The removal of UN sanctions on Iran’s missile programme "will be a huge victory for Tehran", according to experts.
Joe Biden could accidentally allow UN sanctions to be lifted on Iran’s capability to purchase and supply missiles to enemies of the US and Israel.
On Wednesday, "Transition Day" - the expiration of the UN’s embargo against Iran - is set to take place.
It comes after Iran’s ally, Hamas, killed 1,400 people, including a number of Americans, on October 7 in southern Israel.
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Richard Goldberg, who served on the National Security Council during the Trump administration as the director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction, said the removal of UN sanctions on Iran "will be a huge victory".
"The president gives a speech saying he is heartbroken about the images of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and opposes Hamas, and a week later, he hands a gift to Hamas’ sponsor Iran," he told Fox News.
"My heart breaks to see the president lift this embargo."
Iran has threatened Israel as the country prepares to launch a ground invasion into Gaza to halt Hamas terrorists and the entity’s military apparatus.
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British conservative commentator, Nile Gardiner said the accidental "victory" would be "outrageous".
Biden's administration has a number of routes to stop the sanctions from expiring.
Security Council Resolution 2231 states that the US is a partner to the resolution that endorsed the JCPOA; the Trump administration previously cited the resolution in its push to trigger snapback sanctions.
In addition, the EU3 - made up of the UK, France and Germany - could produce a letter to the president of the Security Council to invoke snapback.
However, it is believed that Europe would be unlikely to agree to this.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Reuters
Earlier this month, State Department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said: "We continue to have a number of tools at our disposal to hold Iran’s dangerous development and proliferation of missile-related technologies and UAVs – to hold those things accountable.
"Obviously, UNSCR 2231 is not the only tool that is at our disposal. We have our own sanctions authorities. We have export controls. We have bilateral and multilateral engagements.
"We have already effectively targeted the same networks and individuals that would have been covered under a 2231 UNSCR violation, and we’ll continue to use our own sanctions authorities to hold the Iranian regime accountable."
Pressed if the administration was willing to let it expire, Patel said there wasn't "anything to preview on that now".
