U.S. Ambassador to UN: Time running out to strike nuclear deal with Iran

OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 10:30 AM PT – Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Diplomats within the Biden administration have vowed to loosen America’s grip on Iran as long as they agree to return to the negotiation table in regards to denuclearization. While speaking at the United Nations Security Council Tuesday, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned time is running out to reach a deal.

The ambassador stressed Joe Biden is more than willing to lift sanctions on the rouge state, which is a move the Ayatollah has demanded since Biden first proposed a return to the 2015 nuclear deal. However, she fears Iran is speaking with both sides of its mouth when they claim to want peace.

“But Iran’s continued nuclear advancements and their lack of urgency in the talks are hollowing out the nonproliferation benefits that would be achieved by mutual return to full JCPOA compliance,” said Thomas-Greenfield. “Iran’s continued nuclear escalations are inconsistent with the stated goal of returning to mutual compliance with the JCPOA.”

The Biden administration’s handling of Iran reflects the worries 45th President Donald Trump called attention to when he pulled out of the original deal in 2018. He worried Barack Obama’s pact did not adequately deter the Ayatollah from developing their nuclear program.

“At the heart of the Iran deal was a giant fiction that a murderous regime desired only a peaceful nuclear energy program,” Trump stated in 2018. “Today, we have definitive proof that this Iranian promise was a lie.”

Other diplomats expressed similar concern that Iran has runaway with their nuclear ambitions. In a joint statement from ambassadors from France, Germany and the United Kingdom, France’s ambassador to the UN, Nicolas de Rivière, warned Iran’s nuclear program is stronger than ever. He also warned the situation is grave.

“For two years now, Iran has been taking unprecedented steps and recently accelerated the pace of most sensitive violations of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action,” explained the French ambassador. “Iran’s nuclear program has never been more advanced than it is today. This nuclear escalation is undermining international peace and security and the global nonproliferation system.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) further dowsed Biden’s hopes for a return to the deal while highlighting the body’s limited access to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi claimed cameras have been out of service at a nuclear site of interest for a while, which he said is hindering the group’s ability to monitor Iran. He urged Iran to lift restrictions on the watchdog and cooperate with international norms if the country wants to be recognized as a global leader.

“There’s no way around the IAEA,” Grossi stated. “If you want to be a respected country in the community of nations there is no way around it. We have to work together.”

In the meantime, Iran has been hashing out nuclear policy with European diplomats in Vienna. The European delegation have expressed frustrated with Iranian foreign ministers while claiming they are not taking the talks seriously and continue to point fingers elsewhere for their reluctance to work toward peace.

Additionally, the White House is looking to rally allies in the Middle East against Iran and is sending Biden’s national security advisor, Jake Sullivan, to Israel next week to discuss the “Iranian problem.”

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