U.S. president denies sovereignty of Palestine

U.S. President Barack Obama said in a telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the U.S. did not recognize Palestine as a sovereign state. He added that Palestine’s membership in the International Criminal Court would be an unconstructive development, TASS reports.

Obama and Netanyahu discussed progress in negotiations between the Group of Six (the five permanent members of the UNSC and Germany) and Iran. Obama assured that the U.S. government was committed to reaching a full-fledged agreement with Iran, ruling out Irab obtaining nuclear weapons.