WASHINGTON, May 5. /TASS/. The United States will recognize Israel’s right for "freedom of action" if Iran tries to obtain nuclear weapons, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, addressing a conference at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
"We have made clear to Iran that it can never be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon. As President Biden has repeatedly reaffirmed, he will take the actions that are necessary to stand by this statement, including by recognizing Israel's freedom of action," the White House official said.
Sullivan went on to say that Washington will keep "engaging Iran diplomatically regarding its nuclear program."
He described as a "tragic mistake" the decision to quit the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) on Iran’s nuclear program "with nothing at all to replace it."
The White House adviser said his country was not rejecting attempts to forge an agreement on Iran’s nuclear program and views it as the best way to achieve the intended result.
The JCPOA was signed with Tehran in 2015 by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany in order to address the crisis over Iran’s nuclear research. In 2018, the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, pulled out of the agreement. The current US leader, Joe Biden, has repeatedly signaled his willingness to bring Washington back into the nuclear deal. However, in the spring of 2022 the negotiations to breathe new life into the JCPOA came to a grinding halt in the wake of US-Iran relations deteriorating.