The Biden Administration's Foreign Policy Blunders, Part 2: Enriching Iran in the Name of Reviving the JCPOA
As identified in the previous post in the series, Biden's naïve "moral leadership" global strategy and "diplomacy-oriented" foreign policy led to the withdrawal of support to American allies in some of the world's most unstable regions. This included withholding support to the Saudi-led GCC coalition in Yemen and the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. This article examines the second significant element of Biden's failed foreign policy, which culminated in a record number of world wars since 1946. This is the case of Biden's attempt to revive the infamous Iran Deal Obama penned with the mullahs – the JCPOA. At the time of taking over, Iran had been suffocated to the point of crumbling, but Biden started easing sanctions, and Iran gained a lifeline. Afterward, Iran was able to provide significant volumes of ammunition to their proxies, and today, the Middle East is close to an all-out war because of this round of reckless foreign policy decisions by Biden based on the mistaken belief that Iran will soften up and give up its destabilizing activities.
Iran’s Destabilizing Acts in the Middle East
Israeli President Isaac Herzog identified that the Houthi movement is built around the Houthi tribe, which is made up of just about 50,000 people – yet they have ballistic missiles which they have fired at Israel and Saudi Arabia in the past[1]. This is a tribe that has endured periodic famines and starvation over the past decade. They have almost no basic infrastructure. Yet, they could lay hands on sophisticated ballistic missiles made in Iran.
The world was witness to the numerous secondary explosions of thousands of rockets in southern Lebanon during the Israeli offensive into the region in September and October this year. Billions of dollars in military equipment and rockets were available to the largest non-state militia in the world – Hezbollah. This would not have been possible without Iranian help. This shows that Iran never reneged on its plan to destabilize the region.
Furthermore, we all saw how the October 7th attacks were launched from Gaza with many Iranian-made weapons. Most of their weapons are Soviet-era designed and were manufactured either in China or Iran[2]. To this end, we see evidence of Iran at the center of an Axis of the CRINKS – China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. These are authoritarian nations that have systems that are contrary to liberal democracy. These countries seek to destabilize the Global South and Iran is critical to their expansionist ideology.
In early October 2024, Iran fired 180 ballistic missiles into Israel, but what nobody seems to connect is that the Biden Administration unfreezed $6 billion in Iranian assets in September 2023, less than a month before the October 7 attacks.[3]. In the process, the Biden administration betrayed some of America’s greatest and most significant weapons that kept Iran at bay[4]. This form of weakness emboldened Iran and laid the foundations for massive destabilization and unprecedented conflict in the region.
Reckless Faith in Iran to Comply with American Wishes
The Biden Administration knew that sanctions were the most important tools to limit Iran's aggression, but they overlooked it in a way that could be considered reckless[5]. This is based on the naïve view that by treating Iran well, they will turn around to change their behavior. However, Iran's destabilizing actions in the Middle East are well-known. They have long-term implications and far-reaching consequences that have affected the entire global economy. Thus, the wisest thing to do was to ensure the imposition of tough sanctions that got them to toe the right line and avoid their actions, which everyone around the world today endures in one form or another.
Part of Biden’s decision and choice to be lax on Iran has to do with the desire to spite Trump and reverse all his policies and actions[6]. Thus, in his quest to paint over his predecessor’s policies, he made the revival of the JCPOA a central part of his agenda as president. This was in spite of the fact that Iran was known to be steeped in the desire to spread their revolution far and wide and arm dangerous groups.
"Cash for hostages" became a central part of the Biden administration's weakness in dealing with Iran. This was widely condemned by many Republicans when it started because Iran, in the past, took advantage of Western governments that were weak[7]. Iran is always willing to treat laxity as a weakness of major countries.
The nuclear program has become a bargaining chip for Iran to literally blackmail the world and make demands that are unrealistic. The best solution remains to isolate Iran further, limit its abilities internationally, and force it to give up its nuclear ambitions. However, this did not seem to be Biden's intention in taking power.
Biden cared about taking an unconventional approach that has never worked in the past – aspiring for the impossible. He sought to hope that Iran would ultimately change and give up their ambitions. However, that has not worked for four decades.
Emboldened Iran Takes Advantage of the Weakness of the Biden Administration
Since Biden has made many other mistakes in the geopolitical front, Iran has moved to take advantage of it. This includes Russia’s war in Ukraine, which the US should have done a lot more to discourage. As a long-time ally, Iran provided vital tactical weapons that helped Russia recover and press on in Ukraine. Iran was already sanctioned and had little to nothing to lose by supporting the widely unpopular Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.
As a country that had invested little in tactical weapons, Russia needed a bailout, and Iran found an opportunity to survive by providing these weapons. This helped Russia to make significant gains on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine. In return, Russia cemented its ties with the Iranian regime and provided them with vital technologies. This became the lifeline and guarantee that allowed Iran to try various expansionist measures in support of the so-called Axis of Resistance.
Barack Obama’s attempt to offer negotiations to the “Axis of Evil”[8] had turned out to be a wrong move – but Biden could not turn his back on them early enough. The Biden Administration’s worst mistake was to do nothing. They did nothing to stop the wars, they did nothing to discourage the disorder around the world, and simply sat back and watched. This is what has caused Iran to become powerful now and difficult to control.
Yet, Biden continues to thrive without doing anything to control the damage[9]. There was no remedial action, and the status quo continues.
Conclusion
Biden's failure to keep a lid on Iran has created complications for Middle East peace. Obama's mistakes became apparent under Biden's watch when he realized that the JCPOA was dead. However, Biden did little to nothing to keep Iran under check. He simply maintained a laissez-faire attitude as world peace went up in flames during his presidency. Other intervening factors included the war in Ukraine, which drew Iran closer to Russia. In return, Iran got vital guarantees that kept the regime and its proxies going. The next US President will have no choice but to take a decisive position. It is either Iran is confronted, or America concedes it can no longer lead the global order. This will become the basis for a new international structure to emerge. However, the easier and better solution is for the next president to act to contain Iran directly and formulate practical policies that will respond to Iran's aggressive behaviors that cause wars.
[1] Al Arabiya English. "Israeli President And Hamas Spokesperson Reflect On One Year Since October 7 Attacks" Riz Khan Show. Published: October 7, 2024. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcP0YAQkq6c
[2] Michael Biesecker. “Hamas fights with a patchwork of weapons built by Iran, China, Russia and North Korea” AP News. Published: January 15, 2024. Available at: https://apnews.com/article/israel-hamas-war-guns-weapons-missiles-smuggling-adae9dae4c48059d2a3c8e5d565daa30
[3] Abigail Williams & Dan De Luce. "Biden admin clears the way for prisoner swap deal with Iran, lifts freeze on $6 billion in Iranian funds" NBC. Published: September 11, 2023. Available at: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/biden-admin-clears-way-prisoner-swap-deal-iran-lifts-freeze-6-billion-rcna104474
[4] The Economists. "How the Biden administration botched America’s sanctions against Iran" Published: October 17, 2024. Available at: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/10/17/how-the-biden-administration-botched-americas-sanctions-against-ira
[5] The Economists. "How the Biden administration botched America’s sanctions against Iran" Published: October 17, 2024. Available at: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2024/10/17/how-the-biden-administration-botched-americas-sanctions-against-ira
[6] Committee on Oversight & Accountability. “Top House Republicans Sound Alarm Over Biden’s Attempt to Revive Flawed Iran Nuclear Deal” US House of Congress. Published: March 30, 2022. Available at: https://oversight.house.gov/release/top-house-republicans-sound-alarm-over-bidens-attempt-to-revive-flawed-iran-nuclear-deal/
[7] Committee on Oversight & Accountability. “Top House Republicans Sound Alarm Over Biden’s Attempt to Revive Flawed Iran Nuclear Deal” US House of Congress. Published: March 30, 2022. Available at: https://oversight.house.gov/release/top-house-republicans-sound-alarm-over-bidens-attempt-to-revive-flawed-iran-nuclear-deal/
[9] Eric Brewer & Henry Rome. "Biden’s Iran Gamble A Risky New Strategy to Keep Tehran From Going Nuclear" Foreign Policy. Published: June 9, 2023. Available at: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/iran/bidens-iran-gamble
