The Biden administration is concerned that a weakened Iran could build a nuclear weapon, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Sunday, adding that he had briefed President Donald Trump’s staff about the risk.

Iran has suffered a major blow to its regional influence following Israel’s attacks on its allies, Palestinian Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, followed by the fall of Tehran-aligned Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN.

“No wonder there are voices (in Iran) who are saying, “Hey, maybe we should go for (building) a nuclear weapon now … Maybe we should reconsider our nuclear doctrine,”’ Sullivan said.

Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful but has expanded uranium enrichment since Trump, in his first term in office in 2017-2021, pulled out of a deal with world powers that would have put limits on nuclear development. of the activity in exchange for the relief of sanctions.

Sullivan noted that it now exists “real risk” Iran to revise its position that “we are not aiming for a nuclear weapon.”

Trump has told Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, in recent communications that he is concerned about Iran achieving a nuclear capability, the paper said.

Marco Rubio and Mike Waltz, the nominees for secretary of state and national security adviser, have consistently taken hard lines on Iran.

Iran investigates arms smuggling to Hezbollah

The possibility of smuggling arms to Hezbollah via flights to Lebanon is meanwhile being considered by Tehran, as the land routes it used in the past to Syria are no longer feasible.

With the resumption of flights between Tehran and Beirut, the Islamic Republic may seek to turn the Lebanese capital into a center for its traditions, according to a Times report on Monday, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.

The West is “concerned that Iran has lost [τη Δαμασκό ως] its ‘airport’ in the region for arms smuggling and is now trying to turn Beirut airport into its new logistics hub, as it did in Syria,” the source said.

Note that this “could lead to next escalation”.

Recently, the new rebel regime in Syria, led by the jihadist leader Ahmed al-Sara, announced its decision to prevent the Iranians from flying over Syrian skies.