Thursday, April 29, 2021

The Biden Administration’s Fact-Free Frenzy to Restart the Iran Nuclear Deal; US Offers To Lift Sanctions On Iran's Central Bank, Oil & Shipping, and related stories

Leonhard Foeger/Reuters
The Biden Administration’s Fact-Free Frenzy to Restart the Iran Nuclear Deal:
An objective analysis of President Biden’s policy reveals it is defective
National-security policy should be based on facts, not emotionally laden talking points, especially when the talking points bear little resemblance to reality. But this is precisely what we see in the unfolding effort to rejoin the Iran nuclear agreement, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Ignoring and, in some cases, distorting the facts, the Biden administration appears unwilling to change course and determined to repeat the mistakes of the past.
In part, this dangerous fixation results from the return to office of individuals previously associated with the negotiations conducted during the Obama years. The 2015 agreement, despite its fatal flaws and the almost certain rejection by the Senate if it had been submitted as a treaty, is considered by these newly reappointed officials to be the most significant foreign-policy achievement of the Obama-Biden tenure. They believed it then, and they believe it now, despite major changes in the security environment and despite actions taken by Iran that have totally undermined the arguments put forth originally to sell the nuclear agreement to the American public. For them, rejoining the JCPOA is more an article of faith than a calculated response to a national-security threat. Moreover, the single-minded rejection of all Iran-related decisions taken by the previous administration, inseparable from a palpable hatred of Trump, only reinforces their sense of righteousness. But facts, as our second president was fond of saying, are stubborn things.
The JCPOA was portrayed by President Obama and then–vice president Biden as an effective barrier preventing Iran from moving forward in its quest for a nuclear weapon. The principal talking point was that the agreement would block all pathways for Iran’s nuclear program. While it was apparent to many experts that this was not true, the talking point prevailed. Today, especially in light of the actions taken by Iran since the U.S. withdrawal from the agreement, the failure of the JCPOA to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon is clear. All of these actions — retaining quantities of low-enriched uranium above the permitted level, enriching uranium to 60 percent, operating advanced centrifuges, producing uranium metal (which has only one purpose) — demonstrate that Tehran maintained the option under the agreement to break out whenever it chose to do so. Without any sense of irony or self-awareness, the Biden team now cites Iran’s actions as the most urgent reason to rejoin the agreement. In other words, Iran uses the very flaws of the agreement to gain leverage in the negotiations for the U.S. to rejoin and relieve sanctions. --->READ MORE HERE
Via Iran's IRNA
US Offers To Lift Sanctions On Iran's Central Bank, Oil & Shipping:
So far during this month's high stakes Vienna talks the Biden administration has refused to give in to Iranian demands that all Trump-era sanctions be immediately lifted as a condition for direct talks leading to the restoration of the JCPOA nuclear deal. The two sides have instead talked 'indirectly' via European mediators.
But there's been 'positive' progress reported as talks are set to resume next week, which has included Washington signaling it is willing to lift sanctions in a piecemeal fashion, especially when it comes to certain key vital sectors of the economy, such as energy, medical, and central banking.
The Wall Street Journal this week is citing two unnamed officials close to negotiations who said "the US is open to lifting terror sanctions against Iran’s central bank, its national oil and tanker companies and several key economic sectors including steel, aluminum and others." The Iranians want to see specifics, however, before they are willing to roll back uranium enrichment and other breaches of the 2015 JCPOA terms. --->READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to related stories:

Iran Nuclear Deal Talks Advance as U.S. Offers Sanctions Relief

Keep sanctions on Iranian missiles in nuke talks, group urges

If you like what you see, please "Like" us on Facebook either here or here. Please follow us on Twitter here.


No comments: