Asked by interviewer Bill Whitaker to name the top US foe, Harris said: “I think there’s an obvious one in mind, which is Iran.”
“Iran has American blood on their hands,” she went on.
“This attack on Israel, 200 ballistic missiles, what we need to do to ensure that Iran never achieves the ability to be a nuclear power, that is one of my highest priorities.”
She would not specify whether she would order preemptive action to take out an Iranian nuclear site if presented proof Tehran was building a nuclear weapon.
“I’m not going to talk about hypotheticals at this moment,” she added.
CIA Director William Burns has recently stated there is no evidence that Tehran has decided to build a nuclear weapon, and if it did, the United States and its allies would most likely be able to detect such a step soon after it was taken.
Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued an official fatwa (religious decree) clearly establishing that any form of acquisition, development, and use of nuclear weapons violate Islamic principles and are therefore forbidden.
Iran fired a barrage of missiles at Israeli military bases last week in retaliation for the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran as well as the assassination of Hezbollah leader Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah alongside an Iranian general in Beirut.
Israel is likely eyeing Iran’s nuclear facilities as it determines its response to Tehran’s missile attack.
US officials have voiced support for Israel responding to Iran’s missile attack earlier this week, with multiple officials publicly saying there must be consequences. At the same time, officials have also voiced concerns about a regional conflagration as they grapple with an increasingly volatile Middle East.
President Joe Biden has stated that the US would not support Israel targeting Iran’s nuclear program.
Iranian officials have warned that Tehran would serve potential further aggression by the Israeli regime against the country with a harsher response.
