Biden Backslides on Iran
By Finian Cunningham
February 27, 2021 "Information
Clearing House" - It looks like
President Joe Biden is backsliding on
earlier promises to return the United States
to the nuclear deal with Iran and other
world powers. Which raises the question: who
is pulling Biden’s strings?
Air strikes ordered by Biden this week on
Iranian-backed militia in Syria are
certainly not going to help repair relations
between Washington and Tehran which would be
necessary to salvage what’s left of the
nuclear deal.
During his election campaign, the
Democrat candidate was saying he would
reverse Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy of
hostility toward Iran and if he were elected
would bring the US back into compliance with
the nuclear accord signed in 2015.
Trump had ditched the nuclear pact
signed by the US and other international
powers, and he reimposed crippling
sanctions on Iran.
However, the newly inaugurated Biden
administration is shifting the goalposts
with Iran. The president and his aides are
saying that the US will return to the Joint
Comprehensive Plan of Action – but only
after the Iranians make the first move by
reversing incremental steps Tehran has taken
to reduce
commitments to the JCPOA.
Iran is understandably exasperated by the
US demands. Iranian foreign minister
Mohammad Javad Zarif points out that it is
the American side which is first and
foremost in violation of the nuclear treaty
by unilaterally walking away from it in 2018
under Trump. Iran asserts that the onus is
on Washington to cancel its sanctions and to
abide by its signature on the accord. Then
Tehran will resume adhering to all
provisions.
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This week Iran announced an interim suspension of
snap inspections on its nuclear sites by the
International Atomic Energy Agency for a three-month
period. Iran says it is up to Washington to end its
sanctions by this period, or else the JCPOA can be
considered doomed.
The clock is now ticking on what President Biden
will do. Will he do as he earlier indicated he
would do by returning the US to the JCPOA, which
entails an end to unilateral sanctions? Or will
he insist futilely on pressuring Iran to move
first?
The American air strikes on Iranian assets in
Syria suggest the Biden administration is prepared
to renege on diplomatic overtures with Iran.
Why is Biden appearing to backslide on an
international accord negotiated by the Obama
administration in which he was vice president? Biden
appeared to condemn
Trump’s policy towards Iran during the 2020
election campaign. So why is he seemingly
backpedalling now from getting on with diplomacy
towards Iran?
Two factors emerge. First, Biden and his
Secretary of State Antony Blinken have both publicly
stated that this administration will consult closely
with Israel on Middle East policy. Israel is
vehemently opposed to the US rejoining the nuclear
deal, with some Israeli military chiefs going as far
as saying it would be a cause for military action.
The second factor is Saudi Arabia which is also
implacably opposed to the Iran deal, believing
that any normalization with Tehran would only
enhance rival Iranian influence in the region.
Biden has recently held cordial phone calls with
the Israeli and Saudi leaders in which the American
president praised the “strategic importance” of the
US alliances. As if for purpose of emphasis on that
message, Biden’s call this week with Saudi King
Salman came within hours of the US air strikes on
Iranian-backed militia in Syria.
The “strategic importance” for the US as derived
from its relations with
Israel and Saudi Arabia are manifold: it has to
with maintaining American hegemony in the Middle
East, prolonging lucrative arms sales for the US
military-industrial complex, projection of military
power from myriad bases, and, crucially, propping up
the petrodollar system upon which American economic
power is fatally dependent.
The strategic importance of keeping Israel and
Saudi Arabia sweet for Uncle Sam gives those two
regional powers a veto on American policy. That
would explain why President Biden is backsliding on
previous overtures to resume the nuclear deal with
Iran.
Ultimately, however, American power in the Middle
East is unstable and unsustainable. It is predicated
on provoking tensions and conflict. Biden of all
people should know that. He spent nearly 50 years as
a politician involved in promoting the deadly
interests of US empire in the Middle East.
Finian Cunningham has written
extensively on international affairs, with
articles published in several languages. He is a
Master’s graduate in Agricultural Chemistry and
worked as a scientific editor for the Royal
Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before
pursuing a career in newspaper journalism. He is
also a musician and songwriter. For nearly 20
years, he worked as an editor and writer in
major news media organisations, including The
Mirror, Irish Times and Independent. -
