Speaking on Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom” on Friday, White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby acknowledged that trying to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapons capability through diplomacy has “not been effective.”
After playing a clip of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) discussing a resolution that would authorize the US to use military force to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, co-host Dana Perino asked: [relevant exchange begins around 3:25] “Has President Biden actually ever denied that?”
Kirby responded, “The President has always maintained that he wants to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon through diplomacy. But our policy has been clear, we have been clear that we will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapons capability. We would like to achieve that through diplomacy. But that has not worked out. And frankly, it’s not really on the table right now. We haven’t talked to Iran in quite some time in terms of diplomacy. So we have to make sure that we have other capabilities, other options available to the President, potential military options and so on. The Department of Defense is working on that every day. Needless to say, we’ve been pretty focused on the Middle East. We’re also talking about what we need to do to add resources to the Middle East from a military standpoint and adjust in light of the recent threats.”
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