‘Biden’s put national security at risk’: lawmaker slams president after three of his team negotiating with Iran on nuclear deal RESIGN because US is being too soft and calls for him to revert to Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ policy

• Republican Rep. Michael Waltz praised the negotiators who have stepped back for 'recognizing when diplomacy is getting too desperate'
• Waltz has had his own experience in the Middle East as an Army Green Beret
• State Department official confirmed Tuesday that Richard Nephew stood down
• He was U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Iran and known as sanctions architect
• Nephew, who wanted Biden to take a harder stance against Iran, has reportedly been avoiding the meetings in Vienna since December
• At the same time, reports emerged that two other negotiators had left
• It comes at a critical time in negotiations between the West and Tehran
• Iran has rejected talk of an interim agreement and wants a legal guarantee that the U.S. will not walk away from the nuclear deal
• It also won't negotiate directly with the US, with European intermediaries

A Republican member of Congress on Tuesday praised three Biden administration officials who walked away from their roles on the State Department's nuclear talks with Iran.

Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida, who served in the Middle East as one of the Army's elite Green Berets, told DailyMail.com their departure at a critical junction of the discussions is a reflection of President Joe Biden's policies putting 'national security at risk.'

A State Department official confirmed that Richard Nephew, known as the architect of sanctions on Tehran, had stepped down as U.S. Deputy Special Envoy for Iran after urging a tougher stance on nuclear talks.

At the same time, the Wall Street Journal reported that two other negotiators had stepped aside from their positions because they wanted a harder negotiating position.

Waltz joined their call on Tuesday by urging Biden to return to his predecessor Donald Trump's 'policy of maximum pressure' against Tehram's regime.

'It’s good to see some officials recognize when diplomacy gets too desperate and begins to really put American national security at risk,' the Florida Republican said.

'The Biden Administration should revert back to a policy of maximum pressure that focused on holding the Iran regime accountable for their nuclear capabilities, missile development, and regional terrorism and build on Abraham Accords to counter Iran’s aggression.'

A State Department official confirmed that Richard Nephew was no longer deputy special envoy for Iran but was still working at the State Department

THE FATHER OF US SANCTIONS ON IRAN WHO STORMED OUT OF NUCLEAR NEGOTIATIONS

Richard Nephew, the Deputy Special Envoy for the State Department's negotiations with Iran, left his role after urging the Biden administration to take a tougher stance in the nuclear talks.

Widely regarded as an expert on sanctions policy, Nephew was named the Principal Deputy Coordinator for Sanctions Policy in Barack Obama's State Department in January 2013.

In the role he engineered sanctions against Iran that helped forced Tehran into signing the historic JCPOA, and was involved in the talks from August 2013 to December 2014.

He reportedly thought the United States was taking too soft an approach to an Iran that not only rebuffed agreements its previous government made but is also building up its nuclear capabilities at a break-neck pace.

It led to a disagreement over the direction of the talks with his boss, US Special Representative for Iran Robert Malley.

He'll continue to serve in the State Department albeit in a different role, according to NBC News.

Before joining the Biden administration, Nephew was a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Institute and a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy.

He also authored a book in 2017 on the role sanctions play in foreign policy, titled The Art of Sanctions.

The negotiating team's policy differences reportedly involved the enforcement of existing sanctions and even pulling out of the talks altogether.

Their departures, another blow to President Joe Biden's foreign policy goals and a State Department grappling with Russian diplomats who appear poised for conflict in Ukraine, come at a critical time in talks that resumed two months ago.

Western diplomats say they hope for a breakthrough in the coming weeks - but critical differences remain between the two sides and Britain on Tuesday warned of a looming impasse.

Meanwhile the Biden administration has been grappling with bipartisan criticism at home that it's taken too soft a stance against Iran as the Middle Eastern nation builds up its nuclear capabilities at breakneck speed.

A State Department official declined to comment on the specifics of internal policy discussions.

'The previous administration left us with a terrible set of choices on Iran,' he said.

'Maximum pressure failed, leaving Iran with a rapidly expanding nuclear program and a more aggressive regional posture. At the same time, we were isolated from many of our closest allies and partners.

'Working our way out of this crisis requires many difficult, closely balanced decisions, on which there can be reasonable disagreement.'

Nephew, who wanted Biden to take a harder stance against Iran, has reportedly been avoiding the meetings in...

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