Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed his ministers not to give any interview on Iran without explicit permission to do so, Ynet news reported Sunday.

Over the past six month, Israeli politicians have on several occasions stated that Israel might need to conduct a military operation to halt Iran's nuclear program.

Netanyahu is scheduled to meet U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington on March 5, with the current tensions with Iran expected to be atop their talks.

Both the United States and Israel believe that Iran is using its nuclear program to clandestinely produce nuclear weapons. Netanyahu has been touting the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report, which, in his words, contains "biting proof" that " Iran is continuing to make rapid progress in its nuclear program without let-up, while defying and grossly ignoring the decisions of the international community."

Iran, on the other hand, argues that its nuclear program is only intended to produce electricity.

"The United States is exerting pressure on Israel not to provoke any activity," Prof. Benny Miller of the University of Haifa told Xinhua Sunday.

"Definitely before the meeting with the U.S. president, it makes sense that there won't be any statement issued by Israeli ministers, because the U.S. is worried about rising tensions with Iran in the Gulf, so obviously all these statements by Israeli leaders might increase the tension," Miller said.

COORDINATION

For Israel, the standoff with Iran is existential, with leaders of the Jewish state referring to numerous statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calling for Israel to be "wiped of the map." That rhetoric, combined with continuous development of Iranian long-range missiles believed to have the capability to strike Israel, has led to Iran being perceived as Israel's greatest strategic rival.

Miller argued that from an Israeli perspective it is good to maintain some pressure on Iran to make it know that there is a potential military option, thus giving it a greater incentive to halt the nuclear program.

Over the last months, Washington has also seen fast-rising tensions with Tehran in what can best be described as regional power struggle. The current focal point between the two are the Strait of Hormuz, through which an estimated 40 percent of oil produced globally passes from the United States' allies on the southern side of the Gulf.

Iran has threatened to close the strategic waterway, but so far, Washington has called the Iranian bluff and Iran backed down.

SANCTIONS

The United States and the European Union member states recently imposed a ban on purchases of Iranian oil as a way to push Iran to give up its nuclear program.

Some analysts argue that the Israeli officials' callings for a military option on Iran have given the United States an additional argument to present to the Europeans about the need to impose tougher sanctions, otherwise "there would be no telling what the Israelis might do."

However, now that the sanctions are in place, Miller said that the Americans want to see them work "without any unnecessary provocations," so the need in American eyes for Israel to tone down the rhetoric.

"The balance is between, on the one hand, not to provoke Iran and not to create too much tension that might lead to a preemptive strike by Iran on Israel in this cycle of instability," Miller said.

"On the other hand, if the Iranians will be convinced that potentially there is a military option, they will have a greater incentive to comply with international resolutions," he added.

RED LINES

Dr. Jonathan Rynhold of Bar-Ilan University said that while Netanyahu's instructions could very well be a message to Americans, he has said this before, so it could just be a way to reign in the talk.

Asked about the likelihood that any of the ministers would actually listen, since Israeli politicians often have a tendency to disregard the party line in favor of personal promotion, Rynhold said that "I think they will listen for a short period and then it will be back to business as usual."

Netanyahu and his bureau are working with the White House to come up with a joint statement to be issued after the meeting, Ynet reported.

Despite that both sides have an interest to be seen as being on the same page, "the key thing that can lead to an agreement is if Israel gets a strong impression that the U.S. will act militarily to Iran becoming a nuclear power," Rynhold said.

"If Israel felt that would happen and that the Americans have a different time line -- simply because they can do things that Israel can't do -- then that might calm Israel," he added.

However, since these differences are going to be very difficult to bridge, they may end up saying something along the lines of that 'for the time being the sanction should be given time to kick in,'" Rynhold said.