White House: Trying to Keep Iran from Getting Nuclear Capabilities via Diplomacy ‘Hasn’t Worked’

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “America’s Newsroom,” White House National Security Communications Adviser John Kirby acknowledged that keeping Iran from getting nuclear weapons capability through diplomacy “hasn’t worked.”

After playing video of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) discussing a resolution he put forward to authorize military force by the U.S. to prevent a nuclear breakout by Iran, co-host Dana Perino asked, [relevant exchange begins around 3:25] “Has President Biden actually ever ruled that out?”

Kirby responded, “The President has always maintained that we would prefer Iran not to have a nuclear weapon through diplomacy. But he has also made absolutely clear, our policy has been crystal, we will not allow Iran to achieve a nuclear weapons capability. We prefer to do that through diplomacy. That hasn’t worked. And frankly, that’s not really on the table right now. We haven’t been talking to Iran for quite some time, in terms of diplomacy. So, we’ve got to make sure that we’ve got other capabilities, other options available to the President, including potential military options. And the Department of Defense works on that every day. Obviously, we have been focused a lot on the Middle East. We have added resources from a military perspective to the Middle East and we’re talking about what we need to do to adjust given these recent threats, as well.”

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