White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Thursday that the Biden Administration was preparing for contingencies in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program in case talks founder, which would be another foreign policy disaster for the administration.
“President Biden is committed to ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon and believes diplomacy, in coordination with allies and regional partners, is the best path to achieve that goal,” she claimed. “We believe a diplomatic resolution offers the best path to avoiding a nuclear crisis. However, given the ongoing advances in Iran’s nuclear program, the President has asked his team to be prepared in the event that diplomacy fails and we must turn to other options, and that requires preparations.”
“If diplomacy cannot get on track soon, and if Iran’s nuclear program continues to accelerate, then we will have no choice but to take additional measures to further restrict Iran’s revenue-producing sectors,” she continued, later adding: “And this is part of our extended outreach to our partners around the world to ensure that we were preparing for a range of contingencies.”
“What I can tell you is that we have presented a diplomatic path forward; that path is still open,” she concluded. “But based on the outcome of the last round of talks and the ongoing advancements in Iran’s nuclear facilities, we are laying the path for — the groundwork for another path entirely. So, it’s just meant to be preparations.”
The move comes after Biden suffered embarrassment in Afghanistan and increased aggression from America’s enemies across the world.
WATCH:
Pres. Biden has asked his team to “be prepared in the event that diplomacy fails” with Iran, White House press sec. Jen Psaki says.
“We have made clear to Iran that the only path out of sanctions is through nuclear compliance.” https://t.co/UdV9yW878a pic.twitter.com/34EJzijOBu
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) December 9, 2021
TRANSCRIPT:
REPORTER: Thank you. Do you have an update for us on the President’s call with Zelensky? And another one, just sort of related — sort of: There were a couple of reports last night about a potential financial threat or a potential military action to Iran in regards to the faltering nuclear talks. I wondered if you had a comment or update on that.
JEN PSAKI, PRESS SECRETARY: Sure. Let me start with the first. When I came out here, the President was still on the call. So, our plan was to provide a written readout to all of you, which you should be getting as soon as it’s complete or following the briefing — whenever it’s ready.
But I will highlight for you that the President’s intention going into this call was to provide an update for President Zelensky on his call with President Putin and underscore our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as Secretary Blinken did when he spoke with President Zelensky earlier this week. So this is a follow-on to that call.
President Biden is also intending to — was intending to discuss his deep concerns with Russia’s buildup on Ukraine’s borders and his commitment to respond to strong measures in the event of a Russian military escalation.
We’ve engaged closely with the Ukrainians throughout this process at a range of levels and have been in daily contact with senior officials in the Ukrainian government. So, clearly, that is a component of it.
I’d also note — I think as many of you saw — that the President also provided an update to the B9 eastern flank countries, with a personal readout of his call with President Putin, to hear their perspective on the current security situation and underscore our commitment to transatlantic security and to our NATO Allies that are — with our NATO Allies — that’s sacred, and also to continue to stay in close coordination.
On the — but we will get you a readout as soon as that is complete.
On the Iran question that you also posed second, I do have an update for you. As we’ve said many times from this podium and elsewhere in the government, President Biden is committed to ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon and believes diplomacy, in coordination with allies and regional partners, is the best path to achieve that goal.
We believe a diplomatic resolution offers the best path to avoiding a nuclear crisis. However, given the ongoing advances in Iran’s nuclear program, the President has asked his team to be prepared in the event that diplomacy fails and we must turn to other options, and that requires preparations.
We have made clear to Iran that the only path out of sanctions is through nuclear compliance. We have kept all the sanctions that we inherited in place, and we’ve consistently enforced sanctions, all while also presenting the clear path of their removal.
If diplomacy cannot get on track soon, and if Iran’s nuclear program continues to accelerate, then we will have no choice but to take additional measures to further restrict Iran’s revenue-producing sectors.
While I’m not going to get into additional specifics on that front, I can provide you a little update on some of the coordination that we’re doing on the international — on the international front.
A senior Treasury official will lead a Treasury-State delegation to the UAE next week to talk about sanctions compliance. The delegation, which will be led by OFAC Director Andrea Gacki, will focus on engagements with the private sector and key UAE government officials to discuss our understanding of the companies and financial institutions that facilitate non-compliant Iranian commerce that runs through its — or touches the UAE.
This trip follows a range of conversations that our National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, and Brett McGurk had in October; that, obviously, Rob Malley and Brett McGurk had in November; and Deputy Treasury Secretary Adeyemo also had in November.
And this is part of our extended outreach to our partners around the world to ensure that we were preparing for a range of contingencies.
REPORTER: Jen, the timeline — you know, how long diplo- — the diplomacy is going to continue before (inaudible) to other actions?
PSAKI: I’m not going to present a deadline today. But what I can tell you is that we have presented a diplomatic path forward; that path is still open. But based on the outcome of the last round of talks and the ongoing advancements in Iran’s nuclear facilities, we are laying the path for — the groundwork for another path entirely. So, it’s just meant to be preparations.
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