The Biden administration is ready to join talks with Iran and world leaders to discuss the U.S. return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). These talks are necessary because, despite the fact that Iran was in full compliance, President Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the agreement in 2018. Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign of brutal sanctions, aimed at forcing Iran to accept a tougher deal, failed.
In a recent letter, a coalition of Delawareans urged Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., to support President Joe Biden’s position that the U.S. will rejoin the agreement if Iran resumes compliance. We thanked Sen. Coons for his vote to support the original agreement and his opposition to President Trump’s withdrawal.
In a 2016 address to the Council on Foreign Relations, Sen. Coons acknowledged that “the last year has shown that international agreement and multilateral diplomacy can be effective, even with rogue states like Iran.” Later in the speech, Sen. Coons told the group: “If we abandon the JCPOA, we don’t end up with a better agreement, nor do we end up with no agreement. Instead, our partners around the world will most likely develop a new strategy to deal with Iran without American leadership or input. If we abandon this agreement, we signal that we’re giving up on diplomacy. We could lose valuable intelligence. We would forego the support of our allies. And we would close vital communications channels to senior Iranian leaders that have helped to restrain Iran’s nuclear program. Frankly, I think that’s exactly what the most conservative elements in Iran’s regime want.”
In his response to our letter, Sen. Coons said he supports a “US re-entry into a longer and stronger nuclear deal with Iran.” But how can we negotiate a new deal when we violated the original one? President Biden must first restore America’s diplomatic credibility by lifting sanctions and rejoining JCPOA.
We may only have a short time to reverse the damage caused by the Trump administration. Iran will hold a presidential election in June. President Hassan Rouhani won the last two elections by promoting the benefits of the nuclear deal. But hard-liners currently hold the upper hand. They argue that the U.S. can’t be trusted to honor its commitments.
The 2020 Democratic Party platform states: “We believe the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) remains the best means to verifiably cut off all of Iran’s pathways to a nuclear bomb. The Trump Administration’s unilateral withdrawal from the JCPOA isolated us from our allies and opened the door for Iran to resume its march toward a nuclear weapons capacity that the JCPOA had stopped. That’s why returning to mutual compliance with the agreement is so urgent.”
We call on Sen. Coons to support his party’s platform and President Biden’s position on mutual compliance. To do otherwise risks a nuclear-arms race and war in the Middle East. That is a risk the world cannot afford.
Joanne Cabry
Chair, Progressive Democrats of Sussex County
Rehoboth Beach
