Wendy Sherman has helped Democratic presidents negotiate now-failed deals with North Korea and Iran
Veteran US diplomat Wendy Sherman is the woman conveying Washington’s messages about NATO expansion in Europe to Moscow – but the ‘hard-nosed’ negotiator was previously involved in sealing security deals with Pyongyang and Tehran.
Neither the Clinton-era Framework Agreement with North Korea nor the Obama-era Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) acted as the enduring restraints on nuclear proliferation that they were meant to be.
The 72-year-old diplomat heading the US delegation in recent talks between Russia and NATO is a veteran of the Democratic Party. She has held senior public offices and executive positions in political organizations associated with the party, including pro-choice PAC EMILY’S List. Sherman is currently the second-highest ranking diplomat at the Department of State, serving as deputy secretary under Antony Blinken.
Under the so-called Framework Agreement, Pyongyang agreed to suspend production of weapons-grade plutonium from spent nuclear fuel rods in exchange for a number of concessions, like regular fuel aid and construction of light water reactors to meet its energy needs. The deal was only a partial success at best and ultimately failed, as neither party appeared committed to keeping its end of the bargain. The Bush administration finally ended it in 2002, an act that Republican ultra-hawk John Bolton apparently took great pride in. Pyongyang conducted its first nuclear test four years later. North Korean diplomats jokingly dubbed Bolton the father of their nation’s nuclear weapons program.
However, the deal was denounced by Israel and many Republicans, with President Donald Trump later branding it the “worst deal ever made” before ultimately pulling Washington out of the agreement abruptly in 2018. A year later, Tehran began gradually stepping back from its own commitments from the deal, branding the US as untrustworthy. The Biden administration has stated its intention to salvage the agreement, but after months of negotiations and now with a more hardline government in power in Tehran, it is unclear whether this can be achieved.
https://ift.tt/3GBnbtN 17, 2022 at 06:22PM
from RT – Daily news
