Opponents of Iran agreement want regime change: US VP

US Vice President Joe Biden says opponents of the Iran nuclear agreement are not in favor of negotiations with the Islamic Republic, rather they want to topple the government in Tehran.

“The only thing that would satisfy” the people opposing the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) “is a change in regime,” Biden told Jewish leaders in Atlanta on Thursday.

The US vice president said that this could only take place with the help of the US military and that would involve “hundreds of sorties” by warplanes.

He went on to say that the nuclear agreement is in the best interest of the US and Israel. "It will make us and Israel safer, not weaker."

“Israel has no greater friend than the US, and no president has done more to advance Israel’s security than Barack Obama,” Biden said, pointing out that 20 percent of Israel’s military budget is provided by the United States.

Iran and the P5+1 group of countries – the US, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany – announced the conclusion of nuclear negotiations in the Austrian capital, Vienna, on July 14.

Under the agreement, Iran will be recognized by the United Nations as a nuclear power and will continue its uranium enrichment program, but some restrictions will be placed on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for the removal of sanctions.

The United States, Israel, and some of their allies accuse Iran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear program.

Iran rejects the allegation, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

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