Biden Urged to Reseal Nuclear Deal to Avert ‘Disastrous US-Iran War’
As the United States formally responded to Iran’s comments on a draft nuclear deal, 15 organizations on Wednesday praised the Biden administration’s “tireless work” so far and urged the White House to “seize this historic opportunity” to restore the agreement as soon as possible.
The United States and Iran returning to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—ditched by the Trump administration in 2018—would not only deliver on one of U.S. President Joe Biden’s campaign promises but also benefit the whole world, according to the coalition, which includes Win Without War, Global Zero, Indivisible, and Physicians for Social Responsibility.
“An implemented JCPOA would mean constraining an Iranian nuclear program that reached its most advanced state without a deal in place; ending a draconian sanctions policy that has been a humanitarian disaster for people in Iran who have little say in their government’s actions; and preventing a war of choice when we are dealing with multiple crises globally, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the groups wrote in a letter to Biden.
The letter also highlights European Union negotiators’ hopes that a resolution is close and the American public’s support for resealing the deal.
“We are closer now than we were even just a couple of weeks ago because Iran made the decision to make some concessions,” John Kirby, a spokesperson for the U.S. National Security Council, said Wednesday, while also warning that “a lot of gaps remain. We’re not there yet.”
As diplomats from the other nations that struck the initial deal seven years ago—China, France, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom—have spent recent months negotiating in Vienna, the Israeli government has privately and publicly pressured the Biden administration on some aspects of the talks.
Axios reported Thursday that a top Israeli official was briefed on the Biden administration’s latest comments before they were sent to the E.U. negotiator, and Prime Minister Yair Lapid “said at a meeting of his political party on Wednesday in Tel Aviv that the U.S. had accepted many of Israel’s requests in its response.”
University of Michigan professor Juan Cole wrote Thursday that right-wingers in Israel and the United States who oppose reviving the Iran nuclear deal only want one thing: regime change. As he put it: “They surely know that the JCPOA worked. They didn’t want it to.”
Meanwhile, members of the coalition behind the new letter to Biden stressed in a statement Wednesday that restoring the deal will serve the security interests of all nations.
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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