As President Biden condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and publicly threatens Moscow with escalating punitive measures, his administration is quietly collaborating with the Russians to revive the Iran nuclear deal and undermine future U.S. presidents who might withdraw from it, according to experts and former U.S. officials.
The agreement, which placed temporary restrictions on Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting sanctions on Iran, was struck in 2015 and implemented in 2016.
Richard Goldberg, who served on the National Security Council and worked as a staffer in Congress for years, noted that under the deal being negotiated "It appears Iran would send enriched uranium stockpiles to Russia on condition Russia would return the stockpile if the U.S. reimposes terrorism sanctions." Earlier this year, the Biden administration said it was "Aware" of a Russian proposal for an interim nuclear deal with Iran without sharing details, causing House Republicans to demand the administration share what it knows.
"Russia is trying to take the lead now in the negotiations with Iran. This is a secret agreement. We haven't seen it." The U.S. and Iran have been negotiating indirectly in Vienna over the nuclear deal, allowing Russia to play an influential role with both sides directly.
Biden's negotiating team in Vienna is led by Robert Malley, who, according to Noronha, has proposed that the U.S. will remove Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the Foreign Terrorist Organization list and lift sanctions on it if the Iranians "Simply promise to talk to the United States in new negotiations about their 'regional activity'." Biden's team is also reportedly preparing to lift sanctions imposed by the Trump administration on the office of Iran's supreme leader and those associated with it.
"To think Putin would be an honest broker would be a strategic mistake," said Taleblu, who argued Russia has used its influence in nuclear negotiations with Iran as leverage against the U.S. and its allies, which have said publicly they want to revive the nuclear deal.
"Russia may seek to use elements of the deal in a future scenario in which the U.S. would try to leave the agreement as a weapon against another maximum pressure campaign." Biden on Tuesday night curiously omitted Iran from his State of the Union address altogether, despite the fact that a revival of the Iran nuclear deal - one of Biden's most coveted goals - looks to be close.
It's becoming increasingly difficult to discern fact from fiction, and unfortunately the media has a strong bias. They spin stories to make conservatives look bad and will go to great lengths to avoid reporting on the good that comes from conservative policies. There are a few shining lights in the media landscape-brave conservative outlets that report the truth and offer a different perspective. We must support conservative outlets like this one and ensure that our voices are heard.
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Amid Ukraine crisis, Biden partnering with Russia to revive Iran deal, thwart US opponents: experts
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment