Ali Shamkhani, the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, attends a meeting with the diplomatic advisor to the French president in the Iranian capital Tehran, on July 10, 2019. (ATTA KENARE / AFP)
DUBAI – A top Iranian security official accused US President Joe Biden on Saturday of illegally threatening Iran by saying he may consider other options if nuclear diplomacy with Tehran fails.
"The emphasis on using 'other options' against (Iran) amounts to threatening another country illegally and establishes Iran's right to reciprocate … against 'available options'," Ali Shamkhani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said on Twitter.
READ MORE: Iran urges US to quit pressure policy
Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in White House talks on Friday that he was putting "diplomacy first" to try to rein in Iran's nuclear program but that if negotiations fail he would be prepared to turn to other unspecified options.
The UN atomic watchdog said in a report this month that Iran had accelerated its enrichment of uranium to near weapons grade, a move raising tensions with the West as both sides seek to resume talks on reviving Tehran's nuclear deal.
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