President-elect Biden plans to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal on the condition that the Middle Eastern country agreed to “strict compliance” measures, he has revealed.
The incoming commander-in-chief made the admission during a wide-ranging interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who pressed Biden on where he stood with regard to Iran.
Asked if he still stood by a September op-ed he authored where he argued in favor of rejoining the Obama-era accords “as a starting point for follow-on negotiations,” Biden said he did.
“It’s going to be hard, but yeah,” he remarked.
At the time, he had argued that, “if Iran returns to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States would rejoin the agreement as a starting point for follow-on negotiations” under his presidency.
The next steps would involve the US lifting the President Trump-era sanctions.
For its part, Iran is hopeful for this outcome, and Team Biden knows that, the interview revealed.
Biden’s national security team is of the belief that once the deal is restored by both sides, the deal itself will require another round of negotiations to lengthen how long restrictions will be in place on Iran’s production of fissile material used to develop bombs.
The team told the Times that ideally, they will be able to assemble the countries involved in the original deal and bring in new names like Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
They also argued that it is in America’s national interest to get Iran’s nuclear program back under control and under full inspection.
Asked by Friedman if it would be foolish to give up the leverage President Trump had built up through oil sanctions, Biden did not reject the argument, but explained that the real risk was in their nuclear program.
“Look, there’s a lot of talk about precision missiles and all range of other things that are destabilizing the region,” he said, adding that in his view, the fact was that, “the best way to achieve getting some stability in the region” is to deal “with the nuclear program.”
Biden went on to warn that if Iran were to get a nuclear bomb, it would put insurmountable pressure on Egypt, Turkey and the Saudis to get their own weapons.
“And the last goddamn thing we need in that part of the world is a buildup of nuclear capability,” the incoming president added.
“In consultation with our allies and partners, we’re going to engage in negotiations and follow-on agreements to tighten and lengthen Iran’s nuclear constraints, as well as address the missile program,” he said, adding that the US had the ability to put the sanctions back into effect.
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif last month said that his country would fully implement the terms of the 2015 Obama-era deal if Biden lifted the Trump-era sanctions, arguing it could be done with “three executive orders.”
Unlike on the Trump policy regarding Iran, Biden appears to be more in line with his predecessor on China.
Asked about what he would do regarding tariffs President Trump placed on the Communist-governed country, Biden said he planned to move very carefully and not make any sudden changes.
Pressed specifically, Biden said he would not act immediately to nix the 25 percent tariffs Trump placed on about 50 percent of Chinese exports, or the phase one trade deal.
“I’m not going to make any immediate moves, and the same applies to the tariffs. I’m not going to prejudice my options.”
First, he plans to review the entirety of the existing agreement with the Chinese and consult allies in the region — as well as Europe — “so we can develop a coherent strategy.”
“The best China strategy, I think, is one which gets every one of our — or at least what used to be our — allies on the same page. It’s going to be a major priority for me in the opening weeks of my presidency to try to get us back on the same page with our allies,” he explained.
He went on to say that his “goal would be to pursue trade policies that actually produce progress on China’s abusive practices — that’s stealing intellectual property, dumping products, illegal subsidies to corporations” and forcing “tech transfers” from US companies to Chinese counterparts.
Biden argued that when dealing with China, it is all about “leverage.”
“In my view, we don’t have it yet,” he added.
Still, he told Friedman that he believed the US needed to engage in a massive, government-led investment in American industry, infrastructure and education to better compete with China.
“I want to make sure we’re going to fight like hell by investing in America first. I’m not going to enter any new trade agreement with anybody until we have made major investments here at home and in our workers” and in education, the 46th president said.