Pence Emphasizes U.S. Commitment to Preventing Iran from Acquiring Nuclear Weapons

On Saturday, U.S. Vice President Mike Pence stated that the United States is committed to ensuring that Iran never achieves the capability to develop nuclear weapons, which could pose a threat to the U.S. and its allies, especially Israel. In remarks made at the Munich Security Conference, which were reported by CNN, Pence emphasized that Iran, still regarded as the largest supporter of terrorism, continues its destabilizing behaviors in the region. He noted that due to the lifting of nuclear sanctions under the JCPOA, Iran now has additional financial resources to pursue its actions. Pence asserted that under Donald Trump's administration, the U.S. will be fully committed to ensuring Iran never gains the capability to build nuclear weapons to avoid becoming a threat to the U.S. and its allies, particularly Israel. Donald Trump, during his election campaign, described the nuclear deal with Iran as the worst deal possible and promised to review it if he came to power. Recently, Trump hosted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who pledged to present at least five plans to counter the JCPOA during his first meeting with Trump. In a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Trump reiterated the need to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, describing Iran's nuclear ambitions as a security challenge for Israel. Trump stated, 'One of the worst deals I've ever seen is this deal with Iran. My administration has already imposed sanctions on Iran and will take further actions to permanently prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.' This stance was previously echoed by Pence, who two weeks ago in a television interview declared that both the U.S. President, himself, and the new U.S. administration consider the nuclear deal with Iran a bad agreement and warned that Iran should not doubt the resolve of the new U.S. administration. Pence also mentioned that the Trump administration is reviewing the nuclear agreement and that the President will consult all of his advisors on this matter. Iran views the Vienna nuclear agreement as a multilateral agreement and emphasizes that the U.S. cannot unilaterally withdraw from it. In this context, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif stated in an interview with CNN that he believes the JCPOA is a good agreement, but no one is fully satisfied with it. Zarif said, 'I think this agreement was the best possible agreement for all parties, not just for Iran but also for the U.S.' He added that he is sure they tried to reach another agreement, but this was the only possible agreement. We also had our preferences, but we agreed on a middle ground. The Iranian Foreign Minister also pointed out that European countries, China, and Russia want to preserve the JCPOA. Regarding the Iranian nuclear agreement, Federica Mogherini, the EU's foreign policy chief, stated last week that during her meeting with members of the Trump administration, she was assured that the new U.S. government is committed to 'fully implementing the nuclear agreement with Iran.'