Waltz Calls Iran Deal 'Negotiating Malpractice'

Florida Rep. Michael Waltz (R) has been vocal of his disapproval of President Joe Biden’s (D) work in office, especially his handling of foreign affairs. From questioning his leadership in the White House to casting doubt on the President’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan on September 11^th, the Florida lawmaker is now warning that the President’s Iran deal could negatively impact the United States in regards to its National Security. The Green Beret turned Florida Congressman argued that “reviving a fatally flawed, outdated deal that strengthens the world’s top terrorist regime should not be President Biden’s objective.” Calling the deal “negotiating malpractice,” Waltz says that the President should focus on “strengthening U.S. national security and standing with our allies.”

In an op-ed written alongside Len Khodorkovsky, Waltz discussed that “the Biden administration and the Iranian regime have been sequestered at a posh hotel in Vienna, negotiating the terms of their mutual return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA).” “After four rounds of negotiations, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani was quoted proclaiming that ‘almost all of the main sanctions have been removed.’”

The United States exited the Iran Nuclear Deal during the Trump administration, and President Donald Trump (R) was heavily critical of the deal. However, upon winning the 2020 presidential election, President Biden vowed to reenter the deal.

This, Waltz believes, is a mistake because “the Trump administration’s ‘maximum pressure campaign has brought the regime in Tehran to the weakest point since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.” Noting that “Iran’s leader Ayatolla Khamenei has a weak hand,” reentering the deal could “strengthen it by surrendering its enormous negotiating advantage.”

In turn, Waltz cited a recent letter that was directed to Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State.

In the letter, which was signed by seventy Democrats and seventy Republicans, lawmakers argue that the U.S. “must seek an agreement or set of agreements with Iran that are comprehensive in nature to address the full range of threats that Iran poses to the region.” This includes “the regime’s nuclear program, ballistic missile program and funding of terrorism.”

With tension increasing in the middle east, this only adds pressure to the Biden administration to answer concerns while making sure that violence doesn’t heighten.