Iran is sometime away from its capacity to build nuclear weapons, the White House on Thursday said, adding that the United States is committed to prevent Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons.
"We have said that they are some time away from having the capacity to build a weapon, but we are very clear eyed about Iranian intentions. And that is why we insist on verifiable action as opposed to promises and rhetoric," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters.
The United States, he said, is firmly committed to preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. That is the focal point of the Obama Administration’s policy.
"When the president came into office, the world was divided about this issue and about the appropriate approach to it. Because of the policy approach the president has taken, the world is now united in making clear that it is Iranian behaviour that is the issue; it is Iran's failure to demonstrate to the international community that it does not seek a nuclear weapon that is the issue," he said.
"And what the P-5-plus-1 talks represent essentially is an avenue for Iran to change that equation by demonstrating that, in a verifiable way, that they will forsake their nuclear weapons ambitions," Carney said.
"If they do that there is a path open to Iran to rejoining the international community of nations, ending their severe isolation, and ending the punishing sanctions that have been imposed upon them because of their bad behavior," Carney said.