WASHINGTON (Dispatches) – U.S. Special Envoy for Iran Robert Malley has said that President Joe Biden is willing to take military action against Iran if Tehran rejects Washington’s terms on the nuclear deal.
The Iran nuclear deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was an agreement signed in 2015 by Tehran with the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Russia and China, during the presidency of Barack Obama. However, Obama’s successor Donald Trump abandoned the JCPOA in May 2018 and slapped cruel sanctions on Iran. Biden had vowed to resume talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal and remove the harsh U.S. sanctions. Two years into the presidency, Biden has failed to keep his promise and is now threatening to take military action.
In an interview with Foreign Policy’s podcast Playlist, Malley said Biden is prepared for a military option if nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran and others fail to reach an agreement.
Malley said that Washington was exerting unprecedented pressure on Iran to accept the terms of the nuclear deal.
“First, I think the president has made this clear, our priority is diplomacy. It’s the proven way, the best way. It’s the most sustainable way to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. And, that still

remains our preference,” he said, despite the fact that the Islamic Republic has repeatedly rejected U.S. allegations that it is seeking to build a nuclear bomb.
“Now, there are other tools that we are already using: pressure, international pressure, of a kind that Iran has not experienced for many many years,” he added.
“Remember under the Trump administration much of the world, including our three European allies in the negotiations, spent at least as much time blaming the US, as they were blaming Iran for its nuclear advances. “
The official claimed that in August the two sides had almost reached an agreement on the JCPOA deal, but Tehran wanted the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to stop its inspections, and so, they disagreed. Tehran, however, disputed this, saying it had complied with the deal even beyond its obligations, since the 2015 signing of the JCPOA, and the IAEA had witnessed Tehran’s commitment to the terms of the deal at least 15 times. Iran turned off several of IAEA’s cameras which were functioning outside the Safeguards Agreement since early June after the IAEA Board of Governors passed a resolution that accused the country of not cooperating with the UN body.