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The White House is worried about that Weakened position of Iran will push the regime to pursue nuclear weapons, and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan is coordinating with Trump’s team on the matter.
Iran has suffered a year of setbacks amid Israeli attacks on its proxy forces and a withdrawal from Syria amid a takeover by Sunni Muslim forces hostile to Iran’s Shiite government.
Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, have reduced Iran’s conventional military capabilities, Sullivan told CNN on Sunday.
“What I’ve found over the last four years is that when good things happen, like Iran being weaker than it was before, bad things are often lurking around the corner,” Sullivan said.
The White House is concerned that Iran’s weakened position will encourage the regime to pursue nuclear weapons, and national security adviser Jake Sullivan is coordinating with Trump’s team on the matter. (ATTA KENARE/AFP via Getty Images)
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“If you’re Iran right now and you’re looking around at the fact that your conventional capabilities have been reduced, your intermediaries have been reduced, your major client state has been eliminated, Assad has fallen, it’s no wonder there are voices saying, ‘Hey, maybe we should move right now to nuclear weapons,’ said the departing national security official.
“They’re actually saying it publicly. They’re saying: Maybe we have to rethink our nuclear doctrine. A doctrine that says: We’ll have a civilian nuclear program and certain capabilities, but we won’t have a nuclear bomb,” he added. “That’s a risk we’re trying to be careful about now.”
Although Iran insists that its nuclear program is peaceful, it is extended uranium enrichment from the last Trump administration to 60% purity, a small step from the 90% required for nuclear weapons.
Last week, the UK, Germany and France publicly called on Iran to “reverse its nuclear escalation”, arguing that there is no “credible civilian justification” for stockpiling 60% uranium.
“If you’re Iran right now and you’re looking around at the fact that your conventional capabilities have been reduced, your intermediaries have been reduced, your major client state has been eliminated, Assad has fallen, it’s no wonder there are voices saying, ‘Hey, maybe we should move right now to nuclear weapons,’ said Jake Sullivan. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Although Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, it has expanded uranium enrichment since the last Trump administration to 60% purity, a small step from the 90% required for nuclear weapons. (Atomic Energy Organization of Iran via AP, file)
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Sullivan said there was a risk that Iran would renege on its promise not to build nuclear weapons.
“That’s a risk that we’re trying to be careful about right now. That’s a risk that I’m personally informing the incoming team about,” Sullivan said, adding that he’s also consulting with Israel.
Trump, who takes office on January 20, could regain his “maximum pressure” the policy of crippling Iran’s oil financing.
Sullivan hoped that Trump could come and use Iran’s weakened position to get them to agree to a new nuclear deal.
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“Maybe he can come this time, given the situation Iran is in, and actually get a nuclear deal that will curb Iran’s nuclear ambitions in the long term,” he said.
Trump’s team is currently weighing its options to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including pre-emptive airstrikes.
