Group of American Senators Warn Against Return to JCPOA
More than 40 American senators warned Biden in a letter about returning to the JCPOA. They have called for “a combination of political and economic pressures” on Iran to make the Islamic Republic abandon its nuclear program.
A number of American senators from both major parties of the country, in a letter addressed to Joe Biden, the president, have asked him to be cautious about returning to the nuclear agreement with Iran (JCPOA). This letter was drafted at the initiative of two senior senators, Bob Menendez, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee from the Democratic Party, and Lindsey Graham, from the Republican Party.
In their letter to Biden, they said that he should consider the fact that Iran has developed its nuclear program further than ever before.
The senators, who are from both the Democratic and Republican parties, emphasize that they may have different views on former President Trump’s “maximum pressure” policy, but they share the concern that Iran has increased its uranium enrichment program to 20 percent.
43 American senators declare: “While Democratic and Republican representatives may have tactical differences in how to deal with Iran, we all agree on opposing Iran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons and also on the necessity of confronting Iran’s unacceptable behavior.”
In their letter, the senators asked Biden: “You should use diplomatic and economic tools, in coordination with our allies in the UN Security Council and in the region, so that Iran can never acquire atomic weapons and also withdraw from its ballistic missile program and destabilizing activities throughout the Middle East.”
The United States unilaterally withdrew from the nuclear agreement between world powers and Iran (JCPOA) in May 2018.
The Biden administration has said it seeks a broader agreement with Iran that goes beyond the nuclear program, covering both the Islamic Republic’s ballistic missile program and “Iran’s destabilizing activities in the Middle East.”
Anthony Blinken, U.S. Secretary of State, on Wednesday evening, March 24 (Farvardin 4), at a joint press conference with Josep Borrell, coordinator of foreign policy of the European Union, emphasized the willingness of the United States to preserve the JCPOA nuclear agreement.
Both officials called on the Islamic Republic of Iran to remain faithful to its nuclear commitments.
The U.S. Secretary of State, at the conclusion of the two-day NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels, once again emphasized his country’s desire for diplomatic engagement with Iran; however, he clarified: “We want to have a stronger and longer agreement. An agreement that includes Iran’s ballistic missile program and issues that pose difficulties for the stability of the countries in the region.”
