The Biden administration remains committed to diplomacy with Iran, but if necessary, it would be prepared to pursue "other avenues" to ensure Tehran does not acquire a nuclear weapon, a senior US official said according to Reuters.
Israel's national security adviser, Eyal Hulata, will visit Washington to share intelligence and to develop a "baseline assessment" of how far Tehran's nuclear program has advanced, the official said on Tuesday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity with the news agency, the US experts believe the time it would take Iran to achieve enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb has "gone from about 12 months down to a period of about a few months."
"Obviously that is quite alarming," the official told reporters ahead of Hulata's talks with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan.
Echoing President Joe Biden's comments in a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in August, the official said: "We of course remain committed to a diplomatic path."
"But obviously if that doesn't work there are other avenues to pursue, and we are fully committed to ensuring that Iran never develops a nuclear weapon."
