https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-administration-iran-deal-nuclear-weapons-international-atomic-energy-agency-7251bbe1?mod=opinion_lead_pos1
Here we go again. The same people who gave us the Iran nuclear deal in 2015 are trying to pull off a new version that would send Iran cash on day one in return for promises down the road.
The deal taking shape, per press reports in the U.S. and Israel, isn’t the “longer and stronger” agreement President Biden promised. He held that out for months but Iran refused. Now, in a remarkable retreat, the Biden Administration is pursuing an unwritten “understanding” with Iran to get to the brink of a nuclear breakout but go no further.
Iran has enough uranium enriched to 60% purity for several nuclear weapons, and it can get to weapons-grade quickly. But the U.S. isn’t asking Iran to turn over enriched material. The deal mooted in the press offers financial relief for Iran via sanctions waivers, plus a promise of no new sanctions or International Atomic Energy Agency censures, while requesting only that Iran not enrich uranium beyond 60%.
Color us skeptical that an unwritten agreement, without clear technical restrictions, would compel Iran to reinstall monitoring equipment, turn over data or submit to enhanced inspections. It isn’t clear what role the IAEA would play, and the U.S. would risk Iranian withdrawal if it insisted on real verification or responded meaningfully to Iran’s foreign aggression or domestic crackdowns.
“Trust but verify” is being turned on its head. There’s no trust and little verification. The new strategy is hope and pay.
Last week the U.S. gave Iraq a sanctions waiver to pay Iran $2.76 billion for gas and electricity. This looks like the kind of goodwill gesture—a bribe to keep talking—that the U.S. ruled out in October 2021. The Biden Administration says the waiver is unrelated, citing past payments driven by Iraqi energy needs, but this one is five times as large.
The Administration says Iran will spend the Iraqi funds only on food and medicine, as if money isn’t fungible. In reality the U.S. is freeing up billions of dollars that will finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its imperialism across the Middle East.