U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that the United States will work with Israel to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power, signalling that a diplomatic resolution to the current crisis is still possible.

U.S. President Barack Obama. (Photo: Getty Images)

When asked if Israel is determined to attack Iran, Obama said he didn't think that Israel has made such a decision, adding that the United States and Israel will work "in lockstep" on dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue. "I will say that we have closer military and intelligence consultation between our two countries than we've ever had," he said.

The president emphasized his goal in resolving the nuclear standoff diplomatically, though repeating that he was not taking any options off the table.

"We're going to do everything we can to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and creating an arms race -- a nuclear arms race -- in a volatile region," Obama said.

When asked about the possibility of Iran launching a retaliatory attack on the U.S. soil, Obama said he didn't see "any evidence that they have those intentions or capabilities right now."

Obama made the remarks after media reports revealed Thursday Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's suspicion on Israel's attack toward Iran this spring.

Panetta believed there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June before Iran enters a "zone of immunity" to commence building a nuclear bomb, according to an article written by the Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.

The article said Obama and Panetta had cautioned the Israelis that Washington opposes an attack, citing that it would derail an increasingly successful international economic sanctions program and other non-military efforts to stop Iran from crossing the nuclear threshold.

While believing that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not made a final decision on attacking Iran, senior U.S. officials are still worried about "the guns of spring -- and the unintended consequences," the article added.

The U.S.-led West and Iran have been in a standoff over the latter's nuclear program since last November, when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) released a report that Iran is trying to build a nuclear weapons capacity. Iran has strongly dismissed the claims, stressing its nuclear program is solely for peaceful use of nuclear energy despite the West's suspicion that it is an attempt to acquire nuclear weapons.

The standoff escalated in December 2011, when Iran held large-scale military exercises in the Gulf and threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic route in transferring one-fifth of oil traded worldwide, to protest the Western sanctions over its nuclear program.

Washington warned Tehran against crossing the red lines to block Strait of Hormuz and to acquire a nuclear weapon, which will provoke dire consequences including a military strike. Washington has also been rallying its allies in imposing crippling sanctions on Iran, including a ban on its export of crude oil and financial transactions with Iran by foreign countries.

On Dec. 31, Obama signed a bill on imposing new sanctions on Iran, targeting foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank, the main conduit for its oil revenues. In late January, the European Union (EU) imposed further sanctions against Iran's oil exports as well as its central bank, following the U.S. steps.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency director David Petraeus, who testified at a Jan. 31 Senate hearing, said the new sanctions on Iran "have been biting much, much more in recent weeks," though it remained to be seen whether they would force Iran to change its course on its nuclear program.

VietNamNet/Xinhuanet