London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 02, 2026

Iran can respond to America’s ‘other options’, top official replies after Biden says he’s ready to act should diplomacy fail

Iran can respond to America’s ‘other options’, top official replies after Biden says he’s ready to act should diplomacy fail

US President Joe Biden said the US can turn to “other options” should negotiations with Iran fail. A senior Iranian official responded, saying it’s an illegal threat and that Tehran has the right to respond in kind.

The warning from Tehran was voiced on Saturday by the secretary the Supreme National Security Council, Admiral Ali Shamkhani, who tweeted it in Farsi, English, Hebrew, and Arabic.


He noted the “emphasis on using ‘Other Options’ against Iran” expressed during a meeting between President Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett at the White House on Friday. The signal was “an illegal threat to another country” that “establishes the Islamic Republic of Iran’s right to reciprocal response to ‘Available Options,’” Shamkhani said, adding the hashtag #ActiveResistance.

The response was to the assurances given by Biden to Bennett that the US won’t hesitate to take action against Iran should the preferred path of diplomacy prove to be fruitless.

“If diplomacy fails, we’re ready to turn to other options,” the president said, without offering specifics.

The meeting in Washington came one day behind schedule after a delay due to the terrorist attack in Kabul on Thursday, which killed over 170 people, including 13 US troops. The first one-on-one meeting between the newly-elected leaders was meant to smooth the tensions that festered under Bennett’s predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu. The former prime minister was a vocal critic of the Obama-era multilateral nuclear deal with Iran, and Biden’s attempt to negotiate its revival after Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement.

The rift was exemplified by a reported lack of intelligence cooperation between Netanyahu’s government and the Biden administration. According to the New York Times, the Israelis didn’t inform the US about their planned attack on Iran’s Natanz nuclear site in April until the very last moment, giving the Americans no opportunity to call it off, should they have wanted to. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the act of sabotage.

The Biden administration and Iran have been conducting indirect talks in Vienna for months, but no breakthrough has come out of it. The 2015 agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), became increasingly meaningless after Trump unilaterally withdrew from it in 2018, and targeted Iran with crippling economic sanctions.

Tehran started reneging on its part of the bargain a year later, saying that other Western signatories of the deal failed to adequately compensate for the damage done to Iran by the US move. Under the JCPOA, Tehran agreed to restrict its nuclear industry in exchange for sanctions relief and lucrative business opportunities.

The lack of trust between Iran and the US was highlighted by the supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who held his first formal meeting with the incoming conservative government on Saturday. He stressed that no administration in Washington should be trusted, regardless of who is in charge of it, saying, “There is a predatory wolf behind the scenes of US foreign policy that sometimes turns into a cunning fox.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK Government Confirms Rejected Asylum Seekers to Remain Amid Enforcement Challenges
UK-China Economic Talks Focus on Services Trade and High-Value Sectors
Buckingham Palace Revamp Plans Unveiled to Modernise Royal and Public Facilities
Two Dead After Light Aircraft Crash in Essex Field, Investigation Underway
Princess Diana Marked at 65 With UK Tributes Reflecting on Her Public Legacy
England Teachers Face New Pay Cap Rules for Academy School Leaders Under Education Reform
Dublin Security Alert Escalates After Stabbing and Reports of Transport Disruption
UK Government Faces Scrutiny Over £10,000 Asylum Living Cost Contribution Requirement
England Prepares World Cup Knockout Match Against Democratic Republic of Congo
Northern Rail Project Warned of HS2-Style Cost Risks by UK Parliamentary Committee
UK Tightens Asylum Rules as Most Rejected Applicants Expected to Remain in Country
UK Heat Health Alert Issued as Temperatures Expected to Exceed 30°C Across England
Halifax Brand to Disappear From UK High Streets in Lloyds Banking Group Restructuring
England Teachers Receive 6.6 Percent Pay Rise Over Two Years as Schools Warn of Budget Strain
UK Defence Spending Plan Sparks Budget Clash as Regional Infrastructure Projects Face Pressure
Inquest Continues in Northern Ireland into Death of Noah Donohoe in Belfast
UK Travel Industry Calls for Suspension of New EU Border System During Peak Holiday Season
Telegraph Media Group Acquired by German Media Firm in £575 Million Deal Completion
House of Commons Warns Northern Rail Upgrade Risks Repeating High-Speed 2 Cost Overruns
UK Transport Unions Warn of Summer Strike Action Over Pay Disputes
UK Health Secretary Calls Maternity Care Review a “Watershed Moment” for NHS Reform
Nigel Farage Faces Questions Over £270,000 Payment Linked to Gold Marketing Firm
Labour Government Faces Internal Division Over North Sea Oil and Gas Policy Direction
National Screening Committee Invites New Proposals for UK Health Screening Programmes
UK and China Hold Industrial Strategy Talks on Trade and Export Growth Opportunities
UK Defence Funding Gap Widens as £4.7 Billion Shortfall Puts Pressure on Spending Priorities
United Kingdom Faces Historic Demographic Shift as Deaths Forecast to Exceed Births in England and Wales
United Kingdom Introduces Major Motability Scheme Reforms Targeting £1 Billion in Long-Term Savings
Global Billionaire Numbers Rise 13 Percent Amid Artificial Intelligence Stock Boom
Body of Fifteen-Year-Old Boy Recovered from Manchester Reservoir
Major Rail Disruption in UK After Cows Stray Onto Intercity Tracks
UK Launches National Campaign to Reduce Water Consumption After Heatwave
Foreign Secretary David Lammy Raises Case of UK Woman Death with US Authorities
Shetland Islands Council Approves Subsea Tunnel Plans Linking Major Islands
Telegraph Media Group Takeover by German-Led Consortium Completed
Resident Doctors in England Accept Government Pay and Conditions Deal
Andy Burnham Sets Out Ten-Year Economic Vision Amid Labour Leadership Debate
Asylum Seekers in UK Face £10,000 Contribution Requirement Under New Law
UK Government Moves to Break Apple and Google App Store Dominance
New UK Steel Tariffs and Import Quotas Aim to Shield Domestic Industry
Damning Report Exposes Failures in Maternity and Neonatal Care Across England
Government Data Reveals Five Billion Pound Shortfall in UK Defence Budget
Prime Minister Keir Starmer Unveils Three Hundred Billion Pound Defence Investment Plan
UK Crime and Policing Act 2026 Comes into Force with New Justice System Reforms
UK Prime Minister Hosts NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte for Security Talks at Downing Street
UK Tightens Oversight of Emissions Trading Scheme Through New Ministerial Directions
UK Issues Statement at UN Security Council on Violence in the West Bank
UK Environment Agency Clears Illegal Waste Site in West Yorkshire After Court Action
UK Resident Sentenced for Fraudulently Claiming £30,000 in Covid Business Loans
UK Launches Taskforce to Help Young People Claim Dormant Child Trust Fund Savings
×