The United States would not stand in the way of Israel in its dealings with Iran's nuclear ambitions, Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with ABC television.
"Israel can determine for itself - it's a sovereign nation - what's in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else," Biden told ABC television's "This Week."
"Whether we agree or not. They're entitled to do that... We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination, that they're existentially threatened," Agence France-Presse quoted Biden as saying.
But the top U.S. military officer, meanwhile, warned of the dangers posed by any military strike against Iran. "It could be very destabilizing, and it is the unintended consequences of that which aren't predictable," Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff told "Fox News Sunday."
However, he added: "I think it's very important, as we deal with Iran, that we don't take any options, including military options, off the table."
President Barack Obama has said he wants to see progress on his diplomatic outreach to Iran by year's end, while not excluding a "range of steps," including tougher sanctions, if Tehran continued its controversial nuclear drive. Hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not ruled out a possible military strike against Iran, insisting that Tehran, which the MOSSAD spy agency could have a ready-to-launch nuclear bomb within five years, must not obtain nuclear weapons.
"If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice," Biden said. "But there is no pressure from any nation that's going to alter our behavior as to how to proceed."
Top leader warns West:
Meanwhile, Iran's supreme leader warned Western governments on Monday of a "negative impact" on relations due to what he called their meddling in Iran's post-election riots, the Associated Press reported, citing state television.
The comments by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reflect continued efforts by the regime to blame Western powers such as the U.S. and Britain, not internal anger, for wide scale unrest following the country's disputed presidential election. They also come one day after the American vice president said the U.S. is still open to negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program. "Some leaders of Western countries at .....................
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