Obama: 'Loose talk' plays into Iran's hands

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a display of unity between allies who often disagree, President Barack Obama assured Israel's visiting leader today that the United States "will always have Israel's back," and said the U.S. and Israel agree that diplomacy is the best way to resolve the crisis over potential Iranian nuclear weapons.

"Both the prime minister and I prefer to solve this diplomatically," Obama said as he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began several hours of White House consultations. The U.S. will consider all options in confronting what it sees as the unacceptable outcome of an Iranian bomb, Obama said.

"Israel and America stand together," Netanyahu said. He added that Israel is a sovereign nation with the right to defend itself, a pointed reference to the main question hanging over today's high-stakes meeting: Whether to try to stop an Iranian bomb by with a military attack in the next several months.

Israel must remain "the master of its fate," Netanyahu said.