This photo shows the scene where Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed on Nov. 27 by unknown assailants in east of Tehran.

This photo shows the scene where Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was killed on Nov. 27 by unknown assailants in east of Tehran. Fars News Agency via AP

Biden Must Save the Iran Nuclear Deal Before It’s Too Late

The president-elect has a real but limited window to reinstate a deal that froze Tehran’s nuclear efforts.

In a September op-ed, then-presidential candidate Joe Biden laid out his plan to restore diplomacy with Iran and return to the nuclear agreement signed by President Barack Obama. “If Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations.”

Now President-elect, Biden’s “compliance for compliance” plan is exactly the right approach to revive the deal and avert a catastrophic new war in the Middle East. He should not allow Donald Trump or Benjamin Netanyahu’s scorched earth tactics to blow him off course.

In 2018, President Trump withdrew the United States from The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, and has pursued a belligerent “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran ever since. This approach has been an abject failure. The two countries have moved disturbingly closer to the brink of war. Ordinary Iranians have suffered under the crushing weight of American sanctions, particularly with COVID-19 taking a heavy toll on the country. In response to the re-imposition of sanctions, Iran has enriched nuclear materials at levels exceeding the JCPOA caps, shortening its “breakout time” to build a functional nuclear weapon.

Now, on his way out of office, Trump and his allies are doing everything in their power to poison the well and destroy the prospects of renewed diplomacy between the United States and Iran.

On Nov. 27, top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated in Tehran. Israel, with its history of conducting similar covert attacks, is widely considered a prime suspect. If they are indeed responsible, it’s unlikely they would have carried out such an attack without at least the tacit approval of Washington.

As many experts have argued, the true target of the killing was not Iran’s nuclear program but the nuclear deal itself. Accordingly, the best way Biden and the Iranian government could respond would be to reaffirm their commitment to diplomacy.

The day after the assassination, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani made clear that Iran will not be provoked into falling into the apparent trap set by Trump and Netanyahu. Rouhani, who championed the JCPOA, has previously signaled that Iran would be willing to return to compliance if the Biden administration reciprocates. Even as Trump has brought a wrecking ball to the agreement, Iran’s measured response to our withdrawal and the European parties’ continued support has kept it on life support. This leaves Biden a real window of opportunity to resuscitate it. But that window will be very limited.

Contrary to its stated goal, the maximum-pressure campaign has undermined moderates like Rouhani and emboldened hardliners. With sanctions making life miserable for so many Iranians, anti-American sentiment could propel a hardliner to power during Iran’s June 2021 presidential elections. Such a scenario would greatly diminish the prospects of successful diplomacy between the United States and Iran.

As Biden stated in September, a return to the deal should be a starting point for broader, more ambitious negotiations on a wide range of issues. But if the JCPOA is not restored before Iran’s elections, any hope for broader engagement may be much harder to achieve. Furthermore, while there are many issues that should be solved diplomatically between the two countries, the nuclear issue is chief among them. The deal offers verifiable guarantees to ensure Iran will never possess nuclear weapons.

With the clock ticking, Biden will doubtlessly face a loud and well-funded opposition that will seek to undermine a return to diplomacy. He will likely face resistance from members of his own party, who will urge him to use sanctions as leverage to address a host of additional issues. The “flood” of new sanctions that Trump plans to impose during the lame duck period will add further obstacles to the new administration’s path. None of this should deter President Biden from pursuing a “compliance for compliance” approach.

Despite the many challenges he will face, Biden will have many options to improve the prospects for peace. To start, he should unequivocally condemn the Fakhrizadeh assassination. On day one, his administration should take action to strengthen humanitarian exemptions to sanctions that allow Iran to better respond to the coronavirus. These kinds of good faith measures would go a long way toward easing tensions, rebuilding a degree of trust, and improving the standing of Iranian moderates.

As president, Joe Biden will have both the power and mandate to restore the JCPOA. If Congressional opponents attempt to block a return to compliance, they will need to do so with a veto-proof majority. When he assumes office, President Biden must seize this opportunity. For if it slips away, the long-term stability of the Middle East – and the world – could be irreparably damaged. That’s no way to start a presidency. 

Bryan Bowman is the Middle East policy program assistant at the Friends Committee on National Legislation. He works to advance a more progressive foreign policy based on restraint, diplomacy, and peace. Before joining FCNL, Bryan served as an editor and reporter at the Globe Post, an international news publication based in Washington, D.C.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.