The United States would use force to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon if all else fails, President Joe Biden warned on Wednesday.
The president was asked in an interview with Israel’s Channel 12 News whether he would use the military to stop Iran from becoming a nuclear power, and he responded, “If it’s the last resort, yes.”
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Biden landed in Israel on Wednesday as part of his first trip to the Middle East since he took office and amid his administration’s attempts to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal, from which the Trump administration withdrew in 2018.
There is a deal on the table that Iran has yet to accept, according to an administration official.
“I do want to add, though, Brianna, that we continue to want to see a nuclear deal that takes Iran’s nuclear ambitions, at least nuclear weapons ambition, off the table,” John Kirby, National Security Council coordinator, said in a CNN interview on Tuesday. “And there is a deal actually on the table, the onus is on Iran to accept it. Iran continues to isolate themselves from the international community.”
One major sticking point about a possible deal is the U.S.’s designation of the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization. There had been reports that the administration considered removing the designation in exchange for reentering the deal, but Biden affirmed in the interview that it wouldn’t happen.
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National security adviser Jake Sullivan accused Iran earlier this week of planning on sending weapons to Russia as it faces the toll of its war in Ukraine, which is in its fifth month. He said Iran is prepared to provide Russia with “several hundred UAVs, including weapons capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,” with training on the new drones expected to start any day now.
