White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday that the US is preparing for the possibility that nuclear talks with Iran fail.
“Because of the way that the Iranians approached and participated in the last round of talks, the President asked the national security team to be prepared in the event that diplomacy fails and to take a look at other options,” Psaki told reporters during a briefing.
She added “that has been work that has been ongoing, including in consultation with a range of partners around the world.”
Psaki’s comments come days after the remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear met in Vienna to adjourn the latest round of talks on salvaging the deal.
The European parties who took part in the talks said that "some technical progress" had been made but warned they were "rapidly reaching the end of the road".
Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.
The Islamic Republic has repeatedly demanded that the US lift sanctions imposed on Iran and also reassure Iran it will not abandon the deal again as a precondition for its returning to compliance with the deal.
Following the last round of talks, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said they "are not going well".
"We do not yet have a path back into the JCPOA," Sullivan said in a webinar, adding that efforts to salvage the 2015 deal have "proven more difficult" this year than the US would have liked to see.
Sullivan also said the United States has conveyed through European negotiators to Iran its "alarm" over Tehran's "forward progress" in its nuclear program.
US officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, have said that while they prefer the diplomatic route to reach an agreement with Iran, there are other options on the table should that fail.