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The victory of the Democratic presidential nominee in the United States presidential elections in November could swing the American policy on Iran onto a course that would endanger the Gulf States and Israel, U.S. envoy to Israel David Friedman said Sunday.
In an interview for the Emirati al-Ain website, Friedman pointed at Iran as a major issue in the 2020 elections that could have a variety of long-term implications.
The ambassador said that Biden was part of the administration that signed the 2015 the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), known as the "Iran nuclear deal" that put Tehran on a path to developing nuclear weapons.
Friedman said the sanctions imposed on Iran by the Trump administration of US President Donald Trump were likely to eventually curb its appetite for regional aggression.
However, if Biden were to claim victory in the November 3 vote, Trump's "maximum pressure" policy may not last, he warned.
Under the 2015 deal, Tehran vowed to lower its nuclear ambition in exchange for the removal of international sanctions against it.
Trump withdrew the U.S. out of the accord in 2018, saying it did not go far enough, and instead sought to pressure Iran into a more comprehensive deal that would also address the Islamic Republic's support to regional terror organizations.
Earlier, the U.S. announced it was using the "snapback" mechanism of the deal to bring the sanctions against Iran back in a move that was not supported by other JCPOA signatories.
Reprinted with permission from i24NEWS