The kind of ups and downs in the developments in the deliberations between Iran and the USA make us believe that there cannot be any considerable development in this regard. However, while the Biden administration is trying to put up a strong face on the surface, the recent statement from Iran gives us an entirely opposite picture. Iran said that Washington had agreed to remove all sanctions on Iran’s oil and shipping, and take some senior figures off a blacklist, at talks to revive Tehran’s 2015 nuclear deal with global powers which are now on a pause, Reuters reported.
Although the Biden administration is not agreeing with what Iran is saying, the fact that recent developments have been significantly favourable to Iran tells us something is going on behind the scenes. The remarks by Hassan Rouhani’s chief of staff were consistent with previous assertions by officials in Rouhani’s pragmatist camp that Washington is willing to make big concessions at the talks, which have been ongoing in Vienna since April. The discussions were suspended on Sunday, two days after hardliner Ebrahim Raisi, the head of Iran’s judiciary, was elected president. Raisi is on the US blacklist. Rouhani will be replaced by Raisi in August.
Joe Biden’s sycophancy with the Iran Nuclear Deal is something really wondrous and infuriating for the regional allies of the USA in the Middle East region. Even at a time when the US ally Saudi Arabia is facing increased attacks from the Houthi rebels in the backdrop of the election of Ebrahim Raisi as the leader of Iran, the Biden administration is stripping Arab nations of the missile defence systems as a bargain for the Iran nuclear deal. The Pentagon is pulling missile defence systems and other military hardware and personnel from Saudi Arabia and other countries in the Middle East, according to a defence official.
The Pentagon is pulling approximately eight Patriot anti-missile batteries from Arab countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, according to officials. Another antimissile system known as a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad system, is being withdrawn from Saudi Arabia, and jet fighter squadrons assigned to the region are being reduced, those officials said. If we observe the statements from Iran in the backdrop of this development then we can say that Joe Biden is jeopardizing allies and while showing a brave face from the front, he is giving unconditional concessions to Iran in the hope of a nuclear deal.
“An agreement has been reached to remove all insurance, oil and shipping sanctions that were imposed by [former US President Donald] Trump,” presidential chief of staff Mahmoud Vaezi was quoted as saying by state media. “About 1,040 Trump-era sanctions will be lifted under the agreement. It was also agreed to lift some sanctions on individuals and members of the supreme leader’s inner circle.”
This becomes all the more clear as US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday there was still “a fair distance to travel”, including on sanctions and on the nuclear commitments that Iran has to make. Other Western and Iranian officials have also said the talks are a long way from a conclusion.
Raisi’s ascendancy is unlikely to change Iran’s negotiation posture, according to Iranian and Western officials alike, because Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei already has final authority on all significant matters. However, some Iranian officials have stated that Tehran would prefer to reach an agreement before Raisi enters office in order to provide a clean slate for the incoming president.
It has become aptly clear that Joe Biden and his administration, notwithstanding any warnings and suggestions from its regional allies, is putting all chips in one basket and is sneakily removing sanctions on Iran to bring back the Obama era, Iran Nuclear Deal.
