Iran’s Nuclear Facilities in Target: Biden Presented with Potential Options for a Punitive Strike
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan recently presented President Joe Biden on potential Military options for striking Iranian nuclear facilities, should Tehran take steps toward developing a nuclear weapon before Donald Trump’s inauguration later this month. The briefing was made in a confidential meeting several weeks ago.
As per reports, the meeting was not sparked by new intelligence and that Biden did not make a final decision. President Biden focused on whether Iran’s nuclear facilities posed an urgent threat warranting such a drastic military strike just weeks before a new president’s inauguration.
A U.S. strike on Iran’s nuclear program during the transition period would be a significant gamble for a president committed to preventing Iran from developing a nuclear weapon yet risking the burden of a new conflict being passed to his successor, President-elect Donald Trump.
“You can look at the public statements of Iranian officials, which have changed in the last few months as they have been dealt these strategic blows, to raise the question: Do we have to change our doctrine at some point? The fact that that’s coming out publicly is something that has to be looked at extremely carefully,”
Jake Sullivan, NSA, U.S.
During the briefing, NSA Sullivan indicated that the setbacks Iran and its proxies faced over the past year might drive Tehran toward pursuing a nuclear weapon.
“It generates choices for that adversary that can be quite dangerous, and that’s something we have to remain extremely vigilant about as we go forward,”-
Jake Sullivan, NSA, U.S.
Iran’s nuclear facilities have raised its uranium enrichment to 60%, nearing the 90% threshold required for producing a nuclear weapon, which its advanced centrifuges could achieve within days. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reports that Iran possesses enough 60%-enriched uranium to produce four nuclear bombs.
Over the past year, Iranian scientists have engaged in suspicious research activities, such as computer modeling and metallurgy, seemingly intended to shorten the time required to develop a nuclear weapon if the country’s leaders decide to pursue one.
“Sullivan seems unable to connect the dots on why Iran’s nuclear threat has become so advanced. It is due in large part to failed Biden administration policy — its unwillingness to use maximum economic pressure and a credible threat of military force — to constrain and deter Tehran.”
Andrea Stricker, Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program Deputy Director and Research Fellow
Some U.S. administration officials believe that the IDF’s weakening of Iranian regional proxies, such as Hamas and Hezbollah, along with Israel’s October 26, 2024, airstrikes on Iranian air defenses, may create a moment of vulnerability ideal for targeting Iran’s nuclear facilities. At a recent conference, Sullivan suggested that these battlefield setbacks have accelerated Iran’s push for nuclear capabilities, noting that Iranian leaders’ rhetoric about altering their nuclear doctrine has “shifted in the last few months,” emphasizing the need for American “vigilance.”