Fred Fleitz, who also was a CIA analyst and House Intelligence Committee staff member, wrote in The Federalist that when Trump withdrew the United States from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal – the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA – "he rightfully called it 'the worst deal ever' because of its many serious flaws."
"But now, the Biden administration is close to announcing a new agreement to reinstate the JCPOA that is not only weaker but puts Russia in charge."
Fleitz currently is the vice-chairman of the America First Policy Institute Center for American Security. He is the author of a 2016 book on the Iran deal, "Obamabomb: A Dangerous and Growing National Security Fraud."
He explained that Russia "is trying to exploit its prominent role in the new agreement by demanding that Russian trade with Iran — much of it weapons-related — be exempted from tough global sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine."
Fleitz pointed out that while Biden was determined from his first day in office to reverse Trump's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, Tehran's representatives have refused to meet directly with U.S. diplomats while ramping up its nuclear program and ballistic missile tests.
Meanwhile, the Iranian terrorist proxy Houthi rebels in Yemen struck Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates with missiles and drones provided by Tehran. And earlier this month, Iran fired a dozen ballistic missiles at the U.S. consulate in Irbil, Iraq. Further, a plot by Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps to assassinate former National Security Advisor John Bolton has been revealed. Fleitz pointed to a report that Biden administration officials tried to keep the plot under wraps to prevent it from interfering with the Iran deal.
On top of all that, unable to meet directly with Iranian officials, the Biden administration has outsourced negotiations to Russian Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov.
Fleitz called the deal "astonishingly bad," pointing out it lifts sanctions on Iranian terrorists and terrorist organizations, including the Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Iran will receive an estimated $90 billion in sanctions relief and $50 billion in extra revenue each year from higher oil exports. In addition, it will receive $7 billion in cash in frozen Iranian assets held in South Korea in exchange for releasing four Americans falsely imprisoned by Iran.
"This payment amounts to ransom and is no different than the $1.7 billion 'planeloads of cash' ransom the Obama administration paid Iran as part of the JCPOA to free four Americans from an Iranian prison in 2016," Fleitz wrote.
Moreover, Iran will be allowed to enrich uranium to 20% uranium-235 – which is significantly closer to weapons-grade nuclear fuel – instead of the previous level of 3.67%.
Among other concessions, the most troubling, Fleitz said, is the provision under which Iran will continue to enrich uranium.
"Like the JCPOA, the new agreement is expected to require Iran to send this enriched uranium (except for 300 kg) to Russia. Iran will then be provided an equivalent amount of uranium ore. This arrangement allows Iran to perfect its ability to produce nuclear fuel — including weapons-grade fuel," he wrote.
Under the arrangement, Iran will return enriched uranium if a future U.S. president withdraws from the new nuclear deal.
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