How connected are Iranian-Israeli shipping lane attacks on each other’s ships with Republicans/Israel fierce opposition to Biden re-joining JCPOA?

Raises questions no mainstream media outlet is asking or perhaps dares to ask.

To ignore possible connections between 1-recent attacks/counter attacks by Israel and Iran on each other’s cargo and oil ships with 2-Republicans recent narratives of concern with Biden’s attempts to re-join the JCPOA and 3- Israel’s public and historic attempts to derail the deal, would be sheer political naivete.

To fail to see possible connections between the recent attacks/counter attacks by Israel and Iran on each other’s cargo and oil ships with recent Republican narratives of concern over President Biden’s attempts to re-join the JCPOA might be excusable.

But to ignore that such events maybe connected with Israel’s public and historic unapologetic opposition and actions to derail the deal since the days of the Obama administration would be sheer political naivete.

This raises serious concerns in “democracy cherished countries” over the role of mainstream media not doing their job in holding elected politicians accountable to their people. It seems shutting a blind eye or offering misdirecting narratives remain the norm when these elected public servants are serving special interest, foreign and domestic. 

It also raises many questions no mainstream media outlet is asking or perhaps dares to ask.

Survivability News is asking these tough questions. You will be able to read them below, at the end of this featured report.

US Republicans are ramping up opposition against the Iran nuclear deal in a sign of growing partisan division over Washington’s approach to Tehran. The strong anti-Iran-deal stance is mirrored by Israel efforts internationally and thru its US lobbyist to derail Joe Biden re-joining the JCPOA, and stopping him fulfilling one his foreign-policy campaign promises.

All this was happening while the wars of the shipping lanes was escalating between Israel and Iran.

Survivability News 

Wars of the Shipping Lanes Begin | Israel attacks Iranian command ship in Red Sea

As indirect talks between signatories to the nuclear pact began in Vienna this week, several leading Republicans have issued statements denouncing President Joe Biden’s push to revive the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

“The United States must not relinquish its leverage over the Iranian regime just to return to the JCPOA, a severely flawed agreement that undermines our national security interests due to its arbitrary sunsets and limited scope,” four leading Republicans on powerful Senate committees wrote to Biden on Tuesday.

Separately, Republican Senator Joni Ernst issued a statement saying said returning to the deal was “unwise for the safety and security of our nation”. Tom Cotton, one of the most hawkish senators, has been tweeting incessantly against the JCPOA over the past few days.

Many may recall the high-profile pubic campaign that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu waged against the President Obama and Vice President Biden during the Obama administration. Israel’s attempt to halt the US entering into the nuclear deal with Iran failed when the JCPOA was signed by the US, UN, UK, EU, Russia and China in 2015.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton has been tweeting incessantly against Biden’s efforts to revive the deal (AFP/File photo)

Israeli officials are now weighing whether that sort of public crusade or behind-the-scenes engagement will be the most effective strategy with Biden, a senior Israeli official said, emphasizing that no decision has been made.

Congressman Lee Zeldin, a staunch Trump backer, accused the Biden administration of “offering up an embarrassingly pathetic fold” to Iran. Nikki Haley, former envoy to the UN and possible 2022 Republican presidential candidate, said Biden was “desperate to go back to a deal that is good for Iran and bad for America”.

The flood of statements from Republican lawmakers and former officials show that the GOP is set on portraying Biden’s Iran policy as weak, if not deliberately against US interests. But can their opposition derail efforts to return to the deal?

“It’s very problematic, but it does not necessarily block President Biden from following through on his commitment to get back into the deal,” Ryan Costello, policy director at the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), said of the Republican push against the JCPOA.

“The president still retains all his authorities to lift sanctions, waive them and remove entities from the list of ‘specially designated nationals‘ held by the Treasury Department, so he retains full authority to negotiate and get back in the deal.”

Putting it All in Context

US, EU and Iranian diplomats optimistic about reviving Iran deal after round of indirect talks

Former President Barack Obama signed the multilateral agreement through executive action in 2015.

The deal saw Iran scale back its nuclear programme in exchange for lifting sanctions on its economy. Through executive action as well, Trump withdrew the US from the deal and started his maximum pressure campaign of sanctions against Tehran. Benjamin Netanyahu was believed to be the master planner and chief  architect of US foreign policy and Trump’s IRAN dossier.

In 2015, Congress passed the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act requiring the administration to periodically certify Iranian compliance with the deal.

The legislation allows Congress to pass a resolution of disapproval of the agreement, but for such a measure to succeed, it would need a two-thirds, veto-proof majority in both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Biden’s Democratic Party currently holds a slim majority in both chambers – a more advantageous position than that of Obama in 2015, when Republicans controlled Congress but still failed to stop the pact.

‘The United States must not relinquish its leverage over the Iranian regime just to return to the JCPOA’

– Republican senators

Costello accused Republicans of lying to rally their base against the JCPOA, citing Senator Ernst’s statement which said that the deal “gave America no oversight over Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and actions”.

In reality, the agreement implemented a stringent inspection programme by the UN nuclear watchdog (IAEA) and diminished Tehran’s nuclear capabilities. Even Trump administration officials had certified that Iran was living up to its commitments to the agreement.

“Republicans are really trying to create a fantasy about the agreement… that it gives Iran a nuclear weapon. That’s the opposite of what the deal does,” Costello told MEE. “We’ve seen Iran move much closer to a nuclear weapon under their preferred policy implemented by President Trump.”

Iran has been enriching uranium beyond the limits set by the pact in response to the US Trump Administration withdrawing from the JCPOA and halting the agreed lifting of sanctions on Iran per the Agreement.

Biden and his aide say they are seeking a return to the deal, but they plan on seeking a “longer and stronger” agreement and then use it as a platform to discuss other outstanding issues with Tehran, including its ballistic missile programme and regional policies.

Iranian officials are insisting that all US sanctions – including non-nuclear related measures imposed by the Trump administration – must be removed to revive the accord. The Biden administration, however, is calling for a synchronised, gradual and mutual return to compliance.

Representatives from Iran and signatories to the deal – the UK, France, Germany, Russia and China – have been holding talks in Vienna this week. A US delegation is participating in them indirectly through separate meetings with European intermediaries.

The Questions NOT being Asked by Mainstream Media

What are the connections between:
  • The recent attacks/counter attacks by Israel and Iran on each other’s cargo and oil ships,
  • Israel, a foreign nation, its public and secret plans to derail a US president fulfilling his election promise to the American people,
  • Republican recent narratives of raised concern with Biden’s re-joining the JCPOA,
  • Has this escalated the danger on world shipping?
  • What purpose does this escalation serve?
  • Is the Suez Canal stuck cargo ship event connected?
  • Has Israel’s activities and bragging forced Iran to target its ships?
  • Whose interest does such escalation serve?

Unfolding story. – Stay tuned.

 


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