Lloyd Austin Says U.S. Will Consider All Other Options If Talks With Iran Fail

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking at the annual Manama Dialogue in Manama, Bahrain, said that if diplomatic talks with Iran do not yield results, the United States will consider all other options to protect its interests.

Austin rejected the idea that Washington is reluctant to use a “military option,” and when asked why the United States did not respond to Iran’s drone attack last month on the U.S. base in Syria, he replied, “The United States reserves the right to defend itself.”

Al-Jazeera Net

Austin said the United States will defend itself and its interests and that “we will decide where and when to respond,” while warning that there are “still no signs of an increase in U.S. military forces in the region that Arab countries hope for,” according to a Reuters analyst.

The BBC reported that Austin stressed the United States will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear bomb, and Reuters said his trip to Bahrain and then the United Arab Emirates reflects Gulf worries about the outcome of nuclear talks and Iran’s growing influence in the region.

The BBC also said Austin’s trip comes a few days before a new round of talks to revive the JCPOA, with GCC countries expressing concerns in a joint statement about Iran’s missile and nuclear programs.

Robert Malley, the U.S. special envoy for Iran, told NPR’s Steve Inskeep that the Doha negotiations to revive the JCPOA were a “missed opportunity,” after talks resumed in Vienna following four-month pauses.

Malley said, “The side that has not said yes is Iran,” and he added that it is unclear why Iran says “we came to the talks with the old position” while the U.S. side says it is ready to reach an agreement.

Al-Masry Al-Youm

He said the United States has agreed in principle by signing the agreement and is waiting to see whether Iran can bring itself to the finish line, while noting that leaving the JCPOA and taking a “very dangerous” position was the Trump administration’s legacy.

Malley also confirmed that Iran possesses a sufficient amount of highly enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb, saying such a move would be met with a very strong U.S. reaction.

In parallel, Malley said negotiations on the detention of four American citizens in Iran would proceed alongside the JCPOA talks, while emphasizing the United States seeks their unconditional release because they are “innocent.”

Seyed Abbas Araqchi, the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, left Tehran on Sunday night (the 26th of Bahman) heading a diplomatic and technical delegation for a second round of nuclear negotiations and consultations in Geneva.

Tabnak said Majid Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC that the atmosphere of the Oman talks was “somewhat positive,” and Reuters reported that the United States and Iran are expected to hold the second round of nuclear talks on Tuesday in Geneva.

Takht-Ravanchi said Iran is prepared to compromise to reach a nuclear agreement, but it is the Americans who must demonstrate their sincerity in practice, and he indicated Tehran is ready to discuss the issue of 60 percent enrichment and other aspects of its peaceful nuclear program.

Tabnak also said the political deputy foreign minister rejected negotiations about Iran’s missile capabilities and stressed that the issue of zero enrichment, previously raised by the United States, is no longer a viable topic and “the matter is not on the negotiating table.”

The same account said Reuters, citing informed sources, reported that the American delegation would include Steve Vitkaf and Jared Kushner, with representatives from Oman present as mediators in the Geneva round.