The United States will prevent the Islamic Republic of Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons “one way or the other," US Energy Secretary Chris Wright warned on Wednesday.
Speaking at an International Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in Paris and quoted by AFP, Wright underscored the administration's unwavering stance against Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
US President Donald Trump “believes firmly we cannot have a nuclear-armed Iran," Wright stated. “They’ve been very clear about what they would do with nuclear weapons. It’s entirely unacceptable."
The Energy Secretary issued a clear ultimatum regarding the regime's progress toward a weapon of mass destruction. “So one way or the other, we are going to end, deter Iran’s march toward a nuclear weapon," he said.
The warning comes amid a significant increase in US military forces in the region. While President Trump has indicated that military action remains on the table, Iranian officials have expressed public optimism following talks in Geneva on Tuesday, which Tehran described as “constructive."
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in a call with IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, claimed that Tehran is drafting a framework for future discussions with Washington.
Araghchi stated that Iran’s focus is on creating a coherent framework to advance talks with the US. However, US Vice President JD Vance noted that Tehran has yet to acknowledge all of Washington’s established red lines.
On Wednesday, CBS News reported that top national security officials have informed Trump that the United States military is prepared for potential strikes against Iran as early as this Saturday.
However, sources familiar with the high level discussions told CBS News that the timeline for any potential action is likely to extend beyond this coming weekend.
President Trump has not yet reached a final decision regarding whether to move forward with the strikes, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters of national security. The ongoing conversations were described as fluid, with the White House carefully weighing the risks of escalation against the political and military consequences of restraint.
One source in the US administration, who was quoted by The Telegraph, said there was now a 90 percent chance of war in the coming weeks. An Israeli former intelligence chief cited in the same report said he believed the strike would take place within days.
Meanwhile, a senior official told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will travel to Israel on February 28.
According to the official, Rubio is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the visit to discuss Iran.
The report further said that Iran is expected to submit a written proposal on how to avoid its standoff with the United States following talks held in Geneva on Tuesday.
A senior US official told Reuters that top national security advisers met in the White House Situation Room to discuss Iran and were told all US forces deployed to the region should be in place by mid-March.