Asked if statements he has made in the past about his intention to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear arsenal meant he would order the use of force against Iran, the US president said “if that was a last resort, yes”.
US President Joe Biden said he would order the use of force, which he described as a last resort, to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons as he began his tour of the Middle East.
During an interview with an Israeli television station – which was taped before he left for the region but aired on Wednesday – Mr Biden also said his administration would keep the Revolutionary Guards on the list of “foreign terrorist organizations” drawn up by the State Department, even as it dashes the chances of saving the 2015 international agreement on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program.
Asked if statements he has made in the past about his intention to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear arsenal meant he would order the use of force against Iran, the US president said “if that was a last resort, yes”.
The Iranian government denies that it is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons and insists that the country’s nuclear energy program is purely for peaceful purposes.
Iran and six major powers (the US, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany) signed an agreement in 2015 that imposed restrictions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear energy program in exchange for the progressive lifting of economic sanctions against it.
But the agreement is in tatters after the unilateral withdrawal of the US in 2018, by the decision of then-President Donald Trump, who described its provisions as insufficient and reimposed suffocating economic sanctions on Tehran.
In retaliation, the Islamic Republic began progressively from 2019 to break its commitments under the agreement, to violate limits set on Iran’s nuclear energy program, while at the same time insisting on denying that it intends to acquire a nuclear arsenal.
Since April 2021, negotiations have been underway to save the agreement, formally the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), in vain so far.
In March, the parties appeared to be close to a compromise, but the talks broke down mainly because of Washington’s refusal to remove the Revolutionary Guards from the US State Department’s list of “foreign terrorist organizations”, arguing that it was outside the scope of the agreement .
Close talks were held in late June in Doha between the US and Iran, with the European Union acting as mediator, but there was “no progress”, according to Washington.
Asked whether he intends to keep the Revolutionary Guards on the “foreign terrorist organization” blacklist even if it means that the chances of
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