The Biden administration is signaling it may expand America’s nuclear arsenal to fortify deterrence against Iran’s unchecked drive to obtain weapons of mass destruction that can threaten the entire Middle East.

Speaking at an Arms Control Association conference on Saturday, National Security Council arms control official Parnay Vaddi declared that the White House is prepared to use all “elements of power” against Tehran’s nuclear program.

“On Iran, the United States is prepared to use all elements of power to prevent it from obtaining nuclear weapons. The US must also focus on setting the conditions for future diplomacy with Iran,” Vaddi said.

According to Vaddi, this contemplated expansion is necessitated by increased collaboration between rogue regimes like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea looking to undermine global peace through shared illicit weapons proliferation. From Iran supplying drones to Russia for butchering Ukrainian civilians to Beijing’s material support for Moscow’s defense industries, the totalitarian alliance poses an existential threat.

“Absent a change in adversary arsenals, we may reach a point in the coming years where an increase from current deployed numbers is required,” he said. “We need to be fully prepared to execute if the president makes that decision.”

Just last year, Biden’s national security advisor Jake Sullivan dismissed any need to counter Moscow and Beijing’s arsenal expansions by expanding U.S. strategic nuclear capabilities. Now, officials are presenting a tougher “competitive approach” reserving potential escalation to preserve deterrence as Iran races ahead with uranium enrichment.

The implications of a nuclear arms race become even more alarming given three European allies just submitted evidence to the UN illustrating Iran’s ongoing violations of the failed 2015 nuclear deal. Whether a tactical nuclear buildout would bolster deterrence or goad Iran towards further provocations remains uncertain. At least Biden officials seem to recognize that indefinitely coddling the regime while it marches towards a doomsday weapon is a mistake.