The following are excerpts from a speech by Vice President Joe Biden to the Rabbinical Assembly convention in Atlanta on May 8, 2012:
"We will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon by whatever means we need..."
“There remains space for diplomacy. The window has not closed in terms of the ability of the Israelis, if they choose on their own, to act militarily. But diplomacy backed by serious, serious sanctions and pressure to succeed, though, as the president's clearly stated -- on that score, the window is closing in the near term. This cannot go on forever…"
On Europe's embargo on oil imports from Iran, due to begin July 1 "[it] will have a devastating impact on the Iranian economy and force them to think even harder."
"We're not doing anything but tightening the screws…Unless Iran changes course, the pressure will keep increasing…"
"As the president has made clear, we take no option off the table as part of our determination to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.."
"By going the extra diplomatic mile, presenting Iran with a clear choice, we demonstrated to the region and to the world that Iran is the problem, not the United States. That's why China, that's why Europe, that's why the rest of the world has joined us in these sanctions…"
"When we took office, there was virtually no international pressure on Iran…We were the problem. We were diplomatically isolated in the world, in Europe ... By presenting Iran with a clear choice, we demonstrated that Iran is the problem, not the United States. That's why China, Europe, Russia, the rest of the world has joined us in these sanctions..."
"The purpose of this pressure is not punishment, it's to convince Iran that the price, and it's an overwhelming price to be paid for pursuing nuclear weapons capability, that the price is too high..."