Legislation combating Iranian Aggression
You can find contact information for your Representative here.
You can find contact information for your Senators here.
Nuclear Iran: A Global Threat
Iran is a threat to the United States, Israel, and America’s allies.
Iran continues to acquire all the material and the technical know-how needed to assemble and deliver a nuclear weapon. And with that weapon, it can achieve its frequently stated goal of destroying Israel: to do in twelve minutes to nine million Israelis what Hitler did in twelve years to six million Jews.
Iran has for decades made clear that its hatred for the United States and Israel is not just rhetoric. Both after the signing of the 2015 Iran Deal (JCPOA) and since the previous Administration’s withdrawal from it, Iran has ramped up its efforts to attack Israel and other American allies in the Middle East as well as its support for its terrorist proxies.
If we need a reminder what happens when a country run by an unaccountable leadership with an expansionist ideology gets nuclear weapons, look to current events: Russia is devastating Ukraine while the world reaction is shackled because Putin has the bomb.
Both before and, more publicly and aggressively, after the US withdrawal from the JCPOA, Iran has been edging ever closer to having all it needs to build a nuclear weapon. With this concern in mind, the Administration is negotiating (indirectly) with Iran to resurrect the JCPOA: to reimpose restrictions on Iran’s development of its nuclear capability, with the ‘carrot’ of lifting some of the punishing sanctions to which Iran is currently subject.
As Congress oversees those negotiations and reviews any resulting agreement, it is important to focus on the shortcomings of the previous deal. Specifically, it should ensure that any future agreement (a) truly prevents Tehran’s acquisition of a nuclear bomb rather than merely temporarily postponing it, (b) deals with Iran’s ballistic missile program – the way a nuclear bomb is delivered – and (c) does not facilitate Iran’s ability to finance terrorism by, for example, lifting sanctions unrelated to Iran’s nuclear activity or lifting the designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the part of Iran’s military that leads Iran’s terror-spreading activity in addition to controlling much of the Iranian economy.
What we are requesting of Congress:
Will you urge the Biden Administration to
⮚ ensure that any renewed deal is, in the words of Secretary of State Blinken, “longer and stronger” than the previous one
⮚ submit any renewed deal to Congress for its review
⮚ combine diplomacy and sanctions to permanently ensure that Iran will not acquire a nuclear weapon
⮚ comprehensively address Iran’s ballistic missile program
⮚ address the concerns related to bad players like Russia and China as functional guarantors of the agreement,
⮚ combat Iran’s regional aggression with particular respect to the IRGC
⮚ continue consulting regularly with Israel (given their deep knowledge about Iran’s nuclear program and existentially threatened by it) and other American regional allies
Senate:
Thank the Senator if s/he was one of 62 Senators, including 16 Democrats, who voted on May 4 in favor of a (non-binding) Senate measure that opposes (a) entering into an Iran deal addressing only the regime’s nuclear program and (b) removal of the IRGC’s terrorism designation.
Thank the Senator if s/he was one of 86 Senators, including [31] Democrats, who voted on May 4 in favor of a motion, introduced by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), calling on the Administration to keep terrorism-related sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran and the IRGC.
Articles and Further Reading on the Issue
Iran Conducts Space Launch – Iran this week conducted the first launch of a new rocket that the Pentagon views as a key element of Tehran’s effort to build long-range missiles.