The Biden government is expected to have indirect negotiations over the return to the nuclear deal with Iran next week, prompting a wave of reaction from critics.
Agreed in the government of former President Barack Obama in 2015, the historic agreement sparked an intense debate with its supporters, arguing that it provided a way to mitigate Iran’s nuclear proliferation. Others suggested that the agreement could be unconstitutional and it was not difficult to enough for the dishonest state. Tearing the deal up as “the worst deal ever negotiated,” former President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal in 2018.
Xiyue Wang, a former hostage in Iran, tweeted on Friday that “Americans should know that Biden’s team’s approach to reaffirming US global leadership is to appease authoritarian regimes.”
WE WILL HAVE INDIRECT NUCLEAR TALKS, IRAN IS BACK
Others, like Senator Tom Cotton, R-Ark., Also participated.
“Two months later, the Biden government is so desperate to return to a broken agreement that it is giving up all its influence and offering concessions after humiliating concessions,” tweeted Cotton.
For the past two months, the United States and Iran have conducted a silent diplomacy that has failed, according to The Wall Street Journal. In recent weeks, the two sides have exchanged proposals through European intermediaries. Next week’s meeting in Vienna, Austria, will take place in the same way through intermediaries, The New York Times reported for the first time.
The two sides have been struggling to reach an agreement, with Iran demanding full relief from sanctions and rejecting a limited US relief proposal. The Journal reported a US official claiming that the government “agreed” to Iran’s proposal for initial gestures before the actual negotiations. “They sent us a message saying that perhaps the best thing would be for each side to make an initial gesture that would pave the way for these negotiations,” said the official.
“They wanted relief from the sanctions and, in return, would reverse some of the nuclear measures they had taken in violation of the JCPOA. The idea was theirs, and we agreed.”
Ben Rhodes, a former Obama administration official who helped draft the deal, called on the Biden government to act quickly.
“[I]If Biden’s team does not signal a willingness to move on returning to JCPOA (which the US left with catastrophic results first), who knows if the window will open again, “he tweeted.
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But Richard Goldberg, former NSC Director for Combating Iran’s Weapons of Mass Destruction under the Trump administration, was concerned about the implications of the current negotiations.
“If the reports are accurate, the Biden government is offering Iran billions of dollars in sanctions against terrorism in exchange for very limited nuclear concessions,” said Goldberg.
“Biden would not only lose his initial advantage for very little, he would be breaking a commitment to Congress that he would not lift sanctions on Iran linked to terrorism. The Central Bank of Iran and the National Iranian Oil Company are subject to sanctions due to their connections to terrorist financing, not Iran’s nuclear program. In addition to completely ignoring the fact that the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] is telling the world that Iran is actively hiding undeclared nuclear facilities and materials, this may be a worse negotiating position than Obama’s. “
“One more thing to point out: according to the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act (INARA), any agreement with Iran must be submitted to Congress for voting before any sanctions against Iran are lifted. dollars in relief from oil sanctions in return as a temporary suspension of 20% enrichment should trigger this Congressional review. “
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After Trump’s withdrawal, Iran increased its uranium enrichment. Critics of the deal, however, argue that it lacked sufficient measures to ensure compliance and allowed billions of dollars to flow into the state’s terror sponsor.
“Biden must give up the advantage Trump has gained over Iran,” said Representative Steve Scalise, R-La. in a tweet on Friday. “Let’s not forget: the Obama-Biden strategy for Iran was a disaster – we sent them pallets of money while they were planning terrorist attacks against us. Biden wants to go back to that? Scary.”
Fox News’ Rich Edson contributed to this report.