110 House Republican lawmakers have signed onto a letter pressuring President Joe Biden (D) to abandon negotiations with Iran as it tries to get the Islamic regime to reenter the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
“We write to urge you to immediately withdraw from the fruitless Vienna talks to re-enter the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and instead strongly enforce existing sanctions against Iran, particularly with respect to the oil trade between Iran and the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Further delay of action on this only further enables Iran’s malign activities, including their aggressive nuclear pursuits,” the lawmakers, lead by House Foreign Affairs Committee Lead Republican Michael McCaul, wrote.
The Free Beacon reported:
The letter is a sign that Republicans are united against reentering the 2015 accord. It also comes as negotiations with Tehran drag into a second year, with the Iranian regime demanding further concessions from the Biden administration, including the full reversal of sanctions on the country’s nuclear program and regional terrorism enterprise.
As diplomatic talks resume after months of delays, Iran has greatly expanded its nuclear program, including its enrichment of uranium, a main component in an atomic weapon. Iran is now enriching and stockpiling highly enriched uranium, which can only [be] used for a bomb. This work has continued in the face of ongoing sanctions and opposition from the international community. Senior Biden administration officials have acknowledged in recent weeks that Iran is stalling negotiations while it advances its nuclear program.
The letter highlighted recent statements from Biden administration officials about the status of the talks in Vienna:
- Special Envoy for Iran Rob Malley said on December 21, “It seems very clear (Iran) is trying to build leverage by expanding their nuclear program and hoping to use that leverage to get a better deal.”
- State Department Spokesman Ned Price said on December 28, “Iran has at best been dragging its feet in the talks while accelerating its nuclear escalation,” and “we have not yet seen sufficient urgency … demonstrated by Iran. Of course, the last couple rounds also started with new nuclear provocations and then were characterized by, in some cases, vague, unrealistic, unconstructive positions on the part of Iran.”
“Meanwhile, Iran is charging forward with its nuclear program, using advanced centrifuges and producing equipment for such centrifuges while stockpiling increasing quantities of uranium enriched at 20 percent and 60 percent purity,” the letter stated. “Iran also continues to gain irreversible knowledge through this nuclear work. While the Administration has consistently indicated a willingness to negotiate toward a return to the JCPOA, Iran has made a return even less valuable for the P5+1 as it makes greater nuclear gains and gets closer to the deal’s sunsets. Moreover, Iran is no longer implementing the IAEA’s additional protocol to its comprehensive safeguards agreement, further diminishing the world’s visibility on Iran’s nuclear program.”
The letter said that Iran’s recent actions were the epitome of bad faith, and that the U.S. and its allies and partners must turn up the heat on Iran to get them to abandon their nuclear pursuits.
“As a first, immediate step, the Administration must enforce penalties against the PRC’s flagrant violations of U.S. sanctions on Iran’s oil trade. Iran’s oil shipments are now worth at least $1.3 billion per month, despite the fact that U.S. sanctions are still in effect,” the letter concluded. “The PRC accounts for the bulk of these shipments. In September, Reuters reported that the Administration was prioritizing diplomatic engagement to solve this problem, with one official quoted as saying ‘this is a more effective path forward to address our concerns.’ Unfortunately, this strategy has not borne fruit. Reports in November showed that the PRC continued to import an average of over half a million barrels of Iranian oil per day. It is well past time for the Administration to end these farcical negotiations and fully enforce our existing sanctions to slash this vital source of revenue for the Iranian regime.”