Washington: Attack on author last week Salman Rushdie And the indictment of an Iranian national for plotting to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton has given the Biden administration new headaches as it tries to negotiate a return to the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. A resolution may be technically close. But as America and Europe weigh IranThe latest response to the EU proposal, described as the West’s final proposal, leaves the administration facing new and potentially insurmountable domestic political hurdles to reach a permanent settlement.
Deal critics in Congress who have long vowed to scrap any deal have opposed talks with a country whose leadership refused to rescind death threats against Rushdie or Bolton. Is.
Iran has also promised the assassination of a former foreign minister in retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian general in 2020 by the Trump administration. Mike Pompeo and Iran’s envoy Brian Hook, both live under 24/7 taxpayer-payer security protection.
While such threats are not included in the agreement, which deals solely with Iran’s nuclear program, they underscore opponents’ arguments that Iran cannot be trusted with billions of dollars in sanctions, He will receive it if and when he returns to America. A signature foreign policy achievement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA Obama administration of the president Donald Trump Withdrawn from 2018.
“This is a harder deal to sell than the 2015 deal, with no illusions this time whether it will soften Iranian behavior or promote US-Iran cooperation,” said Karim Sajjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment. for international peace.
“The Iranian government stands to get tens of billions in the form of sanctions relief, and the organizing principle of the regime will continue to protest against the United States and its critics at home and abroad,” he said.
Iran has denied any links with Rushdie’s alleged attacker, a US citizen who was charged with attempted murder and pleaded not guilty to the August 12 stabbing at a literary event in western New York. did.
But Iranian state media have celebrated Iran’s long-standing animosity towards Rushdie since the 1988 publication of his book, “The Satanic Verses,” which some see as an insult to Islam.
Media linked to Iran’s leadership commended the attacker for complying with a 1989 decree, or fatwa, calling for Rushdie to be executed, which was signed by Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
And the man charged with plotting to kill Bolton is a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Justice Department alleges that the IRGC tried to pay $300,000 to people in the United States to avenge the death of Qassem Soleimani, the chief of its elite Quds Force killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in 2020.
“I think it’s a fallacy to believe that the regime with whom you are about to enter into a significant arms control agreement can be relied upon to comply with its obligations or is even serious about negotiating when This is plotting the murder of high-level former government officials and current government officials,” Bolton told reporters on Wednesday.
“It certainly appears that the Revolutionary Guard was part of the attack on Salman Rushdie,” Bolton said.
“We must stop this artificial divide when dealing with the Iranian government between its nuclear activities on the one hand and its terrorist activities on the other.”
Others agree.
Rich Goldberg, a former National Security Council staffer in the Trump administration and longtime critic of the deal, said, “Terrorism sanctions relief is somewhere between humiliating and insane in the midst of terrorist plots operating on American soil.” Which has also lobbied against a return to the JCPOA.
Acknowledging the seriousness of the plots, administration officials argue that they are unrelated to the nuclear issue and do nothing to change their longstanding belief that an Iran with a nuclear weapon is more dangerous and more dangerous than an Iran without one. would be less constrained.
“The JCPOA is about the only, central challenge that we face with Iran, the main challenge, what will be the biggest challenge we face from Iran, and that is a nuclear weapon,” a State Department spokesman said. Ned Price Said this week.
“There is no doubt that a nuclear-armed Iran would feel an even greater degree of impunity, and would pose an even greater threat, to countries in the region and potentially much further.”
“Every challenge we face with Iran, whether it is behind-the-scenes support, its support for terrorist groups, its ballistic missile program, its deadly cyber activities – every one of them – will be more difficult to face if Iran has nuclear weapons program,” he said.
However, that argument will be challenged in Congress by lawmakers opposing the 2015 deal, saying it gave Iran the way to develop a nuclear weapon by limiting the toughest sanctions on its nuclear activities. He says there is even more convincing evidence that Iran’s malicious behavior has become impossible to deal with.
Republican Senators, Two of the Deal’s Most Outspoken Critics ted cruz more of texas tom cotton The people of Arkansas have taken note of what the Rushdie attack should mean for the administration.
“The Ayatollahs have been trying to assassinate Salman Rushdie for decades,” Cruz said.
“His provocation and his contacts with this terrorist resulted in an attack. This vicious terrorist attack must be completely condemned. The Biden administration must finally stop appeasing the Iranian regime.”
“Iran’s leaders have been demanding the assassination of Salman Rushdie for decades,” Cotton said. “We know they are trying to assassinate US officials today. Biden needs to immediately end talks with this terrorist regime.”
Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, or Inara, the administration must submit any agreement with Iran to Congress for review within five days of it being sealed. This begins a 30-day review period, during which lawmakers can weigh in and no sanctions relief be granted.
That timeline means that if an agreement is reached within the next week, the administration won’t be able to begin moving forward on sanctions relief until late September, just a month before crucial congressional midterm elections. And, it will take additional time for Iran to start seeing the benefits of such relief due to logistical constraints.
While deal critics in the current Congress are unlikely to be able to scrap the deal, if Republicans win back control of Congress in the midterm, they may be able to rescind any sanctions relief.
The GOP minority on the House Armed Services Committee said in a tweet Wednesday, “Even if Iran accepts President Biden’s full surrender and Iran agrees to re-enter the nuclear deal, Congress will never lift sanctions.” Will not vote to remove.”
“Indeed, Republicans in Congress will work to strengthen sanctions against Iran.”
Deal critics in Congress who have long vowed to scrap any deal have opposed talks with a country whose leadership refused to rescind death threats against Rushdie or Bolton. Is.
Iran has also promised the assassination of a former foreign minister in retaliation for the killing of a top Iranian general in 2020 by the Trump administration. Mike Pompeo and Iran’s envoy Brian Hook, both live under 24/7 taxpayer-payer security protection.
While such threats are not included in the agreement, which deals solely with Iran’s nuclear program, they underscore opponents’ arguments that Iran cannot be trusted with billions of dollars in sanctions, He will receive it if and when he returns to America. A signature foreign policy achievement of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA Obama administration of the president Donald Trump Withdrawn from 2018.
“This is a harder deal to sell than the 2015 deal, with no illusions this time whether it will soften Iranian behavior or promote US-Iran cooperation,” said Karim Sajjadpour, an Iran expert at the Carnegie Endowment. for international peace.
“The Iranian government stands to get tens of billions in the form of sanctions relief, and the organizing principle of the regime will continue to protest against the United States and its critics at home and abroad,” he said.
Iran has denied any links with Rushdie’s alleged attacker, a US citizen who was charged with attempted murder and pleaded not guilty to the August 12 stabbing at a literary event in western New York. did.
But Iranian state media have celebrated Iran’s long-standing animosity towards Rushdie since the 1988 publication of his book, “The Satanic Verses,” which some see as an insult to Islam.
Media linked to Iran’s leadership commended the attacker for complying with a 1989 decree, or fatwa, calling for Rushdie to be executed, which was signed by Iran’s then Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
And the man charged with plotting to kill Bolton is a member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The Justice Department alleges that the IRGC tried to pay $300,000 to people in the United States to avenge the death of Qassem Soleimani, the chief of its elite Quds Force killed in a US airstrike in Iraq in 2020.
“I think it’s a fallacy to believe that the regime with whom you are about to enter into a significant arms control agreement can be relied upon to comply with its obligations or is even serious about negotiating when This is plotting the murder of high-level former government officials and current government officials,” Bolton told reporters on Wednesday.
“It certainly appears that the Revolutionary Guard was part of the attack on Salman Rushdie,” Bolton said.
“We must stop this artificial divide when dealing with the Iranian government between its nuclear activities on the one hand and its terrorist activities on the other.”
Others agree.
Rich Goldberg, a former National Security Council staffer in the Trump administration and longtime critic of the deal, said, “Terrorism sanctions relief is somewhere between humiliating and insane in the midst of terrorist plots operating on American soil.” Which has also lobbied against a return to the JCPOA.
Acknowledging the seriousness of the plots, administration officials argue that they are unrelated to the nuclear issue and do nothing to change their longstanding belief that an Iran with a nuclear weapon is more dangerous and more dangerous than an Iran without one. would be less constrained.
“The JCPOA is about the only, central challenge that we face with Iran, the main challenge, what will be the biggest challenge we face from Iran, and that is a nuclear weapon,” a State Department spokesman said. Ned Price Said this week.
“There is no doubt that a nuclear-armed Iran would feel an even greater degree of impunity, and would pose an even greater threat, to countries in the region and potentially much further.”
“Every challenge we face with Iran, whether it is behind-the-scenes support, its support for terrorist groups, its ballistic missile program, its deadly cyber activities – every one of them – will be more difficult to face if Iran has nuclear weapons program,” he said.
However, that argument will be challenged in Congress by lawmakers opposing the 2015 deal, saying it gave Iran the way to develop a nuclear weapon by limiting the toughest sanctions on its nuclear activities. He says there is even more convincing evidence that Iran’s malicious behavior has become impossible to deal with.
Republican Senators, Two of the Deal’s Most Outspoken Critics ted cruz more of texas tom cotton The people of Arkansas have taken note of what the Rushdie attack should mean for the administration.
“The Ayatollahs have been trying to assassinate Salman Rushdie for decades,” Cruz said.
“His provocation and his contacts with this terrorist resulted in an attack. This vicious terrorist attack must be completely condemned. The Biden administration must finally stop appeasing the Iranian regime.”
“Iran’s leaders have been demanding the assassination of Salman Rushdie for decades,” Cotton said. “We know they are trying to assassinate US officials today. Biden needs to immediately end talks with this terrorist regime.”
Under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act, or Inara, the administration must submit any agreement with Iran to Congress for review within five days of it being sealed. This begins a 30-day review period, during which lawmakers can weigh in and no sanctions relief be granted.
That timeline means that if an agreement is reached within the next week, the administration won’t be able to begin moving forward on sanctions relief until late September, just a month before crucial congressional midterm elections. And, it will take additional time for Iran to start seeing the benefits of such relief due to logistical constraints.
While deal critics in the current Congress are unlikely to be able to scrap the deal, if Republicans win back control of Congress in the midterm, they may be able to rescind any sanctions relief.
The GOP minority on the House Armed Services Committee said in a tweet Wednesday, “Even if Iran accepts President Biden’s full surrender and Iran agrees to re-enter the nuclear deal, Congress will never lift sanctions.” Will not vote to remove.”
“Indeed, Republicans in Congress will work to strengthen sanctions against Iran.”