Follow us on social

51648062904_ae8cdb2200_o-scaled

Expert groups say Biden should show ‘political courage’ on Iran deal return

Many are wondering why the president is letting politics stand in the way of a sound nonproliferation agreement.

Reporting | Middle East

More than a dozen national organizations sent a letter to President Biden on Friday urging him to show "leadership and political courage" and save the Iran nuclear agreement, saying it's "perplexing" that he is allowing domestic politics to stand in the way of renewing a sound non-proliferation agreement.

"As organizations committed to diplomatically preventing a nuclear-armed Iran, we are incredibly concerned about the nonproliferation implications of this development," the letter states. "Now more than ever, leadership and political courage are needed to prevent the complete death of the agreement and evade its likely consequences — war with Iran or a nuclear-armed Iran."

The groups — which include J Street, Indivisible, and the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft — note that Biden himself, and many senior officials in his administration, have previously stated that Trump's withdrawal from the deal was a "disaster." Some of these officials have also pointed out, the letter adds, that opponents of the deal pushed Trump to create domestic political poison pills — like designating Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps a terror group — for the specific purpose of making it difficult for any successor to re-enter the deal.

"This is why it is all the more perplexing that your administration has allowed this 'political move' to stand in the way of a strategically vital renewal of the JCPOA," they write. "As you and your former colleagues in the Obama administration correctly made clear: Iran is a dangerous actor — but it will be all the more dangerous if it possesses nuclear weapons."

The groups say Biden will ultimately be responsible for the JCPOA's failure, as it's just another way of "doubling down on Trump's maximum pressure strategy," which they call "a self inflicted wound."

"Allowing the perfect to be the enemy of the good will put our world in grave danger, with yet another dangerous state in possession of the most deadly weapons on earth," said Nancy Parrish, Executive Director of Women's Action for New Directions, another signatory of the letter. "President Biden, we implore you to double down on negotiations and bring the Iran deal to the finish line before it's too late."

Dylan Williams, J Street's senior vice president for policy and strategy, noted that "a supermajority of Jewish American voters and the consensus of the Israeli security establishment support restoration of the agreement over the escalating nuclear crisis and regional insecurity brought on by Trump's disastrous approach."


ecretary of State Antony J. Blinken moderates a G20 Summit session alongside President Joseph R. Biden, Jr., in Rome, Italy, on October 31, 2021. [State Department photo by Ron Przysucha]
Reporting | Middle East
Fort Bragg horrors expose dark underbelly of post-9/11 warfare
Top photo credit: Seth Harp book jacket (Viking press) US special operators/deviant art/creative commons

Fort Bragg horrors expose dark underbelly of post-9/11 warfare

Media

In 2020 and 2021, 109 U.S. soldiers died at Fort Bragg, the largest military base in the country and the central location for the key Special Operations Units in the American military.

Only four of them were on overseas deployments. The others died stateside, mostly of drug overdoses, violence, or suicide. The situation has hardly improved. It was recently revealed that another 51 soldiers died at Fort Bragg in 2023. According to U.S. government data, these represent more military fatalities than have occurred at the hands of enemy forces in any year since 2013.

keep readingShow less
Trump Netanyahu
Top image credit: President Donald Trump hosts a bilateral dinner for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Monday, July 7, 2025, in the Blue Room. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok)

The case for US Middle East retrenchment has never been clearer

Middle East

Is Israel becoming the new hegemon of the Middle East? The answer to this question is an important one.

Preventing the rise of a rival regional hegemon — a state with a preponderance of military and economic power — in Eurasia has long been a core goal of U.S. foreign policy. During the Cold War, Washington feared Soviet dominion over Europe. Today, U.S. policymakers worry that China’s increasingly capable military will crowd the United States out of Asia’s lucrative economic markets. The United States has also acted repeatedly to prevent close allies in Europe and Asia from becoming military competitors, using promises of U.S. military protection to keep them weak and dependent.

keep readingShow less
United Nations
Top image credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Do we need a treaty on neutrality?

Global Crises

In an era of widespread use of economic sanctions, dual-use technology exports, and hybrid warfare, the boundary between peacetime and wartime has become increasingly blurry. Yet understandings of neutrality remain stuck in the time of trench warfare. An updated conception of neutrality, codified through an international treaty, is necessary for global security.

Neutrality in the 21st century is often whatever a country wants it to be. For some, such as the European neutrals like Switzerland and Ireland, it is compatible with non-U.N. sanctions (such as by the European Union) while for others it is not. Countries in the Global South are also more likely to take a case-by-case approach, such as choosing to not take a stance on a specific conflict and instead call for a peaceful resolution while others believe a moral position does not undermine neutrality.

keep readingShow less

LATEST

QIOSK

Newsletter

Subscribe now to our weekly round-up and don't miss a beat with your favorite RS contributors and reporters, as well as staff analysis, opinion, and news promoting a positive, non-partisan vision of U.S. foreign policy.