ZOA Denounces Stealth Move by Biden Administration to Lift Nuclear Sanctions on Iran and Benefit Russia
News Press Release
February 8, 2023

The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) condemns the Biden administration for its latest outrageous policy, benefitting one of America’s most dangerous enemies – the terrorist Islamist regime of Iran, the largest funder of Islamist terrorism in the world who repeatedly threatens to destroy America and the Jewish State of Israel.

On Friday evening, moments before the end of the workday, the Biden administration notified Congress that nonproliferation sanctions on the terrorist regime of Iran were being waived to allow Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned energy company, to profit without sanctions.

The move went unnoticed at first by major media, which was clearly the intent of the administration. The waiver is a renewal of a policy established early last year which rolls back sanctions President Trump placed on Iran and permits enemies of America, both Iran and Russia, to cooperate on nuclear work at Iranian enrichment sites. Senior congressional sources said the Biden administration is trying to sweep the sanctions waivers under the rug amid renewed concerns about Iran and Russia’s military alliance.

Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) has been working on legislation that would enshrine this particular sanction into law, and he is expected to move forward with a bill to force a reversal of this presidential order. The waiver will legalize nuclear work at the Fordow nuclear site in Iran and enable Russia to profit from its role as the primary custodian of Iran’s enriched uranium. The administration continues to believe this step will somehow lead to Iranian acceptance of returning to the JCPOA, the disastrous nuclear deal with Iran that paves the way to and guarantees a military nuclear capability.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said:

“President Biden continues to reward the terrorist enemy of America, Iran, for monstrous behavior and irrationally undo the sanctions regime that was only inconveniencing Iran in any case. Their enrichment activities toward nukes have been moving forward throughout the tenure of President Biden, and Russian assistance will only shorten the critical timeline. In light of the aggressive sanctions against Russia following the invasion of Ukraine, this step makes no sense at all. Russian state-owned companies will make billions and the United States and Israel will be far less safe. Israel may be forced to take military action to stop Iran’s program, and the Biden administration is literally doing nothing to deter these maniacal terrorists running Iran.

“The idea that this waiver will convince the Iranians to make a new deal with the United States is delusional on its face, but even in that scenario it would only compound the foreign policy malpractice of this administration. The JCPOA has sunset clauses which make it completely useless in the near term and for the life of the agreement, so that Iran would have no constraints on it at all by the end of this decade. “

ZOA Director of Government Relations Dan Pollak said:

“We thank Senator Cruz and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) for their leadership on this issue. When the administration is so determined to be pathetically weak in the face of threats to American National Security, it is imperative that Congress takes the lead and acts in a bipartisan way to limit the damage from Iran and Russia working together. ZOA looks forward to helping to reverse this waiver and urges members from both parties to act as quickly as possible.”

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said in his own press release:

“I am deeply troubled by the administration’s decision to waive sanctions on nonproliferation activities involving Iran, despite Iran’s continued noncompliance with its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and the potential benefit to Russia’s state-owned energy giant, Rosatom. This decision further undermines international nonproliferation norms and is inconsistent with the administration’s stated policy to support Ukraine. Rosatom cannot be allowed to profit from work in Iran while it actively fuels the Kremlin’s unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.”

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