In a high-level meeting with national security adviser Jake Sullivan about a month ago, President Biden was presented with a number of strike options should Iran take steps to develop a nuclear weapon, Axios reported Friday.
The White House did not immediately respond to questions from Fox Information Digital about strike options, but according to the report, Biden has not approved any plans to attack Iran’s nuclear program.
Biden has vowed not to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon on his watch, but it is still unclear what steps Iran would have to take for the Biden administration to respond with direct strikes, given that Tehran has already been reported to have stockpiled nearly all of its uranium. weapons and strengthen their weapons capabilities.
A large banner depicting Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is placed next to a ballistic missile in Baharestan Square in Tehran, Iran, on September 26, 2024, on the sidelines of an exhibition marking the 44th anniversary of the start of the war between Iran and Iraq. . (Photo by Hossein Beris / Centro Oriente Photos / Centro Oriente Photos via AFP via Getty Photos)
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The president was reportedly presented with a series of scenarios and response options during the meeting, although sources told the outlet that Biden has not made any final decisions regarding the information he was provided.
Another source reportedly said there are currently no active discussions about a military strike on Iran’s program.
Biden repeatedly warned Israel not to attack Tehran’s nuclear program when tensions between the two nations reached a boiling point last year amid conflict with Hamas and Hezbollah, both backed by Iran.
But some advisers close to the president have argued that the United States has the “imperative” and “opportunity” to attack Tehran’s nuclear ambitions, given its efforts to accelerate its program and its weakened position given the significantly degraded position of the proxy forces of Tehran. Iran.
Sources told Axios that Sullivan did not advise the president to take action in any way, but simply presented him with scenarios.
US President Joe Biden speaks with his national security advisor Jake Sullivan during a roundtable discussion with Jewish community leaders in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, October 11, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Photos)
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The report also noted that the National Security Advisor, along with other aides to the president, believed that the degraded nature of Iran’s air defenses and missile capabilities and the weakening of proxy forces could improve the likelihood of a successful attack and reduce the chances of Iranian retaliation.
Biden reportedly focused on the question of urgency and whether Iran had taken specific steps to justify a military strike that could spark conflict just weeks before a new administration takes office, although it is still unclear what. would include those measures.
“You can look at the public statements of Iranian officials, which have changed in recent months as these strategic blows have been dealt to them, to raise the question: Do we have to change our doctrine at some point? The fact that that is about to come publicly is something that needs to be looked at very carefully,” Sullivan said during remarks in New York just a week before Christmas Day.
Iranian protesters carry flowers as they stand in front of a giant banner depicting a portrait of Lebanon’s Hezbollah Normal Secretary Hassan Nasrallah during a protest meeting to condemn an Israeli airstrike on Hezbollah headquarters in the Beirut suburb, and the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah and the commander of the Quds Force of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), General Abbas Nilforoushan, in Tehran, Iran, on September 30. 2024. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Photos)
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He also pointed to the blows Iran has taken this year and argued that they could push Iran to develop a nuclear weapon rather than deter it.
“It creates options for the adversary that can be quite dangerous, and that’s something we have to remain extremely vigilant about as we move forward,” Sullivan said.
