Richard Goldberg, a GOP foreign policy expert, is joining the White House’s National Security Council as its new Director for Countering Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Goldberg was the lead Congressional staff negotiator for sanctions on Iran prior to the nuclear deal in 2015 in his capacity as deputy chief of staff and senior foreign policy adviser to former Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL), and later served as chief of staff for former Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner.

After stepping down from his government position in 2017, Goldberg joined the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) as a senior advisor and an expert on Iran.