Washington has not forgotten the threats made in 2005 by the former Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, against Israel calling “to wipe the country off the map”. Since then, the United States has constantly hindered Tehran in its desire to acquire nuclear weapons and to support its ally. In this sense, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, repeated on Monday that the Biden administration considered Iran to be the main threat to Israel and that it would never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.
The tone is set
“If Iran rejects the path of diplomacy, then, as President (Joe) Biden has made clear many times, we are not ruling out any possibility to ensure that Iran does not get ‘nuclear weapons,’ assured the American secretary of state during a speech in Washington before the pro-Israeli lobby AIPAC.
Iran must enrich its stock of uranium to 90%, the threshold necessary to equip itself with the atomic bomb. According to a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) last March, uranium particles have been enriched to more than 80%. In retaliation, the country suffered several acts of sabotage, notably in 2021 at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant.
Since the denunciation of the Vienna agreement in 2015 by former US President Donald Trump, Iran has been subject to international economic sanctions, which weigh heavily on its economy. The agreement provided for limiting its nuclear program to the civilian dimension.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has also called into question the treaties on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons (NPT). The acquisition of such deterrent firepower is thus perceived by Tehran as essential to establish its power in the region.
2023-06-05 15:36:00
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