Calls in Washington for limited military steps against nuclear Iran. White House sees no way back to deal

Influential US figures collectively called on President Joe Biden on Friday, Dec. 17, to go for limited military steps to stop Iran’s rapid advance towards a nuclear bomb, after the talks in Vienna were paused with no new date for resumption.  National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan then admitted, “It’s not going well in the sense that we do not yet have a pathway back” to the 2015 deal” with the world powers. Another White House source warned in a special press briefing on Friday that Iran is only a “very short” way from “breakout.”

The group calling for military action included Howard Berman, former Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michele Flournoy former Deputy Defense Secretary, Jane Harman, former senior member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Leon Panetta, former Defense Secretary, Gen. David Petraeus, former commander of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan and ex-Director of the CIA, Dennis Ross, former senior diplomat specializing in the Middle East, and Robert B. Satloff, who heads the Washington Institute on the Near East.

In a long statement, this powerful group had this to say. “…for the sake of our diplomatic effort to resolve this crisis, we believe it is vital to restore Iran’s fear that its current nuclear path will trigger the use of force against it by the United States. The challenge is how to restore US credibility in the eyes of Iran’s leaders. Words—including formulations that are more pointed and direct than “all options are on the table”—are also necessary but not sufficient. READ MORE