Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has highlighted shared threats, including from Iran in a tweet after a phone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid.

Blinken wrote that they had discussed “common challenges, including the risks of further Russian aggression against Ukraine and threats posed by Iran.” Around one-fifth of Israelis are native Russian-speakers.

The United States administration’s relationship with Israel has been strained by Washington’s efforts to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, the JCPOA (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action), which Israel opposed.

Blinken’s phone call with Lapid came hours after a phone conversation with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss “strengthening the US-Palestinian relationship”, strained during the previous administration of President Donald Trump.

Earlier on Monday, Israeli President Isaac Herzog, visiting Abu Dhabi, said the Middle East had a choice of two futures: one of hope and peace, and “what Iran is doing, which is destabilizing the region and using its proxies to employ terror”.

During Herzog’s visit, the United Arab Emirates intercepted a ballistic missile fired by Yemeni fighters, the third such attack in a month. Ansar Allah, or the Houthis, confirmed the strike as a response to the UAE role in the Yemen war. The UAE is among several countries that accuse Iran of ‘interference’ in Yemen by supporting the Houthis against Saudi Arabia and the UAE.