The Biden administration revealed intelligence to indicate Iran intends to sell weapons to Russia, but it hasn’t stopped the administration’s attempts to restart the Iran nuclear deal yet.
National security adviser Jake Sullivan said that the Iranians were prepared to give Russia “several hundred UAVs, including weapons capable UAVs on an expedited timeline,” with training on the new drones starting any day now.
LAWYER CLAIMS KREMLIN WOULD SWAP GRINER AND WHELAN FOR RUSSIAN ARMS DEALER
“I don’t know that this necessarily has any effect on our efforts to try to get a nuclear deal with Iran. It certainly is going to efforts to continue to support Ukraine,” John Kirby, the National Security Council’s coordinator for strategic communications, said in an interview Tuesday on CNN.
Kirby, who was the Pentagon’s spokesman at the start of Russia’s invasion, said there was already an offer on the table that Iran had yet to accept.
“I do want to add, though, Brianna, that we continue to want to see a nuclear deal that takes Iran’s nuclear ambitions, at least nuclear weapons ambition, off the table,” Kirby said. “And there is a deal actually on the table. The onus is on Iran to accept it. Iran continues to isolate themselves from the international community.”
The United States and Iran’s talks to restart the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement have stalled in recent months. Tehran has remained committed to expanding its nuclear program despite the talks, while the Biden administration hasn’t given up on the deal.
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International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi said last month that Iran’s decision to remove all of the IAEA’s monitoring equipment installed under the original deal would be “a fatal blow” to any chance of reentering the deal.
Iran’s decision to provide weapons to Russia makes the Tehran regime one of the few allies Russian President Vladimir Putin has on the international stage.
