President Barack Obama has said the US will work  "in lockstep" with Israel to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear power.

Obama told NBC in an interview from the White House on Sunday that Israel is "rightly" very concerned about Iran's nuclear program.

"I don't think that Israel has made a decision on what they need to do. I think they, like us, believe that Iran has to stand down on its nuclear weapons program," he said.

Obama also stressed his goal was to resolve the standoff diplomatically but said he was not taking any options off the table.

"We're going to do everything we can to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon and creating an arms race - a nuclear arms race - in a volatile region," he said.

Last week, Leon Panetta, the US defence secretary, would not dispute a report that he believes Israel may attack Iran this spring in an attempt to set back the Islamic Republic's nuclear program.

When asked about a potential attack by Iran on the US, Obama said: "We don't see any evidence that they have those intentions or capabilities right now."