July 5 (Bloomberg) -- Vice President Joe Biden said Israel has a “sovereign right” to take military action to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said separately that a military strike by any nation against Iran would be “destabilizing.” He also said a nuclear-armed Iran and military action against that country both “are really, really bad options.”

Biden, in an interview with the ABC News program “This Week” taped in Iraq and broadcast today, said a U.S. offer to meet with Iran about its nuclear program remains “on the table” after protests there over disputed election results were subjected to a government crackdown.

“We’re not rushing to sit down,” Biden said. “We need to wait to see how this sort of settles out.” Still, he said, if Iranian leaders “seek to engage, we will engage” in talks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he’d wait until end of the year to see what becomes of the U.S. offer to Iranian leaders before deciding whether to take unilateral action against Iran.

Biden said the protests in Iran may put pressure on the regime to enter into talks on the nuclear issue with the U.S. as well as China, France, Russia and the U.K., the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. He also said that if Iran responds by isolating itself, the U.S. has no standing to prevent Israel from taking action.

‘Sovereign Nation’

“Israel can determine for itself as a sovereign nation what is in its best interest,” Biden said. “If the Netanyahu government decides to take a course of action different than the one being pursued now, that is their sovereign right to do that. That is not our choice.”

Mullen, appearing on “Fox News Sunday” today, said he’s been saying “for some time” that a military strike against Iran would be “very destabilizing.”

“That said, I think it’s very important as we deal with Iran that we don’t take any options, including military options, off the table,” Mullen said.

Biden said a violence-free pullout of U.S. troops from Iraqi cities is evidence that a more complete withdrawal of military personnel from the country by 2011 as negotiated by the Bush administration and Iraq is on schedule.

“We believe the Iraqis will be fully capable of maintaining their own security,” Biden said.

While in Iraq late last week, Biden said that he told Iraqi leaders that the U.S. might disengage from their country if it reverts to sustained sectarian or ethnic violence.

“Your future, successful future, is very much in our interest,” Biden said he told Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in Baghdad today, according to a press pool report of the vice president’s visit to Iraq.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan J. Donmoyer in Washington at rdonmoyer@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 5, 2009 12:21 EDT