WSJ Slams Reported US Plans For A Limited Deal With Iran

The Wall Street Editorial Board has slammed reported plans by the Biden administration to reach a limited nuclear deal with Iran in exchange for billions of dollars.

In an editorial on Friday, WSJ said the reported deal taking shape is not what President Joe Biden promised when he embarked on talks with the Islamic Republic in early 2021.

Biden had promised a “longer and stronger” agreement, the Journal said, “Now, in a remarkable retreat, the Biden Administration is pursuing an unwritten ‚understanding‘ with Iran to get to the brink of a nuclear breakout but go no further.“

The Biden administration has denied any deals with Iran, acknowledging that contacts were made to convey US demands. The latest denial came from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday during a press conference.

“With regard to Iran, some of the reports that we’ve seen about an agreement on nuclear matters or, for that matter, on detainees are simply not accurate and not true,” Blinken said.

The WSJ says that in the deal taking shape Iran will keep all of its 60-percent enriched uranium, without clarity about international monitoring of its nuclear activities, while Tehran can break the unwritten “understanding” over any issue in the future.

The editorial also criticized a deal earlier this month that allows Iraq to release $2.7 billion of Iran’s frozen funds ostensibly for spending mainly on food imports.

"The Administration says Iran will spend the Iraqi funds only on food and medicine, as if money isn’t fungible. In reality the U.S. is freeing up billions of dollars that will finance the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its imperialism across the Middle East," the editorial said.