Blinken, who was visiting Athens, said the United States was
committed, together with Israel, to ensuring that Tehran "never
acquire a nuclear weapon".
"That's not exactly news. The president (Joe Biden) has been
very clear that every option is on the table to do that,"
Blinken told a news conference alongside his Greek counterpart,
Nikos Dendias.
A 2015 agreement limited Iran's uranium enrichment program to
make it harder for Tehran to develop nuclear arms, in return for
international sanctions being lifted. Iran consistently denies
harboring any nuclear weapon ambitions.
Biden's administration had been trying to resurrect the 2015
agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which
was abandoned by Biden's predecessor Donald Trump in 2018, but
talks deadlocked in September.
Blinken accused Tehran of failing to engage and said the JCPOA
was not on the table now.
"We continue to believe that, with regard to the nuclear
program, the most effective, sustainable way to deal with the
challenge it poses is through diplomacy. But in this moment,
those efforts are on the backburner because Iran is simply not
engaged in a meaningful way," Blinken said.
"A lot depends on what Iran says and does and whether or not it
engages."
Blinken added: "In the meantime, of course, we've seen provision
by Iran of drones to Russia to enable its aggression in
Ukraine."
He called the invasion a "strategic failure in every way" for
Russian President Vladimir Putin.
(Reporting by Athens bureau; Writing by Michele Kambas; Editing
by Kevin Liffey)
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