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US Prepared To Take ‘Necessary’ Measures To Keep Iran From Nukes

The United States is prepared to pursue avenues besides diplomacy to ensure that Iran does not achieve a nuclear weapon, a senior US official told reporters.

The US is still committed to diplomacy but, according to the official, “obviously if that doesn’t work there are other avenues to pursue, and we are fully committed to ensuring that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon.” He called the fact that Iran is believed to be just months away from having enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb “alarming.”

The official made the statements on Monday, a day before Israel’s national security adviser Eyal Hulata was scheduled to meet with his US counterpart, Jake Sullivan. The two men are expected to share intelligence while making an educated guess at how far along the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program has actually advanced.

The official did not say what other avenues the US would be willing to pursue,  but told reporters that “we’ll be prepared to take measures that are necessary.”

Iran halted several months and six rounds of negotiations on re-upping its nuclear deal with the world powers, which would have seen the United States rejoin the agreement it left in 2018, ahead of August’s election of hard-line President Ebrahim Raisi. But Iran reportedly has been putting out feelers recently that it is ready to restart the talks.