Following their meeting in Jerusalem on Monday, both visiting United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken and newly elected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated the two countries' long-standing consensus on preventing Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
His government's policy is "to do everything within Israel's power to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them", said Netanyahu. While Blinken, on his part, said at their joint news conference that the Biden administration was adamant "that Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon".
Although Blinken claimed in an interview with Saudi-owned news outlet Al Arabiya in Cairo, Egypt, that "diplomacy is never off the table" and it is the Biden administration's "preferred path", he emphasized that "every option remains on the table" to make sure Iran doesn't gain nuclear weapons.
According to Blinken, the Islamic Republic's alleged recent violent suppression of civilian protests at home and support for Russia's special military operation against Ukraine by providing "drones and potentially other weapons systems" have shifted Washington's focus from reviving the nuclear deal with Iran to "the many things that have happened since". With President Joe Biden personally declaring the 2015 deal dead, and rising calls for a tougher approach to Teheran in the US Congress, the atmosphere is surely not conducive to stake-holding parties resuming serious negotiations aimed at rescuing that deal.
Just two days prior to Blinken's arrival in Israel, there was a drone attack on a "workshop complex" in central Iran under the country's Ministry of Defense, which Israeli officials declined to comment on and the US Defense Department denied involvement in. The attack, which Teheran described as "unsuccessful", and which has so far remained unaccounted for, may not substantially escalate tensions for the time being, but it certainly goes against Blinken's claimed wish for "some calm" in the Middle East. Despite the relative insignificance in terms of physical damage, incidents like this inevitably add distrust and animosity between historical foes in the region, especially if Washington's claim of preference for diplomacy is taken into account.
In response to the prospect of the US resorting to the military option, the Iranian Permanent Mission to the UN stated that the US resorting to the use of the military means "at any level" would mean war.
Teheran and Washington are fully aware of the dire consequences once the military option is taken, which is why both parties, along with all other signatories to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, had demonstrated continuous interest in resurrecting the deal. Past experience has also proved the uselessness of threat of force. Returning to negotiations and maneuvering a diplomatic solution is the best possible path available.
The parties were reportedly close to agreeing a "final" draft for reinstalling the JCPOA after nine rounds of negotiations in Vienna. Giving up on the previous efforts would be a huge loss for all.