US, Israel to commit to stopping Iran nuclear ambitions, Biden says “US would use force as ‘last resort’ to foil Iran’s nuclear ambitions”

United States President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid are set to reiterate their anti-Iran positions and sign a joint declaration committing to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

The agreement is expected to be announced after a one-on-one meeting on Thursday morning in Jerusalem on the second day of Biden’s four-day Middle East tour.

Recapitulating the bond between the two nations, Biden said in his opening remarks: “You don’t need to be a Jew to be a Zionist. The connection between the Israeli and American people is bone deep … I am proud to say that US relations with Israel are deeper and stronger than they have ever been.”

The joint declaration is expected to also include a pledge by Washington to continue US military aid to Israel.

A record 10-year $38bn aid package was signed in 2016 under the administration of former US President Barack Obama when Biden was vice president.

Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden has expressed his intention to use military force as the last resort to prevent Iran from possessing a nuclear weapon.

Biden was speaking in an interview on Israeli Channel 12 news outlet, which aired on Wednesday, and said that the normalisation of ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel would “take time”.

He said it was “a gigantic mistake” for former President Donald Trump to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal. He added that Iran is closer to getting a nuclear weapon than it was before.

The interviewer cited Biden’s past comment that he would do anything to ensure Iran would not acquire nuclear weapons. Asked if the comment means that his administration will use force against Iran, Biden said, “If that was the last resort, yes.”

Biden noted that some people thought that the United States walked away from the Middle East under the last administration and that that was going to create a vacuum that China and Russia would fill. But he said, “We can’t let that happen.”