US President-elect Joe Biden said Thursday that it was hard to assess how the elimination of the head of Iran's nuclear program would affect Washington's future negotiations with Tehran on a revised nuclear deal.
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Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, who headed the Islamic republic's efforts to develop a nuclear weapon, was assassinated last Friday in a drive-by shooting in the city of Damavand, east of Tehran.
Iran has accused Israel – long believed to have eliminated several Iranian nuclear sciences in the past – of the hit on Fakhrizadehm threatening "harsh retribution."
In his first comment on the incident, Biden told CNN that is was "hard to tell how much" the assassination would "complicate" his administration's dealings with Tehran.
"The bottom line is that we can't allow Iran to get nuclear weapons," Biden said before slamming US President Donald Trump's dealings with the Islamic republic and his 2018 decision to withdraw from the nuclear deal signed between Tehran and world powers three years prior.
"He has pulled out to get something tougher, and what have they done? They've increased the ability for them to have nuclear material. They're moving closer to the ability to be able to have enough material for a nuclear weapon. And there's the missile issues," Biden said, adding, "All those things, I think, are going to be very difficult. But I know one thing: We cannot do this alone. And that's why we have to be part of a larger group, dealing not only with Iran, but with Russia, with China, and a whole range of other issues."
Biden expressed similar sentiments earlier this week in an interview with the New York Times, saying, "The last goddamn thing we need in that part of the world is a buildup of nuclear capability."
Speaking with CNN he noted that "in consultation with our allies and partners, we're going to engage in negotiations and follow-on agreements to tighten and lengthen Iran's nuclear constraints, as well as address the missile program."
Still, even if Biden is willing to re-enter the 2015 nuclear deal, Iran is facing presidential elections next year and while Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a moderate, lobbied for the deal and remains convinced it is best for the regime, he is not up for re-election. Iran's June 2021 elections could deliver a new hardline president who opposes dialogue with the US.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said last week that the Islamic republic would "fully implement" the 2015 nuclear deal if Biden lifted the crippling sanctions imposed by the Trump administration, adding that could be done swiftly with "three executive orders."
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