"Biden, Netanyahu close to reaching agreement on scope of retaliation against Iran"

U.S. President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have reported close to reaching an agreement on the scope of retaliation against Iran, starting with a phone call on the 9th.

The U.S. government has been worried that another all-out war could break out in the Middle East if Israel hits certain targets, including nuclear facilities, in retaliation to Iran's ballistic missile attack on the 1st, and the leaders have coordinated the scope of the attack through a call.

"We're moving in the right direction," one U.S. official said after the call, according to Axios in the U.S., while another said Washington has become a little less nervous about Israel's plans since the call.

A senior Israeli official also said the difference between the United States and Israel over the nature and extent of the attack had narrowed.

Ahead of the two leaders' call, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan and Israeli strategy minister Ron Dermar detailed plans for retaliation by phone, and the leaders reaffirmed some understandings agreed by their aides, the sources said.

It also said Israel's security cabinet had a meeting the day before briefing on its plans to attack Iran and its agreement with the U.S. government, and that the cabinet would likely approve Netanyahu and Israel's Defense Minister Joab Gallant to decide when to attack.

The Times of Israel, a local daily in Israel, also reported that the two countries' opinions on retaliatory attacks against Iran appear to have been largely coordinated.