Aaron Keyak: 'Biden will re-engage with Iran for a diplomatic solution'
Keyak, who serves as Biden’s director for Jewish engagement, said that President Trump “proved that in the short life of JCPOA it achieved its goals.”
By OMRI NAHMIASUS President Joe Biden gestures after disembarking from a plane upon landing at Ben Gurion International Airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, Israel March 8, 2016(photo credit: REUTERS/BAZ RATNER)
If Joe Biden is elected as president, he will work with the US allies to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, “which will include re-engaging Iran in a diplomatic solution,” said Aaron Keyak, who serves as the Biden campaign’s director for Jewish engagement.Speaking at a webinar hosted by the Jewish Democratic Council of America, Keyak said that the diplomatic engagement is meant to ensure that the Islamic Republic returns to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal and to “verifiably prevent a nuclear-armed Iran and find verifiable ways to ensure that it doesn’t happen in the long-term.”He slammed US President Donald Trump for withdrawing from the agreement, saying that “it is hard to draw up a more disastrous policy than the one president Trump has executed.” According to Keyak, “he tore up a deal with Iran that was working to prevent that country from obtaining nuclear weapons. He actually proved that in the short life of JCPOA it achieved its goals. As president, Joe Biden will hold Iran accountable for its destabilizing activities throughout the region,” he said.“He went out of his way to actively infuriate our allies in Europe and throughout the world,” he continued. “Trump looked at a deal that was working under president [Barack] Obama, and he couldn’t stand it. So he tore it up. It’s hard to drop the best way to prevent a nuclear armed Iran.”Asked about Biden’s positions about conditioning aid to Israel, Keyak said that the presumptive Democratic nominee rejects this idea.“Biden has been clear,” Keyak said. “It was clear during the primary, when this came up, that he is strongly against conditioning aid.He’s proud of the role he played in negotiating the $38 billion memorandum of understanding. That’s the largest aid package ever agreed to by the United States. He is also against unilateral actions by either side, including annexation that undermines the two-state solution.”
