Iranian Crisis for Biden

Published in El País
(Spain) on 30 November 2020
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Tom Walker. Edited by Helaine Schweitzer.
The outgoing Trump administration, Israel and Saudi Arabia are seeking to torpedo any chance for the new White House to negotiate with Tehran.

Opposition to Joe Biden by supporters of Donald Trump has started even before Biden’s presidency begins. We should interpret the tour by outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in this light, a tour which led to a meeting in Saudi Arabia with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a secret summit widely publicized by Israeli media, although denied by the Riyadh government. A few days earlier, Trump had proposed that his military leadership consider an attack on Iran’s nuclear installations. And later, on Friday, the father of the Iranian atomic bomb project was assassinated in an attack some 90 kilometers from Tehran (approximately 56 miles), likely by the Israeli secret service.

All these steps are intended to derail Biden’s plans to resume negotiations with Iran. One of Trump’s most deplorable achievements was withdrawing the U.S. from the nuclear deal signed by Barack Obama in 2015, by which Tehran renounced the pursuit of nuclear weapons, submitted itself to controls by the International Atomic Energy Agency and began the process of rejoining the international community. This multilateral agreement advanced the policy against nuclear proliferation and was an example of the efficacy of diplomacy and sanctions, combined, in dealing with dangerous regimes.

The Iranian regime, outrageous in every respect, has opted for restraint, waiting for the new Democratic administration. It is in nobody’s interest to have either an Iranian regime isolated in the world and radicalized, or the brutal Saudi autocracy and its clandestine ally, the Israel of Netanyahu, who is worn out politically and under attack by his country’s legal system. Biden needs the support of the international community and the European Union in reversing course on the dangerous path of confrontation and restarting down another path, which, without naivety and with unwavering commitment to the security of the allies in the region, seeks through diplomacy to move Iran verifiably away from nuclear temptation.


Crisis iraní para Biden
La Administración saliente de Trump, Israel y Arabia Saudí buscan torpedear las posibilidades de negociación de la nueva Casa Blanca con Teherán

La oposición trumpista a Joe Biden ha empezado antes incluso de que haya comenzado su presidencia. Así debe interpretarse la gira del secretario de Estado saliente, Mike Pompeo, que lo llevó a reunirse en Arabia Saudí con el príncipe heredero, Mohamed bin Salmán, y el primer ministro israelí, Benjamín Netanyahu, en una cumbre secreta de la que informaron abundantemente los medios israelíes aunque el Gobierno de Riad la desmintiera. Pocos días antes, Donald Trump había propuesto a su cúpula militar la preparación de un ataque a las instalaciones nucleares de Irán. Y más tarde, el viernes, el padre de la proyectada bomba atómica iraní, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, caía asesinado en un atentado a unos 90 kilómetros de Teherán, presumiblemente a manos de los servicios secretos israelíes.

Todos estos movimientos son intentos de hacer descarrilar los planes de Biden para reanudar las negociaciones con Irán. Uno de los más lamentables logros de Trump ha sido la suspensión del pacto nuclear firmado por Barack Obama en 2015 por el que Teherán renunciaba a perseguir el arma atómica, se sometía a estrictos controles de la Agencia Internacional de la Energía Atómica e iniciaba su reincorporación a la comunidad internacional. Aquel acuerdo multilateral fue un salto hacia adelante en la política contra la proliferación nuclear y un ejemplo de la eficacia de la diplomacia y de las sanciones, combinadas en el trato con regímenes peligrosos.

El régimen iraní, nefasto en tantos aspectos, ha optado por la contención, a la espera de la nueva Administración demócrata. A nadie conviene tanto un Irán aislado del mundo y radicalizado como a la brutal autocracia saudí y a su clandestino aliado, el Israel de un Netanyahu desgastado políticamente y asediado por la justicia de su país. Biden debe contar con el apoyo de la comunidad internacional y de la UE para deshacer el peligroso camino de la confrontación y reanudar otro que —sin ingenuidad y con un compromiso inquebrantable con la seguridad de los aliados en la zona— busque alejar a Irán de forma verificable de la tentación nuclear a través de la diplomacia.

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