Iran faces a “stark choice”, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden told EU lawmakers Thursday in Brussels, to scrap its nuclear programme or face “further consequences” and increased isolation. “Iran’s nuclear programme violates its obligations under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and risks sparking a nuclear arms race in the Middle East,” Biden said at the start of a European tour. “Tehran faces a stark choice, abide by international rules and rejoin the community of responsible nations, which we hope for, or face further consequences and increasing isolation,” Biden warned, as Washington leads efforts to impose further UN sanctions against Tehran. Wouldn’t it be “ironic,” the Democratic Vice President asked, if the world saw the Iron Curtain fall with the end of the Soviet Union only for a new arms race to emerge “in some of the most unstable parts of the world. “That would be an irony that our children, our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren would not forgive us, in my view, to allow to come to pass,” he added. The U.S. and Europe believe that Iran’s goal is to develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran insists its nuclear programme is purely for civilian energy needs.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned on Tuesday that a new round of UN sanctions against Tehran would close the door on diplomatic engagement with the United States. Biden also criticised Iran’s leaders for promoting terrorism and cracking down on dissent in their own country. But he repeated US President Barack Obama’s statement of willingness to “reach out our hand to any party that will unclench their fist”