"The only thing worse than the Iran that exists now is Iran with nuclear weapons," Joe Biden said in an interview with Israel's Channel 12 News that was taped ahead of a four-day trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia, without mentioning the US hypocrisy and disloyalty to the international treaty.
Biden's comments come as estimates for Israel's nuclear weapons stockpile range from 70 to 400 warheads and experts believe that Israel possesses nuclear fissile material equivalent to 180-270 warheads.
Read more:
Israel is expanding Dimona, region's only nuclear bomb factory
Commentary: Conflicting US actions, messages vis-a-vis JCPOA and Iran
Biden said in the interview he would use force "as a last resort" to keep Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He said he was also committed to keeping the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) on the foreign terrorist list, even if it would kill a potential deal.
Biden was asked, “Are you committed to keeping the IRGC on the ‘foreign terrorist organization’ list, even if that means that it kills the deal?”
He answered with a simple, “Yes.”
Even though the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, came to office with the promise of returning to the JCPOA and repeatedly admitted the failure of the Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” policy against Iran, he has not only taken concrete steps to revive the JCPOA and cancel unilateral sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran. He didn’t, but he always puts the ball in Iran’s court and says that Iran should try to revive the nuclear deal.
The United States and its western allies have imposed stringent sanctions on both Iran and Russia, which have limited their ability to export their energy to outside markets. Notably, in 2015, Iran and global powers reached an agreement on the nuclear deal, in which Tehran committed to significantly lower its uranium enrichment in exchange for the removal of economic sanctions. However, in 2018, then-US President Donald Trump abruptly withdrew from the agreement, re-imposing sanctions against Iran.
US President further criticized the Trump administration's foreign policy and said, "There are those who thought with the last administration we sort of walked away from the Middle East, that we were going to create a vacuum that China and or Russia would fill, and we can't let that happen."
He claimed that his trip to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia -- the first of his presidency -- was aimed at working toward stability in the region.
Biden said he disagreed with other progressive Democrats who are highly critical of Israel and challenge US aid to Israel.
"There are few of them. I think they're wrong. I think they're making a mistake. Israel is a democracy. Israel is our ally. Israel is a friend," Biden said.
He pointed to his administration's support of the Iron Dome aerial defense system and the next-generation, laser-enabled Iron Beam system, which he toured on his first day in Israel.
"It's overwhelmingly in our interest that Israel be stable," Biden said.
The President added he thinks "there is no possibility" that significant portions of the Democratic or Republican parties will be "walking away from Israel."
Biden also suggested he would welcome a rematch against former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
"I'm not predicting, but I would not be disappointed," Biden said.
211
