US Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday vowed to ensure that Iran never obtains nuclear weapons if she wins the White House in November. 

“Make no mistake: As president, I will never hesitate to take whatever action is necessary to defend American forces and interests from Iran and Iran-backed terrorists, and I will never allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon,” Harris said in a conference call with Jewish American supporters marking the Jewish High Holidays, according to a White House transcript of the conversation.

“Diplomacy is my preferred path to that end, but all options are on the table,” she added.

Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, also lambasted her opponent, Republican nominee and former US President Donald Trump, arguing that he was not tough enough toward the Iranian threat. 

“I am clear-eyed. Iran is a destabilizing and dangerous force,” Harris said. “When Donald Trump was president, he let Iran off the hook. After Iran and its proxies attacked US bases and American troops, Trump did nothing. And he pulled out of the nuclear deal without any plan, leading to an unconstrained Iranian nuclear program.”

“On the other hand, our administration struck Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria when they attacked American troops, and we are the first administration to ever directly defend Israel,” Harris continued, referring in part to the Biden administration in February ordering strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq and Syria in response to a drone strike attack on American soldiers. The strikes successfully neutralized over 85 targets.

The administration also helped Israel defend itself against Iran’s unprecedented direct attack on the Jewish state in April.

When Trump was president, he withdrew the US from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, which placed temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions, and reimposed harsh economic penalties on the regime.

The US sanctions levied on Iran under the Trump administration crippled the Iranian economy and led its foreign exchange reserves to plummet. Under Trump, the US also killed Qassem Soleimani — who was the head of the elite Quds force, which is responsible for Iran’s proxies and terror operations abroad — in a US drone strike in Iraq in 2020. Soleimani is revered by the Islamic Republic as a martyr and is commemorated across the country.

Trump and his Republican supporters in the US Congress have criticized the Biden administration for renewing billions of dollars in US sanctions waivers, which had the effect of unlocking frozen funds and allowing the country to access previously inaccessible hard currency.

US intelligence agencies have for years labeled Iran as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, noting it devotes significant sums of money and weapons each year to supporting proxies across the Middle East such as Hamas and Hezbollah. Many observers have suggested that the unfreezing of Iranian funds allowed the country to ramp up its funding of terrorist groups, potentially facilitating the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks on Israel.

“And then, of course, last week, on Oct. 1, I was in the Situation Room for more than three hours coordinating in real time with our military leadership as our forces intercept missiles over the skies of Israel,” Harris said during her call, referring to Iran’s most recent missile barrage targeting Israel.

Since launching her presidential campaign in July, Harris has scrambled to shore up support among Jewish voters, repeatedly vowing to defend Israel if elected in November. While accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for president, Harris reaffirmed her commitment to ensuring Israel’s security. She has also denied rumors that she would impose an “arms embargo” on the Jewish state.

Though Harris has repeatedly issued nominal support for Israel, supporters of the Jewish state have raised concern that she might not defend the Jewish state as vigorously as previous administrations. 

Harris does not have the decades-long relationship with Israel that US President Joe Biden does. Harris also harbors close ties to the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, which has become increasingly hostile toward the Jewish state. The vice president has been under pressure from pro-Palestinian activists to break with the Biden administration by adopting a more adversarial posture toward Israel.

Harris previously urged the White House to be more “sympathetic” toward Palestinians and take a “tougher” stance against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a Politico report in December. In March, White House aides forced Harris to tone down a speech that was too tough on Israel, according to NBC News.

Later, she did not rule out “consequences” for Israel if it launched a large-scale military offensive to root out Hamas battalions in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, citing humanitarian concerns for the civilian population.

Harris initially called for an “immediate ceasefire” before Biden and has often used more pointed language when discussing the war, Israel, and the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. 

Harris has also expressed sympathy for anti-Israel protesters on US university campuses. In an interview published earlier this year, Harris said that college students protesting Israel’s defensive military efforts against Hamas are “showing exactly what the human emotion should be.”

Iran is Hamas’s chief international backer.

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