Israel welcomes the possible resumption of international talks on Iran's nuclear program, but it must prepare for the chance they will fail, Israel's national Security Council chief said Wednesday.

"I am very happy about the resumption of talks between Iran and the big powers, particularly if it results in Iran abandoning its nuclear program. But we must prepare for their failure," Yaakov Amidror told Israeli public radio.

U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday described the violence in Syria as "heartbreaking," but cautioned there was no simple solution, warning unilateral military action would be a mistake.

"What's happening in Syria is heartbreaking, and outrageous, and what you've seen is the international community mobilize against the Assad regime," Obama told a White House press conference.

Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday winds up a high-profile U.S. visit focused on Iran's perceived nuclear threat after warning that his country would not live in the "shadow of annihilation."

Netanyahu was to meet with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and visit the U.S. Congress a day after keenly-watched talks with President Barack Obama against the backdrop of speculation over a possible Israeli strike on Iran.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told U.S. President Barack Obama Monday that Israel must remain the "master of its fate" in a firm defense of his right to mount a unilateral strike on Iran.

Netanyahu and Obama met for delicate Oval Office talks taking place amid clear differences on the imminence of the nuclear threat from Iran and after weeks of speculation that Israel may mount go-it-alone military action.

The U.N. atomic agency's board will be looking for a way out of its impasse with Iran after two fruitless visits probing Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons drive, in a meeting starting Monday.

In a report sent to International Atomic Energy Agency member states on February 24, watchdog Chief Yukiya Amano said that after the two trips, on January 29-31 and February 20-21, "major differences" with Tehran remained.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in the U.S. capital late Sunday for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama on Iran's nuclear ambitions and how to deal with them.

The plane carrying the Israeli leader and his aides touched down at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at about 11:05 pm local time (0405 GMT Monday).

U.S. President Barack Obama urged Iran on Sunday to seek a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off, reaffirming his backing for key ally Israel and saying there was "too much loose talk of war."

Addressing a pro-Israeli lobby group in Washington alongside Israeli President Shimon Peres, Obama said international sanctions were working and cautioned against saber-rattling as Iran moves closer to a nuclear weapon.

Israel will take any decisions on Iran's nuclear activities as an "independent state," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said on Sunday, on the eve of a U.S.-Israel summit in Washington.

"Clearly, the United States is the biggest world power and the biggest and most important country that is a friend of Israel, but we are an independent state," Lieberman told Israeli public radio.

President Barack Obama called Saturday for the development of new technologies to help tackle America's energy problems and the scrapping of a $4-billion-dollar tax break for oil companies.

"We've got to develop new technology that will help us use new forms of energy," Obama said in his radio and Internet address.

U.S. President Barack Obama warned a premature attack on Iran would allow it to play the "victim" in the nuclear crisis, noting that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's "days are numbered," in remarks published Friday days before he meets Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

In some of his toughest comments yet on Tehran's nuclear drive, Obama also warned Israel and Iran should take seriously possible U.S. action against Iranian nuclear facilities if sanctions fail to stop the country's atomic ambitions.