عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

White House Prepares ‘Other Options’ for Iran if Vienna Talks Fail

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the sidelines of a press conference at the White House December 7, 2021. (EPA)
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the sidelines of a press conference at the White House December 7, 2021. (EPA)
    Washington, Tel Aviv - Elie Youssef and Asharq Al-Awsat
TT
TT

White House Prepares ‘Other Options’ for Iran if Vienna Talks Fail

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the sidelines of a press conference at the White House December 7, 2021. (EPA)
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on the sidelines of a press conference at the White House December 7, 2021. (EPA)

Amid escalation between Iran and Israel, the White House announced that the US is preparing other options for Iran if the Vienna nuclear talks fail.

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said on Monday Iran’s stances during the latest round of negotiations had prompted President Joe Biden to prepare for a scenario where diplomacy fails.

“Because of the way that the Iranians approached and participated in the last round of talks, the President asked the national security team to be prepared in the event that diplomacy fails and to take a look at other options,” Psaki told a press briefing.

She added that consultation is underway with partners on this issue.

In a statement released by National Security Council Spokesperson Emily Horne, the White House announced that National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will travel to Israel and the West Bank, joined by Deputy Assistant to the President and the Middle East and North Africa Coordinator Brett McGurk and the State Department’s Acting Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs Yael Lempert.

In Israel, Sullivan will meet with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and senior Israeli government officials to reaffirm the US commitment to Israel’s security and consult on a range of issues of strategic importance to the US-Israel bilateral relationship, including the threat posed by Iran.

Sullivan will also co-chair the fourth Strategic Consultative Group (SCG) with his Israeli counterpart, Eyal Hulata, capping a year of extraordinary engagement between inter-agencies on a range of national security matters.

Last Friday, Sullivan warned that talks with Iran were not “going well” and that the US had informed Tehran through mediators that it was alert to Iran’s nuclear program progress.

This comes after many Israeli officials affirmed the Israeli army’s readiness for military action against Iran to stop its nuclear program, accusing Tehran of “only trying to buy time” at the Vienna talks.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

France Holds Day of Mourning for Mayotte Islands Devastated by Cyclone

French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
TT
TT

France Holds Day of Mourning for Mayotte Islands Devastated by Cyclone

French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)
French President Emmanuel Macron (C-R) and his wife Brigitte Macron (C-L) stand for a minute of silence at the Elysee Palace during a day of national mourning for the lives lost after a cyclone hit the Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, in Paris, France, 23 December 2024. (EPA)

France held a national day of mourning for Mayotte, its Indian Ocean territory devastated by a violent cyclone on Dec. 14, beginning in the morning on Monday with a minute of silence for the scores of residents left dead by the storm.

Cyclone Chido was the worst storm to hit Mayotte's two main islands in 90 years, and authorities have said that perhaps thousands of people may have been killed in its wake, though the government's death toll stands at 35.

To commemorate Mayotte's losses, French flags were lowered to half-mast. Separately, flags were flown at half-mast in Brussels and Strasbourg because of Mayotte, as well as following attacks last week on a German Christmas market and in a Croatian school.

"It is a communion in mourning," Prime Minister Francois Bayrou told reporters. He said the day showed solidarity for those in Mayotte, and that France was "present to reconstruct Mayotte and make sure the people of Mayotte feel surrounded by the entire country."

Following the storm, officials say corpses may have been buried quickly per religious custom, before they could be counted, and that many of the people killed may have been undocumented immigrants.

Mozambique has said 94 people died in the disaster, while 13 were killed in neighboring Malawi.

ANGER

The slow pace of aid and delays in the arrival of clean water have angered residents of Mayotte, France's poorest overseas territory located between Madagascar and Mozambique about 8,000 km (4971 miles) from the mainland, with some heckling President Emmanuel Macron during his visit last week.

For Mohamed Abdou, a doctor in Pamandzi, the day of French mourning was a political stunt and did not do enough to account for historic neglect leading up to this point.

"Whether in terms of hospitals, the lack of water infrastructure, electricity, and so on ... at this point, we need to say 'mea culpa' and acknowledge mistakes were made," he told Reuters, speaking from his town in the south of Mayotte's smaller island.

Francois-Noel Buffet, France's acting minister of overseas territories, told France 2 that water - a flashpoint even before the disaster - had made it to the island, saying: "We are not missing water. We have water, notably bottled water. We have a problem with distribution."

Buffet said he expected a special law on the reconstruction of Mayotte to be introduced in early January.

In Paris, Bayrou, France's fourth prime minister this year, is expected to unveil his cabinet Monday evening, though the timing was uncertain. The French presidency said the announcement would not take place before 6:00 p.m. (1700 GMT), to take into account the day of mourning.

Estelle Youssouffa, a lawmaker for Mayotte, criticized the government in an interview with Radio France Internationale for possibly making the announcement on the day of mourning, accusing Bayrou, who had not yet visited the islands, of "humiliating us a second time."