{"id":9255,"date":"2021-05-31T16:38:44","date_gmt":"2021-05-31T13:38:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/?p=9255"},"modified":"2021-05-31T16:38:45","modified_gmt":"2021-05-31T13:38:45","slug":"domestic-challenges-facing-biden-over-reviving-the-iranian-nuclear-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/monitoring-and-translation\/reports\/domestic-challenges-facing-biden-over-reviving-the-iranian-nuclear-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Domestic Challenges Facing Biden Over Reviving the Iranian Nuclear Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As the fourth round of the \u00a0Iran nuclear talks<\/a> in Vienna concluded, the Biden administration is now facing challenges in the US Congress regarding the future of the Iranian nuclear deal and the concessions it is likely to make to entice Tehran to recomply with its nuclear obligations or make amendments to the existing deal. It is not easy going for President Joe Biden as he is in quite a predicament, with the Republicans as well as some Democrats expressing their dissatisfaction and scepticism over making concessions, such as lifting the sanctions imposed on Iran by the former Trump administration.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican senators have repeatedly argued<\/a> that the Trump-era sanctions provided Washington with great leverage against Iran and the Biden administration should not succumb to Iranian pressure as long as Tehran does not mend its ways. Republican Sen. Jim Inhofe recently said<\/a> that returning to the Iranian nuclear deal is extremely dangerous as Iran would be given \u201csubstantial sanctions relief in exchange for nuclear enrichment limits that expire in four years\u201d and Iran would use the \u201csanctions relief to fund terrorist groups, including those that continue to target American personnel for murder.\u201d The Democratic Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee Sen. Robert Menendez has already expressed his concerns over sanctions relief and questioned why Washington would undertake such a course of action when Iran has not adjusted its behaviour. Menendez and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham along with 41 other senators have written a letter<\/a> calling for a broader Iran nuclear deal and it mentions \u201ca nuclear-armed Iran would pose a threat to the natural security interests of the US and its allies and partners.\u201d Senators like Menendez and Graham believe that maintaining the existing sanctions are likely to restrict Tehran\u2019s ballistic missile program. Moreover, Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif referring to President Biden\u2019s Climate Advisor and former US Secretary of State John Kerry in his leaked audio tapes<\/a> has prompted Republicans to call for a review<\/a> of Kerry\u2019s security clearance. This has resulted in President Biden facing further political pressure amid growing consensus against his approach towards Tehran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

President Biden remains under political pressure to seek a broader deal that adequately addresses Iran\u2019s ballistic missile program and aggressive regional behaviour; however, some Democrats have warned that insisting on broader demands will diminish Washington\u2019s chances to revive the nuclear deal. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy has said<\/a> that he supports a stronger deal with Iran, \u201cbut that only happens after we get back into the JCPOA\u201d hinting that demanding a broader deal might not be conducive to reviving the nuclear deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several senators believe that providing sanctions relief to Iranian institutions, such as Iran\u2019s Central Bank will indicate softness towards Iran\u2019s violations of international law, however, some degree of relief at this point seems critical to reviving the nuclear deal. The Iran Sanctions Relief Review Act of 2021<\/a> introduced by the Republican Sen. Bill Hagerty if passed will permit the congressional review of actions to waive or terminate sanctions imposed on Iran and this act has attracted the support of other senators such as Roy Blunt, reflecting growing scepticism against Biden\u2019s approach towards Iran. Blunt, who is also a member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, has said<\/a> that \u201ceasing sanctions on the world\u2019s number-one state sponsor of terrorism would be a dangerous mistake.\u201d Against the backdrop of differences in Congress regarding the Vienna talks and the progress made, the Biden administration is facing two key challenges: building consensus in Congress in relation to any potential sanctions relief and limiting Iran\u2019s regional aggression which is threatening the security of US allies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Considering the current political climate in Washington, the Republicans as well as some Democrats will continue to criticize Biden\u2019s approach towards Iran, particularly his plans to possibly lift sanctions on Tehran. For President Biden, reviving the Iranian nuclear deal is an election promise which must be met at any cost, however, the concessions he is willing to make will lead to a head on clash with the Republican Party and with some segments inside his own party, leading to more divisions and turmoil in Washington.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As the fourth round of the Iran nuclear talks in Vienna concluded, the Biden administration is now facing challenges in the US Congress regarding the future of the Iranian nuclear deal and the concessions it is likely to make to entice Tehran to recomply with its nuclear obligations or make amendments to the existing deal. It is not easy going for President Joe Biden as he is in quite a predicament, with the Republicans as well as some Democrats expressing their dissatisfaction and scepticism over making concessions, such as lifting the sanctions imposed on Iran by the former Trump administration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":9256,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[5689],"class_list":["post-9255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reports","tag-biden"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9257,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9255\/revisions\/9257"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rasanah-iiis.org\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}