Washington: President Barack Obama on Sunday vowed to use "all elements of American power", including "a military effort" to prevent Iran from making nuclear weapons, arguing it was not only against US and Israeli security interest, but also ran the risk that that it would land into the hands of terrorists.
"I have said that when it comes to preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, I will take no options off the table, and I mean what I say," Obama said in his address to the American-Israel Public affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference in Washington.
"That includes all elements of American power. A political effort aimed at isolating Iran; a diplomatic effort to sustain our coalition and ensure that the Iranian programme is monitored; an economic effort to impose crippling sanctions; and, yes, a military effort to be prepared for any contingency," the US President asserted.
Addressing the AIPAC conference, which advocates pro-Israel policies to the Congress and executive branch, Obama said he had made it time and again that he "not hesitate to use force when it is necessary to defend the United States and its interests,"
"We would use all elements of American power to pressure Iran and prevent it from acquiring a nuclear weapon. A nuclear-armed Iran is completely counter to Israel's security interests. But it is also counter to the national security interests of the United States," Obama said in his toughest ever warning to Iran.
He underlined that "the entire world has an interest in preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon". He argued that a nuclear-armed Iran "would thoroughly undermine the non-proliferation regime that we have done so much to build."
"There are risks that an Iranian nuclear weapon could fall into the hands of a terrorist organisation," he said.
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