Regular readers of the Action Update know that Iran's support for
terror is so prevalent that it's hardly even newsworthy anymore. The
same goes for the Islamic Republic's efforts to develop a nuclear
weapon. And sadly, the international community's weakness in the face
of Iranian belligerence hardly warrants a headline these days. But
sometimes, the sum of events is greater than the whole of its parts. And
over the past week, all of these appalling realities have come into
stark relief. 

Tehran's Terrorists

Earlier this week, Iran's top diplomat (you know, the one who struck
the Iran nuclear agreement) rather undiplomatically threatened the
United States for the January 2020 assassination of Gen. Qassem
Soleimani. Soleimani was the head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards
Corps' Quds Force, which is responsible for Iran's terrorist
apparatus around the world.

This is hardly the first time Iran has threatened the United States and
it won't be the last. But anyone who is considering meeting with
Iran's Foreign Minister in the future would do well to bear in mind
that he's not just in the business of making false promises but also
of making real threats.

Speaking of Iran-backed terrorists, one of their proxy groups in Bahrain
has announced that it has created a new unit, "The Martyrs of
Jerusalem Company," whose focus is aimed at attacking Israeli targets
in Bahrain following that country's decision to normalize ties with
the Jewish state.

America's Answer

All of this news comes just as we are weeks away from the UN arms
embargo against Iran expiring (due to the aforementioned disastrous Iran
nuclear accord). The UN Security Council is refusing to consider
extending the arms embargo, so the Trump administration has unilaterally
reimposed the provision that would "snapback" international
sanctions against Iran.

According to Secretary Pompeo, the US will "enforce the U.N. arms
embargo and hold those who seek to evade U.N. sanctions accountable."
And our government has already taken relevant action imposing sanctions
against Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics among
others.  

Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, Senators Cotton, Cornyn, Cruz, Rubio, Scott
and Tillis, sent a letter Thursday to the White House urging the
President "to impose sanctions on the entirety of Iran's financial
sector." House members will be sending a similar letter in the coming
days. The CUFI Action Fund supports the position of these Senators and
Representatives and welcomes their leadership on this issue.

World's Weakness

All of this sets up a showdown between the US and several world powers,
as members of the UN Security Council are using a bit of legal
contortionism to avoid multilateral snapback of UN sanctions relieved
under the Iran nuclear accord. In a nutshell, because the US stopped
giving Iran unilateral sanctions relief, the UN Security Council is
arguing that the US cannot - as the relevant Security Council
resolution dictates - exercise our right to begin the mechanism by
which international sanctions are reimposed against Iran.

Setting aside the fact that this is legally unsound, we are wondering
why western nations concerned with stability and peace would ever want
the current regime in Tehran to have access to the world market of
conventional weapons? Sure, death to America and Israel are the
preferred chants of Iranian revolutionaries, but of all the countries on
earth, the UK, France and Germany, should know that one cannot achieve
peace in our time by appeasing an imperial and dictatorial regime.

If you happen to be reading this in London, Paris, Berlin or surrounding
areas, feel free to let your elected officials know how you feel about
their actions (or you could just send them a 20th century history book).
In the meantime, here in the US, we'll do everything we can to
maximize the maximum pressure campaign against the world's leading
state sponsor of terror.

Sincerely,

CUFI Action Fund Team

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