A letter backing President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to return to the Iran nuclear deal without any new conditions has garnered 150 signatures from House Democrats.
“We strongly endorse your call for Iran to return to strict compliance with the nuclear deal, the United States to rejoin the agreement, and subsequent follow-on negotiations” says the letter, which concluded its signature-gathering phase on Wednesday and is set to be sent to Biden.
According to them, the diplomatic path endorsed by Biden to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons is the most effective. They added that the nuclear deal provides the required framework to achieve this goal.
Further, they suggested lifting some of the sanctions imposed on Iran.
In their letter, the Democrats accused the Trump administration of failing to contain Iran’s destabilizing activities, which has in turn increased the threat of conflict erupting in the region.
The lawmakers stressed that rejoining the nuclear deal would provide the required international support to exert pressure on Tehran.
They noted that Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region, such as supporting terrorism, developing ballistic weapons, violating human rights and detaining political prisoners, are all matters that call for coordinated international diplomacy.
The signatories include officials who enjoy close ties to Israel and the Israeli lobby in Washington (American Israel Public Affairs Committee), which opposes the rejoining of the nuclear pact without wide amendments and strict conditions.
