WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett on Friday that when it comes to Iran, his administration is “putting diplomacy first, seeing where that takes us.”
“But if diplomacy fails,” the president added, “we’re ready to turn to other options.” The comments echoed a similar message that a senior administration official delivered on Wednesday ahead of the meeting, marking a shift in tone as the indirect Vienna negotiations between the US and Iran on a mutual return to the 2015 nuclear deal have stalled. The last round of talks was concluded on June 24, and the different sides have yet to schedule a date for another round of negotiations.
The White House provided a readout of the conversation between Biden and Bennett on Friday evening, saying “the leaders discussed the most critical challenges facing the Middle East, including the threat posed by Iran.”
“The president made clear his commitment to ensure Iran never develops a nuclear weapon,” the White House said in a statement. “The leaders reviewed steps to deter and contain Iran’s dangerous regional behavior. They reiterated their commitments to work constructively and deepen cooperation to address all aspects of Israel’s security against Iran and other threats.”
Experts offered different takes on what Biden could mean when he says the US is “ready to turn to other options.”
“I suspect that the administration is thinking of a new sanctions campaign if it concludes that the JCPOA cannot be revived,” said James Acton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Ambassador Dennis Ross, distinguished fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said the president’s statement was “an important new signal from the Biden Administration.”
“He is saying to Iran, ‘We will not let you become a nuclear weapons state.’ Our preference is to achieve that through diplomacy but if Iran’s leaders make that impossible, we will use whatever means are necessary,” said Ross, who previously served as special assistant to former President Barack Obama and National Security Council senior director for the Central Region.
He went on to say, “It is an achievement for Bennett because it also implies that we won’t let Iran be in a position where it has the capability to move quickly to a weapon. It is worth adding that the Iranians should understand their behavior has produced it. Rather than coercing Biden, it is producing a tougher response,” said Ross.
“Biden has other options,” said Mark Dubowitz, chief executive of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington. “He has an ally in Israel with tremendous cyber, intelligence, covert action and military capabilities to deter and punish Iran,” Dubowitz said. “He could support those Israeli instruments of power with severe financial pressure on the regime, leverage from keeping a small US military presence in Iraq and Syria, and a credible American threat to use force to stop Iran’s nuclear escalation. And he could support the Iranian people, the majority of whom want to end the Islamic Republic.”
Dubowitz noted, however, that President Biden’s warnings “would be more meaningful if he had imposed costs to date on Iranian nuclear escalation, regional aggression, attacks on US troops and threats to Iranian-American dissidents.”
“Instead, he has sent his Iran envoy Robert Malley to offer more and more concessions,” said Dubowitz, adding that the administration’s recent steps, including in Afghanistan, have “diminished Biden’s leverage.” Therefore, Dubowitz said, “the president’s warnings are anything but credible."