US president Joe Biden and Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid have signed a joint strategic declaration in which Washington vowed to use “all elements in its national power” to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
“The United States stresses that integral to this pledge is the commitment never to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that it is prepared to use all elements of its national power to ensure that outcome,” read the text of the document, called the Jerusalem US-Israel Strategic Partnership Joint Declaration, on the second day of Mr Biden’s regional trip.
Mr Lapid warned that Iran will not be deterred by diplomacy.
“The only thing that will stop Iran is knowing that if they continue to develop their nuclear programme the free world will use force. The only way to stop them is to put a credible military threat on the table.”
He stressed that such a threat should not be a bluff. “The Iranian regime must know that if they continue to deceive the world, they will pay a heavy price.”
Iran insists its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful.
Mr Biden also pledged that the US would “work together with our other partners to confront Iran’s aggression and destabilising activities”.
In response, Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi warned, in a speech on Thursday, that Tehran was ready.
“The great nation of Iran will not accept any insecurity or crisis in the region and Washington and its allies should know that any mistake will be met by a harsh and regrettable response from Iran,” he said.
During a visit to the presidential residence in Jerusalem, Mr Biden noted in his remarks that Israeli president Yitzhak Herzog’s grandfather‚ Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Ireland’s first chief rabbi, “thought Sinn Féin was the future of Ireland” and his message in the guestbook alluded to their shared Irish heritage.
“From our shared Irish roots to our shared love of Israel, we are united in heart and spirit,” he wrote. “May our friendship endure and continue to grow! That is the Irish of it, as my grandfather Finnegan would say.”
On Friday, Mr Biden will visit the Palestinian Augusta Victoria hospital in east Jerusalem. He refused to have Israeli officials accompany him but denied that this represented a change in the US position recognising Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.
After travelling to Bethlehem for a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas he will fly to Jeddah, in the first ever direct flight by a US president from Israel to Saudi Arabia.
Israel is eager to see other steps towards normalisation during the final leg of Mr Biden’s regional trip and according to US officials Riyadh will agree to Israeli planes flying over the kingdom and for direct flights bringing Muslim pilgrims from Israel to Mecca.
But with US inflation at a 40-year high, Mr Biden’s top priority is an agreement with Riyadh and the Gulf states to boost oil production and ease the global fuel crisis.