Iran focus of Israel-U.S. meeting

JERUSALEM, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns met this week with Israeli Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz to discuss the possible threat posed by Iran.

Prior to leading his team of officials into his meeting with Burns, Mofaz told reporters Iran recently armed Lebanese militants with longer-range missiles as part of a growing arms-smuggling trade in the region, The Jerusalem Post reported Saturday.

Another major topic of discussion between the U.S. and Israeli teams during Thursday's meeting was Hezbollah and its growing influence throughout the Middle East.

After agreeing to create two subgroups to share intelligence on the potential threat from Iran and to encourage support of sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation, the two sides released a joint statement.

"The U.S. and Israeli teams discussed Iran's destabilizing regional impact," the statement said.

"They shared their latest assessments of Iran's nuclear program and diplomatic efforts underway to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons."

The Post said the two teams also agreed to meet again in Israel in January.