(Washington Insider Magazine) – Even as reports suggest that as of right now, today, the United States and Iran are closer now to a resurrected JCPOA than at any time since Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from it in 2018, there are Republicans who remain as staunch as ever in their sheer and utter disdain for this internationally reasoned and widely accepted diplomatic recourse. They do not wish for America to rejoin any deal with Iran until Iran does all sorts of things that have always seemed unlikely to occur without an internationally sanctioned and reasoned plan or route by which progress could be processed through.
Whether the rumblings come from the United States Senate, the House of Representatives, or simply conservative commentators, they show no ounce of either empathy or comprehension regarding what is, once again, like in 2014, the greatest chance for an improved relationship between the western powers of the world and Iran. Furthermore, restarting the multilateral accord with the United States involved once again remains in Iran’s best interests should they wish to rejoin and reintegrate in a reasonable and amicable way, into the international community of nations.
Yet in that intellectual, often theoretical realm, those “great” conservative thinkers believe that, somehow, the same strategy that accelerated Iran’s nuclear production and capabilities, that looked to suffocate and starve Iran even as a global pandemic gripped the earth, and that helped to push that nation’s political timbre ever closer towards the reactionary, Principlist old guard and away from those reformers like the diplomat and ex-President, Hassan Rouhani. They remain deadset against any innovation by the Biden Administration that might illustrate once and for all the absolute idiocy and real damage of the Trump-JCPOA decision.
The Republicans, however, are in a bit of a proverbial pickle regarding this deal and the entire circumstance in general: They first cried and moaned about the original Iran Nuclear Deal, of which Barack Obama worked with two different Iranian Presidential administrations in order to obtain, as a deal which would essentially guarantee Iran the nuclear bomb by the end of the original agreement, and pushed and goaded Donald Trump to remove the United States from the deal once he became the President of the United States.
They then, alongside Trump, championed the failed “maximum pressure” campaign against Iran of which failed to produce either diplomatic or lliteral groveling from Tehran, of which included the assassination by drone strike of Iranian Quds Force Commander Qasem Soleimani in early January of 2020. The renewed sanctions against Iran did not create anything in Iran but greater human suffering and toil, of which only increased as the COVID-19 descended and swept the nation shortly thereafter.
By the time the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden, took office just a little over a year ago at the time of this piece, Iran was closer than ever to achieving broad and sweeping nuclear capabilities. In the succeeding months, rulings and pollings would indicate that the coming Iranian Presidential Election appeared likely to bring the internationally recognized criminal against humanity, Ebrahim Raisi, into power as the next President of Iran. Raisi, in all likelihood, according to reports and well placed analysts, could very well also be the next Supreme Leader of Iran too, upon the death of the current Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
But with all of that on the plate of Joe Biden, and with all of the criticism from folks like me regarding his handling of foreign policy, should this reworked Iranian Deal find the final necessary signature from the likes of the United States, Iran, as well as the rest of the nations still involved in this collective dance, it will be a really important and impressive accomplishment for the former Vice President and Senator from Delaware. Yet even as Biden and the people of the United States, those folks who, generally speaking, agree and wish for a new Iranian Nuclear Deal, celebrate the great breakthrough that so many, at one time or another, believed would not be witnessed again, the GOP will still be sulking, as they always seem to be about one thing or another.
To be sure, it is not as though the GOP have any other plan for dealing with Iran diplomatically speaking; they never brought up or created any other measured, reasonable or thoughtful type of multilateral agreement for Iran or American allies to analyze or work off of either before or after Donald Trump removed the United States from the original multilateral agreement. And today, they still have nothing better or more constructive than this new Biden JCPOA, yet cannot bear the thought of a positive, mutual or productive agreement either.
While Republicans tell Joe Biden to reject an Iranian Nuclear Deal today, they also promise that any deal that he would sign, without congressional approval, would be subject to a Republican President’s whims in the same way as was witnessed previously. It is difficult to imagine what goes through the minds of such hawkish, shortsighted and reactionary men and women, yet what cannot be missed in all of this fuss is that the obstruction to progress, development and humanitarian innovation is nearly criminal if not remarkably immoral, well as diplomatically impractical and counterproductive.
They cannot, however, admit that their obstruction all those years ago during the Obama administration was misplaced and misguided then, or that their choice to push for a revocation of the deal on the part of the United States has created the very circumstances that the original JCPOA was designed to inhibit, that the GOP said would be inevitable with the deal in place, and that we are now, in actuality, closer to than at any previous point in time.
It is, of course, never easy to admit you have made a mistake, and for a political party, it can oftentimes be seen as a real blow to the confidence that a party might emanate as well as the votes they might be able to get, and yet, were circumstances regarding Iran and the multilateral nuclear deal to transpire as they all did during the one term of the 45th President, a major international incident could eventually ensue, and there would likely not be a third opportunity to fix and work on the situation.
To obstruct the honest proceedings of another constituted JCPOA would be not only a slap to the face to a second Presidential administration, all of the diplomats that have worked so diligently on this innovation, again, as well as the very honor and integrity of American international agreements, but would constitute real disrespect to those American allies and their efforts too. Moreover, the disrespect towards Iran would be nearly inescapable too; for Iran, to go into good faith negotiations twice with a nation long held as an adversary, only to be betrayed twice in less than one decade by that polity would be an intolerable innovation and would scar future proceedings with even greater and longer-lasting damage than was even felt last time.
I have stated that the odds of Joe Biden getting a better deal than his Democratic predecessor Barack Obama got would be astronomical, precisely because of the “diplomatic” machinations of the 45th President between them; when the details of the renewed deal entirely come to light, we will have a better understanding of precisely what was lost and what was compromised upon, yet the deficiencies will and should be attributed back to Donald Trump, and not Joe Biden.
Should this iteration of the JCPOA be pulled back from by some future Republican President – Donald Trump or someone else – not only will future negotiations be almost untenable to even suggest, but a miracle deal by some future Democratic President would likely offer little chance or potential for positive progress, whether regarding the American-Iranian relationship, humanitarian and social goals, international diplomatic and economic innovations vis-a-vis Iran, or else regarding the nuclear capabilities of that nation and their place within the greater international community of nations.
Therefore, present or future Republican interference with the natural happenings of this previously agreed-to multilateral pact must simply not be allowed to occur. What Joe Biden, Democrats, American international allies and Iran themselves must hope for is simply that no Republican becomes President before the reconceived Iranian Nuclear Deal bears tangible fruit, at which time, public opinion and pressure might very well render any future attempt to sabotage the internationally monitored nuclear deal politically dangerous for conservatives.
And of course, this is not the most favorable position for the administration of Joe Biden to be in right now either. Should Donald Trump have had the ability or desire to appraise his predecessor’s dealings fairly before castigating them and removing the United States from them, Biden could be worrying exclusively about different domestic and global inequities instead. Yet here we are, and the 46th President appears to be on the verge of another major diplomatic innovation, in rebuke of the sanction regime of which the United States has found itself increasingly “in love” with in some senses.
The risk by Biden is and was obviously worth taking, because not only is it in the best interests of the United States to find an agreement with Iran – as was accomplished in 2014 – in accord with the greater community of nations, but it remains very much in the best interests of Iran itself, no matter if the Ayatollah and his President wish not to say as much publicly. The country of Iran is in bad shape right now; between sanctions, the ravages of the Opioid Crisis on that nation and its people, those of the waves of COVID-19 variants that have fallen upon the entire world, and their ailing economy, a diplomatic victory for that nation is, at this moment, as important as it will be for President Biden and his administration and first term in office.
To have turned back the tides of the Trump era, especially regarding such a dire and important circumstance as Iran and its place within the world and greater community of nations, should be appraised as a fantastic and major accomplishment of his Presidency. Yet there is still more to be done, regarding Iran and so many others. For after all, there are more nations to conference and work towards progress with, like Cuba, Afghanistan, North Korea or Venezuela, through a JCPOA-esque, gradual reintroduction back into both the regional and greater diplomatic and economic community of nations.
The true test of the administration of Joe Biden regarding foreign policy and sanctions will be in how he handles more of, what some might call, the recalcitrant nations of the world, as well as those Republicans who, even now, spray vitriolic admonitions at both Joe Biden and Democrats for their diplomatic overtures, preferring, I guess, to play a sort of international game of chicken with other, poorly treated, frustrated and highly excitable nations across the entire world.
Accomplishing the goal to reinstate the US as a partner within the Iran Nuclear Deal is a major positive achievement for Joe Biden to campaign with as the 2022 Midterm and 2024 Presidential Elections both beckon, yet it must only be the start of the things – both within and without America. The US is starved for change both at home and abroad, and wishes to see more humane and empathetic approaches taken with Americans, immigrants to the US, allies as well as those nations we have not always had the best relationships with,
Iran must be but a start, and indeed, the revised Iranian Nuclear Deal must only be the start of things between America and Iran as well, no matter how frustrated it might make Israel – they will manage and acclimate, I’m sure. The US must cultivate the working and constructive relationship with Iran, even after the revised JCPOA is signed and it is time to get to work, not only because it is the right thing to do, and not only because it is beneficial for all parties cooperatively, diplomatically, economically and materially, but also because the American people demand progress, innovation and mutuality from their leaders – not simply hardheaded, unilateral moves and machinations that make the United States appear weak, unintelligent, apathetic and wholly untrustworthy.
While Joe Biden clearly understands this, at least to some degree and extent, it is equally as clear that the Republicans across the nation do not understand this about America, its people, or its spirit. Furthermore, they do not understand – or choose to ignore for political purposes – how working together and with those apparently disagreeable people and polities can yield quite favorable, positive and deeply rewarding results for not only America, but for the world at large, for as long as amiability and cooperation win the day.
