U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and the two leaders were expected to discuss Israeli plans for a retaliatory strike on Iran, Paralel.Az reports quoting Reuters.

The call, under way late Wednesday morning U.S. time, was the leaders' first known chat since August and coincided with a sharp escalation of Israel's conflict with both Iran and the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah with no sign of an imminent ceasefire to end the conflict with Iran-backed Hamas in Gaza.

Netanyahu has promised that arch-foe Iran will pay for its missile attack, while Tehran has said any retaliation would be met with vast destruction, raising fears of a wider war in the oil-producing region which could draw in the United States.