A U.S. diplomatic spokesperson remarked that “we can do a couple things at the same time when it comes to Iran. We can seek to ensure, as we are doing, that Iran can never be allowed to acquire or produce a nuclear weapon, just as we put pressure on Iran’s continuing support for terrorism and terrorist groups throughout the region”. He further noted that “pursuit of a means to verifiably and permanently prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon… allows us take on in a more effective way other areas of Iran’s malign activity and influence”. “Every challenge we face with Iran”, he added, “would be compounded, would be all the more difficult if Iran were on the precipice of producing a nuclear weapon… or certainly if Iran over time were able to cross that precipice”.