Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak has held Washington talks with his US counterpart Robert Gates on the joint development of a missile interception system, his office said on Wednesday.
On his first trip since taking office in June, Barak and Gates also discussed regional issues on Tuesday, including Iran's controversial nuclear programme, which Israel and the United States say is cover for the development an atomic weapon, something Iran strongly denies.
The two men discussed the continuing cooperation in the development of a "multi-layered missile interception system," seen as a measure to counter any Iranian attack on the Jewish state, Barak's office said in a statement.
Israel has already successfully tested and deployed its Arrow anti-missile system, also jointly developed with its key ally, which is said to be able to deflect most missile strikes against the Jewish state.
During his six-day visit, the former Israeli chief of staff is also scheduled to meet Vice President Dick Cheney and National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley as well as UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Israel, widely seen as the region's sole though undeclared nuclear power, considers Iran its chief enemy after repeated statements from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad that the Jewish state should be wiped off the map.
Barak was also expected to discuss the development of a joint US-Israeli system aimed at countering rocket fire of the sort regularly directed at Israel by Palestinian militants based in the Gaza Strip and also used by the Shiite militants of Hezbollah during last year's war in Lebanon.
