Iran's Nuclear Program Progresses Under Biden/Harris Administration

During the Biden/Harris administration, Iran has made significant strides in its nuclear weapons program. Reports suggest that Iran can now enrich enough weapons-grade uranium to fuel nine nuclear bombs in a month. Despite Iran potentially being nine months to a year away from having an operational nuclear weapon, the recent attacks between Iran and Israel have raised concerns about the possibility of a nuclear war in the Middle East.

Trump Blamed for Iran's Nuclear Advances

Officials from the Biden/Harris administration have tried to attribute the progress in Iran's nuclear program to President Trump's decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, the JCPOA. This claim, however, is incorrect. The significant advances in Iran's nuclear weapons program are due to major flaws in the JCPOA and a series of poor national security policy decisions, including repeated attempts to appease Iran, made by the Obama and Biden administrations.

Bad Policy Decisions

The first of these poor policy decisions was when the Obama administration conceded to Iran the "right" to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. This decision reversed the positions of previous Republican and Democratic administrations who believed Iran could not be trusted to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes. This is due to Iran's covert attempts to establish a nuclear weapons program and the ease with which uranium centrifuges can be reconfigured to produce weapons-grade nuclear fuel.

The JCPOA: A Dangerous Fraud

The Obama administration's dangerous uranium enrichment concession to Iran was enshrined in the flawed 2015 JCPOA agreement. This agreement allowed Iran to enrich uranium to reactor-grade and develop advanced centrifuges, effectively giving Iran the world's approval to continue developing a uranium enrichment program whose only practical purpose was to make nuclear weapons fuel.

Sanctions Lifted, Billions Provided

The JCPOA also lifted sanctions on Iran and provided it with $150 billion in sanctions relief. This included $1.7 billion in cash that the U.S. secretly flew to Iran as ransom to release five innocent Americans being held in Iranian prisons. A related UN resolution imposed limited, short-lived sanctions against Iranian conventional arms transfers, which expired in 2020, and missile transfers, which expired in 2023.

Iranian Nuclear Weapons Program Flourishes Under Biden/Harris Administration

Iran's leaders were not afraid of Joe Biden. They saw a new American president desperate to revive the JCPOA and who would resume the Obama administration's appeasement policies. The result has been a catastrophe for global security, with significant advances in Iran's nuclear weapons program. Iran also gained at least $100 billion in additional revenue during the Biden administration because it refused to enforce U.S. oil sanctions.

Failed Negotiations

The Biden administration took office in January 2021 determined to renegotiate the JCPOA to make it "longer and stronger." However, Iranian officials repeatedly said they would not agree to changes to the JCPOA. They participated in fruitless talks in Vienna to restore the JCPOA until March 2022. During these talks, Iran significantly stepped up its nuclear weapons program.

The Consequences of the Biden/Harris Administration's Appeasement of Iran

The breakdown in security and stability in the Middle East since the October 7, 2023, massacre of Israelis by Hamas is a consequence of the Biden/Harris administration's incompetent Iran policies. Their appeasement of Iran emboldened Iran and its terrorist proxies to attack Israel and U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria. Iran also attacked Israel twice in 2024 with missiles and drones.

Bottom Line

This article provides a summary of the profoundly incompetent and naive Iran policies by the Biden/Harris administration that did enormous damage to Middle East and global security. The greatly increased threat from Iran occurred during the Biden/Harris administration due to their weakness and incompetence. The JCPOA has also been proven to be a deeply flawed agreement that actually facilitated Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons. What do you think about this? Share this article with your friends and sign up for the Daily Briefing, which is everyday at 6pm.