“We are fully aligned in our commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is in the national security interest of the United States and Israel and the world,” Austin said.
The United States and Israel increased pressure on Iran on Thursday when nuclear talks stalled, and Israel’s visiting defense chief raised the question of joint military readiness to be able to stop Iran’s nuclear aspirations, if necessary.
Reuters exclusively reported that the US-Israeli agenda on Thursday was expected to include discussions about possible military exercises that would prepare for the worst-case scenario: destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities if diplomacy fails and if their nation’s leaders request it. .
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said at the beginning of the meeting with his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz that Iran had failed to offer constructive diplomatic engagement in talks that President Joe Biden hoped would revive a 2015 nuclear deal. abandoned by his predecessor, Donald Trump.
Austin said Biden was “prepared to resort to other options” if current US policy on Iran fails.
“We are fully aligned in our commitment to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is in the national security interest of the United States and Israel and the world,” Austin said.
Gantz described Iran, Israel’s arch enemy, as “the greatest threat to global and regional peace and stability.” After meeting with Austin, he had conversations with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
Iran denies seeking nuclear weapons and says it wants to master nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. But the broad demands of Iran’s new hardline government in the talks have raised suspicions in the West that Iran is playing for time while advancing its nuclear program.
With the nuclear benefits of the 2015 deal now severely compromised, some Western officials say there is little time left before the basis of the deal is irreparably damaged. Under the agreement, Iran halted its nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.
The Pentagon declined to comment on the Reuters report, which also revealed an Oct. 25 briefing by Department of Defense officials to U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on the full range of military options for ensure that Iran cannot produce a nuclear weapon.
“I know there is interest in a certain Reuters report,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said.
“I’ll tell you this: we routinely conduct exercises and trainings with our Israeli counterparts and I have nothing to announce, speak, point out or speculate today.”
State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters that he would not want to “talk about contingency plans” if diplomacy is not viable in the short term.
The US and Israel drills could address calls from Dennis Ross, a former top US official and Middle East expert, and others to openly signal to Tehran that the US and Israel remain serious about preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. .
“Biden needs to disabuse Iran of the notion that Washington will not act militarily and will prevent Israel from doing so,” Ross wrote last month.
Ross also suggested that the United States could signal a willingness to give the Israelis the Massive Artillery Penetrator that destroys US Army bunkers, a 30,000 pound (13,600 kg) bomb.
The director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Bill Burns, said on Monday that the CIA does not believe that Iran’s supreme leader has decided to take steps to arm a nuclear device, but pointed to advances in its ability to enrich uranium, a path towards the future. fissile material for a bomb.
–
Support independent journalism
You have free access to 200 notes per month. To have unlimited access and many more benefits, acquire your Digital Subscription. Start your Free Trial now
Are you already subscribed? Don’t forget to log in
To access
If you are interested in a corporate or institutional subscription, call us at (+591) 69316133
–
–
