The Biden administration is still hoping to revive the nuclear deal with the ruling mullahs of Iran and to keep the US Congress out of it, perhaps during the Christmas break when Congress is not in session. The Biden administration's nuclear deal will not only be a win for the ruling mullahs of Iran, but also for Iran's staunch ally, Russia.
First of all, Biden's new deal will gift Russia by allowing it to cash in on a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. Russian President Vladimir Putin will most likely have a stake in the $10 billion contract. In fact, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stunningly made it clear to US lawmakers that the Biden administration will not stand in the way of Russia cashing in on the $10 billion contract as well as Russia-Iran nuclear cooperation. And the State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated the Biden administration's stance by pointing out:
"We, of course, would not sanction Russian participation in nuclear projects that are part of resuming full implementation of the JCPOA".
That is a total capitulation to two tyrants and authoritarian regimes: the Ayatollahs' and Putin's. As US Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) accurately pointed out:
"The Biden administration is so desperate for a deal with Iran they'll broker a $10 billion payoff to Russia and waive their own sanctions to make it happen."
In addition, the Biden administration is trusting Russia to conduct the nuclear negotiations on behalf of the US; to be the sole country to oversee compliance with the nuclear deal, and to keep Iran's highly enriched uranium -- able to return it to Iran if the mullahs request it. This provision triggered 50 bipartisan US lawmakers to write to Biden:
"[W]e strongly urge your Administration not to permit Russia to be the recipient of Iran's enriched uranium nor to have the right to conduct nuclear work with the Islamic Republic, including a $10 billion contract to expand Iran's nuclear infrastructure. We should not let war criminal Vladimir Putin be the guarantor of the deal or the keeper of massive amounts of Iran's enriched uranium. Iran supports the illegal war in Ukraine and has been supplying Russia with drones used to kill Ukrainians."
Biden's new nuclear deal will lift sanctions on the Iranian regime and open the flow of billions of dollars to the ruling mullahs who are providing weapons to Russia in the Ukraine, to prolong the war and cause even more damage to Ukrainians. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) supplied Russia with hundreds of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), including advanced models capable of firing missiles. A Russian delegation recently visited an airfield in central Iran on several occasions to examine Iran's weapons-capable drones.
Many US Senators have slammed the Biden administration for working with Russia on the new Iran nuclear deal while Putin continues his slaughter in Ukraine. "This Iran Deal if and when it is announced will be a massive win for Vladimir Putin," Senator Ted Cruz said during the press conference.
"Because the Biden administration has been eager to tell Putin and tell the Ayatollah of course we will have a carveout for the Iran deal on Russia sanctions which means Putin will make billions in oil and gas transactions, in nuclear transactions, and in weapons transactions."
Senator Jim Risch added:
"Mr President, you're the only one in America doing business with the Russians, stop doing business with the Russians. Don't have them negotiating for us, walk on this deal."
Working with Russia to get a deal on Iran nuclear program is "insane," Senator Joni Ernst rightly put it.
"Russia, this is the country with tanks running over Ukraine right now killing innocent civilians... Children, women, people that we care about and yet they're using those Russians to negotiate a deal with yet another one of our near-peer adversaries, Iran."
Senator John Barrasso also echoed other Senators' message by stating:
"It's the Russians who are doing the negotiations on behalf of the United States. You turn on the TV and radio and see what the Russians are doing in Ukraine. How in the world can we allow them to negotiate on our behalf?"
The Biden administration nevertheless appears determined to give Russia the biggest gift ever: an Iran nuclear deal, complete with enriched uranium for nuclear bombs to be used whenever Russia or Iran decide.
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
andrea karambelas