Dear John,
We are nearly eighteen months into the Biden administration and the nuclear crisis is growing worse by the day.
This week, the U.S. and European states convinced the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors to pass a censure resolution on Iran, prompting Iran to retaliate by installing even more advanced centrifuges and turning off 27 of the agency’s monitoring cameras. Meanwhile, Iran now has as little as a 10-day "breakout" window to develop enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon and the Israeli military has been practicing bombing Iran's nuclear facilities.
These troubling new developments underscore the danger of failing to resolve this crisis diplomatically. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi warned Iran’s moves could be a “fatal blow” to the JCPOA.
Biden’s approach with Iran continues to fail. He has kept Trump’s “maximum pressure” sanctions in place, even after condemning them, but somehow expected a different result. Rather than resealing the deal in March, he dug in on a key Trump poison pill. Now, Iran is imposing its own version of maximum pressure on the United States. Read my full piece on this here.
As bad as Trump’s approach was, Biden’s failure to decisively shift course is now the more consequential decision.
But we aren’t giving up . We must redouble our efforts to press the Biden Administration and Congress to take necessary steps to salvage these negotiations before it is too late, and to educate the public on what is at stake.
The people of Iran deserve better. Americans who want peace and justice deserve better. We won’t give up the fight and hope that you’ll continue to stand with us as we work for peace and to avert the devastation of war.
Ryan Costello
Policy Director, NIAC
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