Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met with Israeli Defense Minister Benjamin "Benny" Gatz on Thursday to discuss concerns over Iran.
The meeting comes as talks in Vienna to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal begin to falter. Meanwhile, reports emerged that the two defense chiefs were going to discuss Iran-focused military exercises.
A senior U.S. official told Reuters that Pentagon officials briefed White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Oct. 25 about military options to prevent Iran from producing nuclear weapons.
Pentagon press secretary John Kirby declined to address the report on Thursday, but said the defense chiefs would discuss Iran and its continued destabilizing activities.
"I will tell you this, we routinely conduct exercises and training with our Israeli counterparts and I have nothing to announce to or speak to or point to or speculate about today," Austin said.
The meeting comes as indirect talks on rejoining the deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, hit a snag with very little progress being made during negotiations in Vienna.
Iran has already restarted production of enriching uranium, amassing a small stockpile of the material of at least 60 percent purity. Uranium needs to be enriched to 90 percent purity for nuclear weapons development.
Nuclear negotiations were expected to resume Thursday, and U.S. special envoy for Iran Robert Malley is set to join them over the weekend.
In another sign that the U.S. is preparing for a possible fallout as nuclear talks continue, the U.S. is sending a delegation to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a close trading partner of Iran, to discuss possible economic sanctions as nuclear talks hit a snag, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Officials told the newspaper that the administration could tighten oversight on the trade flow between the two countries by sanctioning banks and other entities that are not complying with existing sanctions. This could also be followed by sanctions on other trading partners.