US President Barack Obama said in an interview released Saturday that Iran was "a year or more away" from getting a nuclear bomb, in a clear sign of discord with Israel.

 

Obama also told the Associated Press that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had staked his credibility on dialogue and it was up to the United States to see if he had the political weight to follow through.

 

The president's timetable contrasts with that of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who has warned that Iran has been building faster centrifuges to enrich uranium which would allow it to jump across an Israeli red line within "weeks."

 

Obama, who spoke to Rouhani in a historic telephone call last week, and then hosted Netanyahu at the White House on Monday, also said it remained to be seen if the Iranian president could follow through on his initiative.

 

"He is not the only decision maker he is not even the ultimate decision maker," Obama told the AP.

 

The president was referring to the fact that final authority on the nuclear issue in Iran rests with Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.