US to do everything to prevent Iran from acquiring Nukes: Biden

"We are doing everything that is within our power and we will do everything to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, having the capability to use a nuclear weapon," Biden, who recently visited the countries in Middle East, told MSNBC in an interview.

"There's a lot going on, a lot going on internally within Iran, the time frame in which they could acquire that, what action we could take to slow that up or prevent that. All of that's in play," he noted.

"That's why we think the best course of action to take now is to declare, A, we are not going to allow them to acquire a nuclear weapon, and B, to continue down the course we're on, which is to get international sanctions that have teeth in it that cause them to change their mind," Biden said.

Observing that the US is concerned about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, Biden said that is the reason why the Obama Administration is seeking very strong sanctions at the United Nations right now."Beyond whether or not it (nuclear weapon) would ever be used, the mere fact of the acquisition of a nuclear weapon by the Iranians would, I think, kick off an arms race in the region that would be incredibly destabilising for generations to come. So there's a lot at stake, whether or not (Iranian President Mohammed) Ahmadinejad would, quote, 'use it.' The question is, we're not even sure what he controls," Biden said.

He said it is not just the Israelis, but also the other countries in the region including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey are worried about it."They (Israeli) are also concerned about what kind of neighbourhood they'd be living in with Iran with nuclear weapons. It's a tough neighbourhood to begin with," he said.

"It would be even a tougher neighbourhood to live in if you had the Egyptians and the Saudis or anyone else feeling compelled to acquire a nuclear weapon themselves. So there's nothing positive about it. And from the point of view of the Israelis, it's an existential threat. Their very existence, they think, is at stake," he said.