Biden’s Iran containment strategy failing as Islamic regime gets closer to nuclear weapon: experts
President Biden’s strategy of containing and de-escalating Iran’s state-sponsored terrorism is failing as fears grow over Tehran inching closer to obtaining nuclear power, experts warn.
Gabriel Noronha, a former US Department State adviser on Iran, said Sunday that Biden’s gamble to “bribe” Iran to halt its nuclear advancements through economic pressures and oil sanctions has flopped.
“Iran advanced its nuclear program anyway and pocketed the extra revenue from oil sales to increase funding to its terror proxies,” Noronha told Fox News Digital. “We have had zero wins on the Iran file in the past three years but seen their strength return from their weakened state during the policy of maximum pressure.”
Last month, a confidential report from the International Atomic Energy Agency that was released by Reuters indicated Iran had “increased its production of highly enriched uranium,” reversing a prior output reduction from mid-2023.
The report also suggested that close to 90% of the uranium that Iran is enriching at its sprawling Natanz complex “is weapons grade.”
The report came as David Albright, a physicist and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security, made his own warning that the world should be concerned with Tehran’s nuclear capabilities in 2024.
In his new report titled, “How quickly could Iran make nuclear weapons today?” Albright claimed Tehran has now completed the facilities required to build its own nuclear arsenal.
“Iran can quickly make enough weapon-grade uranium for many nuclear weapons, something it could not do in 2003,” the former UN weapons inspector in Iraq wrote.
“Today, it would need only about a week to produce enough for its first nuclear weapon,” Albright said. “It could have enough weapon-grade uranium for six weapons in one month, and after five months of producing weapon-grade uranium, it could have enough for 12.”
Worries over Tehran’s nuclear capabilities come as the stability of the Middle East hangs in the balance over the conflicts involving Iran-backed terror groups in the region.
Hamas’ war with Israel entered its 100th day Sunday with no signs of slowing down as the fighting has claimed more than 23,000 lives in Gaza and 1,200 in Israel, an unprecedented loss of life in the history of conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
And as the war rages on, Hezbollah terrorists have continued to conduct missile strikes against the Jewish state, with Israel firing back with its own series of airstrikes.
With war threatening to spread along the Israel-Lebanon border, the Red Sea has seen similar tensions flare as Houthi rebels disrupt supply lines, with US and UK ships conducting airstrikes against the terror group in recent days.
Both Iran-backed terror groups have said they have launched attacks in their respective areas as a show of solidarity for Hamas.
The Biden administration notably delisted the Houthis group as a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2021, a reversal of the Trump administration.
Biden told reporters last week that he does believe they are terrorists, but it remains unclear if the Houthis will be placed back on the list.
With the Iran-sponsored terror groups bringing chaos to the region, Noronha called on the US to lead a more aggressive push to halt Tehran’s nuclear advancements influence.
“The United States needs to restart a diplomatic pressure campaign to have nations around the world place terror sanctions on Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as its proxies like Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis,” Noronha told Fox.
“Dozens of countries in the West have not sanctioned these groups and are, accordingly, places where these terror groups can fundraise and conduct activities without appropriate scrutiny,” he added.
Noronha noted that the greatest blow the US could make to Iran lied in reinstating the harshest oil sanctions possible, as “oil sales are the lifeblood of the regime’s terror funding.”
A State Department rep said Biden and the US remain committed to ensuring that “Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon.
“As the Secretary [of State] has said, we always prefer diplomacy to achieve that goal, but given Iran’s nuclear escalations and its failure to cooperate with the [International Atomic Energy Agency], unfortunately we are far away from anything like that right now,” the spokesperson said.
The officials added that Iran remains the world’s leader in state-sponsored terrorism and human-rights abuse, with the US and its allies committed to confronting Tehran over these issues.
“Our policy is focused on practical ways to counter these threats,” the representative said. That said, we are constantly evaluating our approach to Iran and finding additional ways to add pressure.”
With Post wires
