Joel Rubin helped get the JCPOA passed under former President Obama
Ex-Obama official weighs in on Kamala Harris Middle East policy
Former Obama administration official Joel Rubin spoke with Fox News Digital in Chicago about how Middle East policy could look under a Harris administration, and responded to GOP attacks against the vice president.
A Middle East policy expert who helped get the Iran nuclear deal signed into law is anticipating that Vice President Kamala Harris would seek a similar agreement with Tehran if she wins the White House.
"The idea that the old nuclear deal can just be restarted, we're past that. Iran's progress on its nuclear program has exceeded the previous limitations… a firm, verifiable nuclear deal that corrals and runs the ability to accelerate the nuclear weapon, that has to be the goal," said Joel Rubin, a Democratic strategist and former Obama administration deputy assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs to the House.
"The best way to do that is a nuclear agreement that's firm and verified… Any realistic president would go for that. And that’s Kamala Harris, she's a realistic president-to-be."
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Vice President Kamala Harris should create some form of a new Iran nuclear deal, a former Obama official said. (Kenny Holston-Pool/Getty Images)
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal, was signed in 2015 by Iran, members of the United Nations National Security Council, and the European Union.
Republicans and some moderate Democrats opposed the agreement, arguing it was too weak to successfully restrain the Islamic regime’s nuclear aspirations. Iran hawks in the U.S. also argued the lifting of sanctions on Iran would only serve to embolden its anti-Western leaders.
President Trump pulled out of the agreement in 2018.
But former President Barack Obama’s allies have maintained it was a necessary compromise to limit the threat from Iran’s nuclear capabilities and a sure way to bring Tehran to the negotiating table.
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Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, opened the door to new talks this week. (Iranian Leader Press Office/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
"There has to be a way to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions. If they were to get a nuclear weapon, that would be a threat to the region and to the world, including, of course, the United States. But it is not going to be an easy way forward," Rubin said.
Harris said during her short-lived 2020 presidential campaign that she would rejoin the Iran deal if elected president.
While It’s unclear whether she’s retained that stance in her 2024 campaign platform, it could expose her to GOP-led accusations of emboldening Iran at a time when the country is already growing more aggressive toward the U.S. and its allies.
As president, Donald Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggested on Tuesday that Tehran could rejoin talks on a nuclear agreement, according to The Associated Press. Khamenei said there was "no harm" in interacting with an "enemy" in "certain situations."
A State Department spokesperson told RadioFreeEurope, however, that rejoining the agreement "is not on the table right now."
Fox News Digital reached out to the Harris campaign for comment.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
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