Ex-US Officials Urge Return to Nuclear Deal

A group of 41 former US military, national security and diplomatic officials have signed an open letter calling on US President Joe Biden to rejoin the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, warning that failure to do so could mean a costly new war.
Biden has been clear on his desire to return to compliance with the JCPOA, which was negotiated and signed by former president Barack Obama’s administration—in which Biden served as vice president.
Iran has reduced compliance with the deal since former president Donald Trump withdrew from the accord in 2018, and has recently ramped up its nuclear program.
Biden is demanding that Iran scale back its nuclear program before his administration eases sanctions and rejoins the JCPOA. But Tehran wants sanctions relief before it returns to the nuclear limits set by the deal.
Conservatives are mobilizing against the JCPOA, backed by Israel and some Persian Gulf Arab states. They assert that the JCPOA is inadequate in that its nuclear curbs end in 2025 and that it covers neither Iran’s growing ballistic missile arsenal nor its regional activities.
But the group of former officials who signed the open letter to Biden argued that the JCPOA remains the only means through which to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran, a situation that would risk a costly conflict, Newsweek reported.  
Tehran denies any military aspect to its nuclear program and says it is only meant for peaceful applications.

Starting Point  

“We strongly support restoring constraints on Iran’s nuclear program by swiftly returning both Iran and the United States to the nuclear accord as a starting point for further negotiations to address the many [alleged] threats posed by Iran,” the letter read.
“We are clear-eyed about the threats posed by Iran to US national security,” the signatories contended. “The most threatening would be the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon. Preventing a nuclear-armed Iran must be the paramount objective of our Iran policy, and the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action remains the best path to achieving this objective.”
Trump vowed to compel Iran to negotiate a more restrictive nuclear deal, though his sanctions, diplomatic measures and military actions failed to push Tehran back to the negotiating table. Iranian officials have hailed their victory over Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign.
The open letter to Biden said Trump’s strategy “has proved disastrous for US national security,” characterizing his approach as “a rejection of diplomacy and reliance on empty, belligerent rhetoric.” This, they said, “has induced increased attacks against our troops and allies in the region, and increased the likelihood of conflict in the Middle East.”
US Military experts have consistently warned against a conflict with Iran, stressing such a war would result in enormous financial cost and significant American and civilian casualties.
“War with Iran would be an unmitigated disaster … military conflict with Iran would incur unacceptable costs to the United States and ultimately fail to advance US national security,” the letter to Biden read. 
“We must urgently reverse course, beginning by rejoining the JCPOA,” the letter read. “We encourage policymakers to act quickly to bring both Iran and the United States back into compliance with the nuclear accord.’