President Obama has appeared to repudiate a statement by Vice President Joe Biden that the US wouldn’t prevent Israel from attacking Iran. In an interview earlier this week, Biden said Israel has the “sovereign right” to attack Iran if it decides to. But on Tuesday, Obama said Israel does not have US backing for an attack.

CNN Correspondent Ed Henry: “Are you giving Israel a green light?”

President Obama: “Absolutely not. And I think it’s very important that I’m as clear as I can be and our administration is as consistent as we can be on this issue. I think Vice President Biden stated a categorical fact, which is, we can’t dictate to other countries what their security interests are. What is also true is it is the policy of the United States to try to resolve the issue of Iran’s nuclear capabilities in a peaceful way through diplomatic channels.”