State Department made ‘calculation’ to prioritize Iran nuclear deal over human rights issues

UNITED NATIONS, New York – The Biden administration decided to pursue a nuclear deal with Iran in hopes of preventing the nation from reaching for the bomb, even at the cost of ignoring the regime’s human rights abuses.

“We have been focused … to do everything we can to permanently and verifiably ensure that Iran will never be in a position to acquire a nuclear weapon,” the department’s spokesman said on Tuesday. State, Ned Price, at Fox News Digital. “It’s a commitment that President Biden has made, and it’s a calculation that not only the State Department has made, but the international community and our own intelligence community have determined that, at least for now , the JCPOA… is the most effective way to permanently and verifiably guarantee that Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon.”

Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said hopes for a nuclear deal had again stalled as negotiations took a step back. He told reporters at NATO headquarters in Belgium that he was not going to “negotiate anything in public” and that despite the fact that the two sides had “filled in some gaps”, Iran had not yet satisfied to the “essential requirements” of the agreement. .

Meanwhile, tensions in Iran have reached a boiling point following the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman who died while in the custody of Iran’s morality police for alleged violations of hijab rules ( scarf). Police have denied responsibility for Amini’s death, saying she fell into a coma, but her family and witnesses say they found evidence when she arrived at hospital that she had been beaten.

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Protests overnight following Amini’s funeral resulted in the deaths of at least five protesters as they demanded an end to the morality police.

Price said Amini “should be alive today,” but stressed that the State Department views Iran’s nuclear potential as a primary threat.

“We are doing everything we can to not only support the human rights and aspirations for greater freedom of the Iranian people, but also to hold accountable those within the Iranian system who are responsible for… violence against the Iranian people,” Price said. “When it comes to Iran, however…there would be no greater challenge to the United States, to our partners, and to the wider international system than a nuclear-armed Iran.”

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Price argued that any challenge posed by Iran would ultimately worsen if Iran were granted nuclear weapons, citing the country’s support for terrorist groups and proxy militias in the region as examples of threats that could arise. ‘aggravate.

He acknowledged that the deal isn’t even guaranteed, insisting that the United States has been “sincere and unwavering in its efforts to negotiate a potential return to the JCPOA, but… has also held very firmly to our core principles,” the United States said. is “does not want to bend”.

Iranian Kurds take part in a march in a park in the Iraqi Kurdish town of Sulaimaniya on September 19, 2022 against the murder of Mahsa Amini, an Iranian woman who died after being arrested by the Islamic Republic’s ‘morality police’. (SHWAN MOHAMMED/AFP via Getty Images)

“So far at least, the Iranians haven’t given a firm indication that they’re ready to make the deals or make the decisions that they should be making,” Price said. “Were we able to get back to the JCPOA? So that’s an outcome that’s far from certain.”

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Price dismissed the idea that any benefit Iran derives from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), such as much-needed funds that would help alleviate the country’s economic crisis caused by the sanctions, would serve as an endorsement of policies and Iranian actions. Price asserted that the only objective was to ensure that Iran would not obtain nuclear weapons.

“It wouldn’t be about supporting Iran in any way,” Price stressed. “It would be about whether there was a mutual return to compliance with the JCPOA, meeting a fundamental national security interest of the United States and a fundamental interest of our partners in the region and around the world, namely to prevent Iran from ever getting a nuclear weapon.”

The 22-year-old Iranian woman, Mahsa Amini, who was allegedly murdered by the Iranian vice squad.
(Obtained by Fox News)

However, while the United States could use sanctions to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the United States will not seek to use them to achieve other goals, such as climate, which President Biden and various World leaders this week at the United Nations General Assembly highlighted it as the number one priority for the planet.

Price said the United States wants to see other countries act “cooperatively” to solve the problem, acknowledging that sanctions “are an important tool when it comes to promoting certain foreign policy ends”, but that such actions do not extend to climate.

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“When it comes to climate, what we are looking for is cooperation…we are looking for counties to come together and discuss cooperatively how we can work towards these shared climate goals,” he said. .