(Image Credit: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Photo)

President Obama will hold his first news conference of the year at the White House Tuesday afternoon, as his Republican rivals face off in 10 "Super Tuesday" contests.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced the news conference via Twitter this morning. The White House has yet to announce the timing of the event.

Expect the president to field questions on the 2012 presidential race and the state of the economy.

On foreign policy, growing concern about Iran's suspected nuclear program and the possibility of an Israeli military strike on Iran will also be likely topics. The news conference comes after the president's meeting at the White House today with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The ongoing violence in Syria will also be on the list.

This will not be the first time the president has sought to counter-program the Republican primaries. On the same day as the Michigan primary last Tuesday, the president gave a rousing speech touting his bailout of the auto industry and attacking Republicans who opposed the move.

This will be the president's first solo news conference since November during the APEC summit in Hawaii and his first such event at the White House since October.