US won't stand idly by if Iran gets 'too close' to nuclear weapon
WASHINGTON: The United States will not stand idly by if Iran
gets too close to a nuclear weapon, US Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley said
in interview excerpts released on Wednesday ahead of next week's resumption of
talks on reviving a 2015 nuclear deal.
"If they start getting too close, too close for
comfort, then of course we will not be prepared to sit idly by," he told
National Public Radio in an interview, according to excerpts released by the US
broadcaster. The excerpts did not address what he meant by "too
close" nor US options in that case.
Indirect talks between the United States and Iran are set to
resume in Vienna on Monday with the other members of the 2015 nuclear deal -
Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia - shuttling between the two sides
because Iranian officials refuse to meet directly with their US counterparts.
US President Joe Biden is trying to revive the deal, under
which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for relief from US, UN
and EU sanctions. Biden's predecessor, Donald Trump, abandoned the deal in 2018
and reimposed US sanctions, prompting Iran to begin violating its nuclear
limits.
"If they choose not to go back into the deal, then obviously we're going to have to see other efforts - diplomatic and otherwise - to try to address Iran's nuclear ambitions," Malley said in the interview, which was recorded on Tuesday and is scheduled for broadcast on Friday.
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