The prospect of another nuclear deal between Iran and the U.S. — long thought dead by rational observers — has reared its head again. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset foreign relations and security committee that the Biden administration held “indirect talks” with Iran about reviving the now-defunct nuclear deal.
This goes beyond statecraft and goes to the heart of who Joe Biden is. He is trying to salvage the legacy of Barack Obama largely because he owes him for plucking him from obscurity and reviving his career in 2008 by naming him vice president. Biden, a very old-fashioned politician, recognizes that without Obama’s move to bring him on as VP, Biden wouldn’t be president today.
Both Iran and the U.S. are denying that any “indirect talks” are taking place and that an “interim deal” has been negotiated.
“This report is false and misleading,” a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council told Reuters, referring to an article on the London-based Middle East Eye website. “Any reports of an interim deal are false.”
Iran’s mission to the United Nations also cast doubt on the report, saying, “Our comment is the same as the White House comment.”
That Reuters report was from June 8. Now, Prime Minister Netanyahu is confirming the contact.
The Biden administration has so far not publicly confirmed that it recently held indirect talks with Iran in Oman, as Axios previously reported. The administration has also denied that it is working on an interim agreement with Tehran.
Netanyahu is opposed to a new deal with Iran. His remarks in a closed forum that often leaks to the press appear to be a way for him to indirectly increase pressure on the Biden administration.
Catch up quick: Axios last week reported that U.S. and Iranian officials held indirect talks in Oman last month with Omani officials shuttling between the two sides and passing messages.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed the talks took place.
According to sources briefed on the talks, one of the main messages from the U.S. focused on deterrence. The sources said the U.S. made it clear that Iran will pay a heavy price if it moves forward with 90% uranium enrichment — the level needed to produce a nuclear weapon.
The outline of the deal as explained by Netanyahu is grim.
Netanyahu said the “understanding” that is being discussed includes an Iranian commitment not to enrich uranium above the level of 60%, a U.S. willingness to allow for the release of billions of dollars in Iranian funds that are currently frozen, and a prisoner exchange deal, according to the five Israeli lawmakers who attended the Knesset meeting.
Netanyahu claimed that the Biden administration doesn’t see the 2015 nuclear deal as relevant anymore. He added that the product currently being discussed can’t be defined as an “agreement,” but is more like a “mini agreement” or “an understanding,” the lawmakers said.
During the hearing, Netanyahu also said he thinks an understanding between the U.S. and Iran is possible and stressed that Israel will object to it and won’t be bound by it.
Iran’s “pinky promise” not to enrich uranium above 60% is useless. The time it takes to enrich uranium from 60% to a bomb-grade 90% is, depending on the sophistication of their centrifuge machines, a matter of days or a couple of weeks.
And releasing billions of dollars more for Iran to maintain its terror regime — a regime in the process of oppressing its own people, supplying money to terrorists across the region, and assisting Russia in its war against Ukraine — is perhaps the most cynical act of Biden’s entire presidency.
Bringing Americans home from captivity is always welcome. But if it’s an “exchange,” just who is it we’re sending back to Iran for our people? To get one female professional basketball player out of Russian custody cost us the release of arms dealer Viktor Bout — a murderer reponsible for the deaths of dozens of people.
I shudder to think who Biden will release to get his precious “mini-agreement” on nuclear weapons.
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