Leaked Video: Joe Biden Admits Iran Nuclear Deal is ‘Dead’ Even as Talks Continue
President Joe Biden waves during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Sept. 16, 2022, in Washington. 
James TweedieJoe Biden was vice-president when the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was ratified by then-president Barack Obama in 2015. He has since pledged to reverse his predecessor Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of the deal, but talks between Washington and Tehran have been stalled since August.A video has emerged of Joe Biden declaring the peaceful nuclear energy deal with Iran “dead” even as talks continue.The US president made the comments to Iranian emigrés at a campaign rally with fellow Democrat congressman Mike Levin in Oceanside, California on November 4, at a time when violent protests were raging in Iran with support from Washington.”President Biden, can you please announce that JCPOA is dead? Can you just announce that?” asks one woman. Biden replied “no”, prompting the woman to ask “why not?””A lot of reasons. It is dead, but we’re not gonna announce it,” Biden told her. “Long story, but we’re gonna make sure…”Biden seemed unfazed when the woman disparagingly referred to the Iranian government as “the Mullahs.””We just don’ t want any deals with the Mullahs,” she said. “No Deals! They don’t represent us, they’re not our government.””Oh, I know they don’t represent you,” Biden replied, “but they’ll have a nuclear weapon that they’ll represent.”The Biden administration began talks with Iran last year on the US returning to the deal, which his predecessor Donald Trump withdrew from.Talks between the European Union (EU) and Iran on reviving the talks are still ongoing in the Austrian capital Vienna, although the US delegation has not participated directly since August.
WorldIAEA Head Says ‘Glimmer of Hope’ Remains to Restore Dialogue on JCPOA Revival10 December, 19:41 GMTThe 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) agreement between Iran, the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia, China and the the EU was signed when Biden was vice-president to Barack Obama.The deal stipulated gradually lifting sanctions on Iran, while in return, Tehran would greatly reduce its enrichment of uranium fuel for its nuclear power stations and allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors access to its facilities to verify compliance.Obama quickly soured the deal by slapping more sanctions on Iran over its testing of short-range ballistic missiles designed to carry conventional warheads. Obama’s successor Donald Trump kept his 2016 campaign pledge to withdraw from the deal in May 2018, but did not follow that up with a promised renegotiation. Iran waited a year, by the terms of the agreement, before restarting high-grade uranium enrichment.The US, Israel and other Western countries allege that enriched uranium is intended for a nuclear weapons programme — something which Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has repeatedly said is forbidden by Islam in a fatwah or religious judgement.
