WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu appear to have landed in a place neither wanted to be: squabbling about Iran, in public, ahead of a U.S. presidential election.

For the Democratic U.S. president, the dispute risks alienating supporters of Israel in a campaign in which Republican nominee Mitt Romney is eager to drive a wedge between Obama and Jewish voters, and to portray the president as weak.

WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) – The United States said on
Friday it is designating the Pakistan-based Haqqani network a
terrorist organization, triggering sanctions against a group
American officials blame for high-profile attacks in
Afghanistan, and which they say has ties to the Pakistani state.

The decision to blacklist the Haqqani network, announced by
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a trip to Russia,
could heighten tensions between Washington and Islamabad and
have far-reaching implications for any reconciliation process in
Afghanistan.

JERUSALEM, Aug 1 (Reuters) – Israel warned visiting U.S.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday that time was
running out for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear dispute
with Iran, saying sanctions and tough talk over possible
military action were failing to sway Tehran.

Speculation is rampant over whether Israel will make a
military strike against Iran to halt a nuclear programme that
the West suspects is aimed at building an atomic bomb but which
Tehran says is entirely peaceful.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel told visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta on Wednesday that time was running out for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear dispute with Iran because sanctions and tough talk over possible military action were failing to sway Tehran.

Speculation is rampant over whether Israel will make a military strike against Iran to halt a nuclear program that the West suspects is aimed at building an atomic bomb but which Tehran says is entirely peaceful.

CAIRO, July 31 (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta said on Tuesday he was convinced Egypt’s new Islamist
president was committed to democratic reform, promising that
Washington would continue to provide the country’s army with
significant financial aid.

Speaking after meeting Mohamed Mursi, the president, in
Cairo for the first time as well as Field Marshal Hussein
Tantawi, Egypt’s top general, Panetta said he had used his
meeting with Mursi to discuss issues such as border security and
the threat from violent extremism.

CAIRO (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta denied media reports on Tuesday that he would discuss possible military attack plans against Iran during a brief visit to Israel.

Speaking at a press conference in Cairo shortly before departing for Israel, Panetta said he would be talking about “various contingencies”, but said specific military plans would not be put forward.

CAIRO (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta denied media reports on Tuesday that he would discuss possible military attack plans against Iran during a brief visit to Israel.

Speaking at a press conference in Cairo shortly before departing for Israel, Panetta said he would be talking about “various contingencies”, but said specific military plans would not be put forward.

CAIRO (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in Cairo on Tuesday to meet Egypt’s new Islamist president and its top general, seeking to balance security concerns with efforts to promote the country’s still wobbly transition to democracy.

It will be Panetta’s first opportunity to speak with President Mohamed Mursi of the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood.

TUNIS, July 30 (Reuters) – U.S. Defense Secretary Leon
Panetta said on Monday Western sanctions against Iran over its
nuclear programme were working even if the impact on
decision-making in Tehran was not obvious at the moment.

Panetta made his comments ahead of a visit this week to
Israel, which has said the sanctions had failed to stop Iran’s
nuclear programme and warned that time was running out before
Iran achieves a “zone of immunity” in which Israeli bombs cannot
penetrate deeply buried uranium enrichment facilities.

TUNIS (Reuters) – Attacks on the Syrian city of Aleppo are putting the nail in the coffin of President Bashar al-Assad’s government, showing he lacks the legitimacy to rule, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Sunday.

Panetta, speaking at the start of a weeklong trip to the Middle East and North Africa, did not offer any new steps the United States might take even as he renewed calls for a united international effort “to bring the Assad regime down.”