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The objective of any nuclear deal with a rogue state ought to be anchored in completely and permanently halting that regime from obtaining nuclear weapons. The objective should not be to further empower and embolden it, or to facilitate it becoming a nuclear state.
It seems, nonetheless, that the Biden administration and the European Union have other motives. The EU partly wants the deal so it can buy oil and gas from the Iranian regime. The EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, surprisingly acknowledged this to the Financial Times:
"We Europeans will be very much beneficiaries from this [nuclear] deal, the situation has changed now. For us it was something... 'well, we don't need it', now it would be very much interesting for us to have another [oil and gas] supplier."
Borrell clearly appears to be stating that the EU's motive behind the nuclear negotiations is to buy oil from a country that, according to the US State Department, is "the world's worst state sponsor of terrorism." The Iranian regime, desperate for cash to fund its terror activities around the world as well as its militia and terror groups in the region, would undoubtedly be delighted to be the EU's supplier of energy and oil.
The EU also appears to want the nuclear deal in order not to lose its other economic relationships and trade with the ruling mullahs of Iran. Despite US sanctions, European countries are still trading with Iran; the Biden administration has yet to hold them accountable. As the Tehran Times reported:
"The value of trade between Iran and the European Union reached €4.863 billion in 2021, registering a nine-percent growth compared to the previous year.... According to the data released by the Tehran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (TCCIMA), Iran exported €554 million worth of commodities to the union during the said nine months, while importing goods valued at €2.7 billion".
According to the Financial Tribune, Germany is Iran's top trading partner, and Italy comes in second.
The Biden administration, meanwhile, has been investing all its political capital to resurrect the Obama's catastrophic nuclear deal that would permit Iran to have unlimited nuclear weapons and the missiles to deliver them. The Biden administration keeps appeasing the mullahs with almost any policy they want.
Currently, according to a Gallup poll, the majority of the American people disapprove of President Joe Biden's handling of foreign affairs. By reaching a nuclear deal, the Biden administration may think that it can claim a foreign policy accomplishment and a political victory, as the Obama administration did, by arguing -- falsely -- that it had finally curbed Iran's nuclear program and prevented the Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, that was about as accurate as then US President Barack Obama claim -- which he repeated 37 times -- that "If you like your healthcare plan, you can keep it."
At the time, Obama also pledged that he was "confident" the nuclear deal would "meet the national security needs of the United States and our allies".
After the 2015 nuclear deal, however, the ruling mullahs of Iran were not only gifted a newfound global legitimacy. The removal of sanctions also generated billions of dollars in revenue for Iran's military institution, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as for Iran's militia and terror groups. The regime used those revenues to expand its influence throughout the region, especially in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq. Iran's aggressive expansion campaign proved immensely successful. The Iranian-armed Houthis ratcheted up their efforts to cause death and destruction in Yemen, and Hezbollah escalated its involvement and control of large swathes of Syrian territory. The region also saw a greater propensity for Houthi rocket launches at civilian targets in Saudi Arabia, the deployment of thousands of Hezbollah foot soldiers in Syria, and the constant bombardment of southern Israel with Hamas rockets funded by Iran.
Furthermore, as we now know, the Iranian regime was violating the nuclear deal by having a secret nuclear weapons program during the agreement.
At present, the ruling mullahs of Iran will continue skillfully to play the EU and the Biden administration to obtain as many concessions and as many billions as they can before, they doubtless hope, being handed the ultimate gift they wish for: the nuclear deal.
Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a business strategist and advisor, Harvard-educated scholar, political scientist, board member of Harvard International Review, and president of the International American Council on the Middle East. He has authored several books on Islam and US Foreign Policy. He can be reached at Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
