Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the Middle East this week, where he
is meeting with leaders in Israel as well as several Arab countries in
the hopes of replicating the normalization of relations between the
United Arab Emirates and Israel. Israel's Ambassador to the United
States, Ron Dermer, expressed optimism in in an interview stating that
we would soon see other Arab countries choose to join the growing
coalition of countries abandoning unnecessary quarrels with the Jewish
state and choosing instead to focus on peace and prosperity in the
region.

Speaking of Allies

American leadership has enabled a growing coalition of nations to
confront the evil regimes of the Middle East. Israel, the UAE, Greece,
Cypress and of course, United States itself and each new addition to
this Anti-Extremist Alliance is a strong signal for all those nations
concerned with and affected by Iranian and Turkish malevolence.

As an example, just this past week, Emirati F-16 fighter jets
participated in a joint exercise with Greek Armed Forces. This and other
developments such as the CUFI-backed

**Eastern Mediterranean Security and Energy Partnership Act** show that
there is broad support across the Mediterranean and the Middle East for
confronting Turkey's aggressive behavior. It should be noted that the
head of Israeli intelligence recently was reported as saying that
"Iranian power is fragile," to his counterparts from Egypt, Saudi
Arabia and the Emirates, "but the real threat is from Turkey."

Speaking of Turkey

Turkey, which earlier this month granted citizenship to Hamas
terrorists, decided to meet with them yet again in recent days. Hamas
senior leaders Ismail Haniyeh and Saleh al-Arouri met with Turkey's
strongman, radical Islamist President Recep Tayip Erdogan late last
week. Readers may recall that al-Arouri was behind the infamous and
brutal kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers in 2014. He was
soon thereafter sanctioned by the United States and a $5M bounty was
placed on him by the State Department.

Beyond its naked support for terror, Turkey has continued to provoke the
ire of a host of countries - from Greece to France to Egypt and many
others - for its continued violations of territorial waters of its
neighbors for the claimed purpose of gas exploration.

Under President Erodgan, Turkey has become a pariah state. The CUFI
Action Fund believes that a drastic change in Ankara's behavior is a
vital precondition to any future arms sales or economic progress with
Turkey.

Speaking of Pariah States

We noted in last week's Update that the UN Security Council, true to
form, failed to extend a conventional arms embargo against the Islamic
Republic that is set to expire in October. As a result, the Trump
administration is seeking to utilize the "snapback" provision in the
relevant UN Security Council Resolution to reimpose sanctions against
the Islamic Republic abrogated under the disastrous deal. The CUFI
Action Fund supports the administration's effort to do so.

We have long held that Iran's nuclear ambitions could lead to
widespread nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, and on Monday our
Director of Public Policy and Strategy, Boris Zilberman, published an
op-ed detailing the proliferation-associated dangers of a "JCPOA
2.0" over at Newsweek
.

In the piece Zilberman notes, "A JCPOA 2.0 very well might push Abu
Dhabi and Riyadh over the edge to seek their own unrestrained nuclear
ambitions... If world powers, and the Europeans in particular, are
interested in restraining nuclear proliferation in the Middle East, then
sanctions against Tehran should snap back and a second round of Iranian
appeasement should be taken off the table."

From Iran's nuclear ambitions and support for terror to Turkey's
hegemonic ambitions and support for terror, one could be forgiven if
they thought the outlook for the Middle East, North Africa and the
Mediterranean looked bleak. But we are cautiously optimistic.

America has shown in word and deed that through strong leadership we are
once again able to help guide our allies in the direction of stability
and prosperity. Arab states are making peace with Israel. And while they
may lash out, the economies of the aforementioned evil regimes are
crumbling and they find themselves increasingly isolated on the
world's stage. As long as you stay engaged and therefore ensure the US
stays engaged in these issues, the future will be bright.

Sincerely,

CUFI Action Fund Team

SUPPORT CUFI ACTION FUND
_________________

Sent to [email protected]

Unsubscribe:
[link removed]

CUFI Action Fund, 300 Independence Ave SE, Washington, DC 20003, United States