Biden Has Agreed To Military Option Against Iran If Diplomacy Fails

Netanyahu, who was speaking to Fox News DigitalWednesday, added that the end of nuclear talks with the regime has been achieved by the people of Iran themselves as they clearly say they do not want clerics.

“That's thanks to the extraordinarily brave Iranian women and men who took to the streets – who take to the streets – against this vicious, murderous, and brutal regime. And I think people ask themselves, ‘Do we want the ayatollahs, who chant death to America, to have the weapons of mass death and the ballistic missiles to deliver them to any part on Earth?’ and the answer is of course not,” explained Likud party chief.

He further added that the protests are exposing the leadership's vulnerability, stressing that “it also highlights the fact that they’re really weak – that they govern only with basically the threat of murder, and the people are showing remarkable resilience.”

Netanyahu went on to say that the political spectrum is more united against Iran now to keep the clerical regime from getting a nuclear weapon.

To do this, he noted, both “crippling sanctions” and a “military threat” are needed, and Israel is ready to act regardless of Washington’s approval, although there is more “forward-leaning American position on this matter.”

Speaking to a large crowd on Thursday, General Hossein Salami also tried to present the IRGC and its paramilitary Basij as “servants of the people,” amid a popular uprising in which security forces have so far killed around 450 civilians since mid-September.

Salami repeated regime slogans about “independence” and “self-sufficiency” and said, Khamenei “has turned a few issues into a matter of pride that America cannot swallow. One of these is his strong stand on the issue of JCPOA, and it has reached a stage when the acceptance or rejection of the JCPOA has no importance for Iran.”

After 18 months of indirect negotiations by the Biden Administration to revive the 2015 nuclear accord known as the JCPOA, talks broke down in early September, when the US rejected excessive demands by Iran.

Salami also praised the 83-year-old authoritarian ruler for spreading the influence of the Islamic Republic to other countries, adding that “enemies” cannot accept “this development.”

The Islamic regime uses the term “enemies” to refer to the US, Israel, Saudi Arabia and lately Western Europe, as many countries have criticized its use of deadly violence against protesters.

Many countries raise the issue of Tehran’s “malign activities” in the Middle East, by financially and militarily building a network of militant groups in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and elsewhere.

The IRGC commander then went on repeating accusations made by Khamenei and other officials in the past two months against “enemies” for plotting to destroy Iran. At the same time, he claimed that Iran has become a “powerful force” and “the enemy is fleeing from the Islamic world.”

For this reason, he claimed, the United States is fomenting unrest in Iran, but the Iranian people “are standing up to America.”

In fact, thousands of Iranians across the country celebrated the defeat of Iran’s team by the US side in the World Cup on Tuesday, seeing the loss as a defeat for the regime that tries to use sports to strengthen its image.

The United States has repeatedly dismissed accusations that it has anything to do with the anti-regime protests. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that one of the “profound mistakes” that the “regime makes is in accusing the United States or any other country” of somehow being “responsible for, instigating what’s happening. That’s not at all the case. And to misunderstand their own people is at the heart of the problem that they’re facing.”

But the Biden Administration has also voiced support for Iranians to have the right to peacefully protest and officials have met with Iranian activists to underline that policy.

Blinken in a separate interview with NBC also reiterated the administration’s policy, saying “the most important thing that we can do is first to speak out very clearly ourselves in support of the people’s right to protest peacefully, to make their views known, and as I said, to take what steps we can take to go after those who are actually oppressing those rights, including through sanctions.”

Iranians mainly blame Khamenei, the Revolutionary Guard and its Basij paramilitaries for deadly use of violence against protesters. Many have reached the point that they will accept nothing short of a complete regime change and the establishment of a secular, democratic political system.

Antony Blinken said one of the “profound mistakes” that the “regime makes is in accusing the United States or any other country” of somehow being “responsible for, instigating what’s happening. That’s not at all the case. And to misunderstand their own people is at the heart of the problem that they’re facing.”

He made the comments in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour, stressing “What’s happening in Iran is first and foremost about Iranians, about their future, about their country. And it’s not about us.”

“The regime [tries] to point the finger at others, at the United States, Europeans, claiming that we’re somehow responsible for instigating or otherwise fanning the flames of the protests. That is to profoundly, fundamentally misunderstand their own people,” underlined Blinken.

Anti-government protests in Iran began on September 16 following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.

Blinken in a separate interview with NBC also stressed that Washington supports Iranians right to protest, saying “the most important thing that we can do is first to speak out very clearly ourselves in support of the people’s right to protest peacefully, to make their views known, and as I said, to take what steps we can take to go after those who are actually oppressing those rights, including through sanctions.”

Nicolas Roche was summoned on Wednesday to Iran’s Foreign Ministry over what Tehran calls “unacceptable” remarks by Catherine Colonna which led to approval of a resolution in the assembly on human rights in Iran.

Iran says, “the instrumental and dual use of human rights by France and some other European countries causes great regret to the Islamic Republic Iran.”

Tehran also said these countries “lack the legitimacy to raise such human rights claims.”

On Monday, the French National Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution offering "support for the Iranian people" and condemning the restriction of women's freedoms and rights. This comes ahead of another meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss new sanctions over Iran’s crackdown on protesters.

President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party deputy Hadrien Ghomi, himself a descendant of Iranian immigrants, said the 149 votes in favor of the motion in the National Assembly "sent a strong message" to the world. The resolution condemns in the "strongest terms the brutal and widespread repression" against "non-violent demonstrators".

Foreign minister Colonna said the situation "requires action, with responsibility", adding that after two packages of sanctions already imposed at a European level, new sanctions are being prepared for the next Council of Foreign Ministers on 12 December.

Iran constantly accuses the West of double standards and meddling in its domestic affairs but continues to use deadly violence against protesters.

These statements appear to be attempts to reassure the restless public that sees the freeze in nuclear talks as yet another ominous sign for the country’s future.

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Hassan Asafari, a former – and possibly current – Iranian intelligence officer, told Nameh News that the talks over Iran's controversial nuclear program will be resumed in January.

Referring to Foreign Minister Hosein Amir-Abdollahian's uncorroborated comments about messages being exchanged between Tehran and Washington, Nameh News website wrote that there are signs indicating the Americans are after finding the right go-between to resume the talks after a three-month freeze.

The United States has denied the claims that it is messaging Iran to resume the talks.

Meanwhile, he told Nameh News that “it is also in the United States' interest to try to solve its problems with Iran through negotiations." He added that less than two years before the next presidential elections in the United States, Democrats need to show some achievements to voters to help them keep the White House.

The lawmaker warned that if the Americans show no interest in resuming the talks, and decide to continue their pressures on Iran, Tehran has also options on the table that might not be in Washington's interest.

Asafari said: "The Americans have realized that there is no way other than negotiations to settle their difference with the Islamic Republic. They have also realized that threats, sanctions, pressures and an endless series of resolutions against Iran cannot force Tehran to retreat."

This comes while economic analyst Hadi Haghshenas says that the UN Human Rights Commission's recent resolution has left a negative impact on Iran's economy and coupled with the country's chronic economic crisis, it has made solving Iran's problems even more complicated than ever before.

Haghshenas told Nameh News: "Economic variables such as inflation, unemployment and even economic growth will be affected by both economic and non-economic factors including floods, earthquakes, sanctions and protests." He reminded that Iran’s currency rose every time there was a positive development about the negotiations with the West, and declined every time there seemed to be no prospect for success.

He reiterated that establishing an investigation committee under the supervision of the UN to probe into the use of force and violence by the government during the protests has adversely affected the status of the country's economy.

Nonetheless, like Asafari, political activist and commentator Ahmad Bakhshayesh Ardestani is also adamant that diplomacy will resume once we see a decline in the protests.

Boastfully reiterating that Iran is the only country in the world that can say "No" to the United States, Ardestani said that naturally, the US will do anything to bring Iran under pressure. However, he argued, the West's policy toward Iran “depends on our domestic politics.” Currently, with unrest in Iran, “Westerners try to support the protests.” They work based on their interests.

"That is why they issued resolutions against Tehran at international forums to exert further pressures on Iran. But if Iran manages to come to terms with the protesters and leave the crisis behind, then the Americans would want to resume diplomacy," Ardestani said.

If Iran manages to calm down the protesters, Iran's nuclear case will not be sent to the Un Security Council, there will be no snap-back and no military action against Iran, he maintained.