daily as saying.

"We did not receive any official complaints from the United States over these charges," Ya'alon added.

The denial followed a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday that Israel acquired confidential information on the nuclear talks in order to help Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu build a case against the emerging deal.

Such allegations were intended to "stir a fight" between the United States and Israel, said Ya'alon.

Meanwhile, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman also rejected the claims, saying the report is "not correct" and "not accurate."

"Of course, Israel has various security interests and it's clear we have good intelligence services, but we don't spy on the United States," Lieberman told Army Radio in an interview Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal report said Israel's espionage included eavesdropping, obtaining information from confidential U.S. briefings, informants and diplomatic contacts in Europe.

The partnership between the long-time allies has been further strained recently when Netanyahu withdrew his support for a two-state solution with the Palestinians to court support in last week's elections.

Following the remark, Obama told Netanyahu that the White House would "reassess" aspects of its relationship with Israel.

The P5+1, namely the U.S., Russia, China, France, Britain, plus Germany, have been negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit Iran's nuclear program.

However, Netanyahu, a hardline Israeli leader towards Iran, believes that the potential deal "could threaten the survival of Israel," arguing that diplomatic maneuvers cannot stop Iran's alleged ambitions to get nuclear bombs. Endit