The National Security Council will host a principals meeting Friday to discuss the Biden administration’s range of options for potential action on Iran.
Axios first reported the meeting Thursday night, which was subsequently confirmed by White House press secretary Jen Psaki the following morning. (RELATED: Iran Shows Off New Rocket With Advanced Missile Technology)
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks to staff at the US State Department during the first visit of US President Joe Biden(L) in Washington, DC, February 4, 2021. – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced concern over jailed opposition figure Alexei Navalny and imprisoned Americans in a telephone call Thursday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
“It should come as no surprise that the National Security Council is hosting interagency policy meetings, including on a broad range of issues in the Middle East, including at the Principals level,” she tweeted Friday. “The meeting today is part of an ongoing policy review. It is not decisional.”
Psaki added that there aren’t any “pending policy announcements” on the topic and will “consult broadly with Congress and partners before any decisions are taken.”
It should come as no surprise that the National Security Council is hosting interagency policy meetings, including on a broad range of issues in the Middle East, including at the Principals level. The meeting today is part of an ongoing policy review. It is not decisional.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 5, 2021
There are no pending policy announcements. We will consult broadly with Congress and partners before any decisions are taken. Meeting is proof that the interagency process is back to functioning after four long years of personality-driven decision-making.
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) February 5, 2021
President Joe Biden notably didn’t discuss the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action during his first major foreign policy speech Thursday. Former President Donald Trump withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, and Biden had longed promised to rejoin the nuclear treaty with Iran, yet Axios reported that the administration is still determining if they should wait until after Iran’s presidential election in June to pursue that course.
State Department spokesman Ned Price, however, told reporters earlier in the week that Iran’s latest nuclear weapons program progress requires the United States to act with “urgency” on determining how specifically to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken will also reportedly speak with his counterparts from the United Kingdom, Germany and France Friday to discuss the same matter.
