The White House is concerned that weakening Iran’s position could encourage the regime to develop nuclear weapons, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is coordinating with the Trump campaign on these concerns.
Iran has suffered a year of setbacks amid Israeli attacks on its proxies and withdrawal from Syria amid occupation by Sunni Muslim forces hostile to Iran’s Shiite government.
Sullivan told CNN on Sunday that Israel’s attacks on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defense facilities, have reduced Iran’s conventional military capabilities.
“What we’ve learned over the last four years is that when good things happen, such as Iran becoming weaker than before, bad things often lurk just around the corner,” Sullivan said.
The White House is concerned that weakening Iran’s position could encourage the regime to develop nuclear weapons, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is coordinating with the Trump campaign on these concerns. (ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
Iran expands weapons development capabilities essential to use nuclear bomb
“If you were in Iran right now and you were looking around at the fact that traditional capabilities were diminished, you had fewer proxies, you had a major client state removed, and Assad fell, it’s no wonder that there are voices saying, “Hey, we probably need to use nuclear weapons right now,” the outgoing national security official said.
“In fact, they’re saying it publicly. They’re saying, maybe we need to rethink our nuclear doctrine. The doctrine says: “There will be some capacity, but we are not going to do it nuclear,” he added. “That’s the risk we’re trying to guard against right now.”
Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but since the Trump administration it has enriched uranium to 60% purity, well short of the 90% required for a nuclear weapon.
Last week, Britain, Germany and France publicly called on Iran to “reverse nuclear escalation” and argued there was no “credible civilian justification” for stockpiling 60% uranium.
“If you were in Iran right now and you were looking around at the fact that traditional capabilities were diminished, you had fewer proxies, you had a major vassal state removed, and Assad fell, it’s no wonder that there are voices saying, “Hey, we might need to use nuclear weapons right now,” Jake Sullivan said. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Although Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, since the previous Trump administration it has expanded its uranium enrichment to 60% purity, putting it on the verge of reaching the 90% purity needed for a nuclear weapon. Via Associated Press, Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, File)
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Sullivan said there was a risk that Iran would abandon its commitment not to build nuclear weapons.
“This is a risk that we’re trying to guard against right now, and I’m personally explaining this risk to the incoming team,” Sullivan said, adding that he was also consulting with Israel.
President Trump, who takes office on January 20, may reinstate a “maximum pressure” policy to cripple Iran’s oil loans.
Sullivan held out hope that Trump could intervene and take advantage of Iran’s weakened position to force it into a new nuclear deal.
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“Given the situation that Iran is in, perhaps he can come at this point and actually deliver a nuclear deal that will curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions in the long term,” he said. spoke.
Trump’s team is currently considering options to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, including preventive airstrikes.
