An Update from CUFI Action Fund
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This week the Iranians met, yet again, with world powers in Vienna to
discuss the Islamic Republic's nuclear program. As we've seen
numerous times before, nothing good has or will come out of such
meetings. And the reason is simple: we know what the Iranians, the
Israelis and the Biden administration hope will come out of these talks
and when you look at those objectives side-by-side, those who oppose a
nuclear Iran have a real problem.

What Does Everyone Want?

The Iranians have not been ambiguous about their goals. They opened the
talks by insisting all sanctions be lifted. The regime is evil, but
it's not strategically irrational. Tehran wants to continue their
nuclear program while lessening sanctions targeting the regime. Israel
too has been very clear about what they want, an end to Iran's nuclear
program and malign activities. Neither the Iranian nor the Israeli
positions should come as a surprise to anyone. Tehran and Jerusalem have
been clear and consistent about their objectives.

This brings us, troublingly, to the Biden administration. Those around
the President indicated initially that the Administration was seeking a
longer and stronger agreement. Something both Democrats and Republicans
on Capitol Hill welcomed. And then in time, they began discussing the
need for a return to the ineffective Iran nuclear accord, with the
intention of a follow on agreement. The Biden Administration weakened
its position, much to the chagrin of leaders on both sides of the aisle
in congress. But even this, of course, did not satisfy the Iranians (see
above).

So, this week we have Team Biden negotiating (indirectly) with Team
Terror and we're wondering what is it that the White House hopes to
achieve? The likely answer is nothing meaningful. Sadly, it's become
apparent that President Biden is committed to the same goal as President
Obama in 2015: any deal, at any cost. But here's the rub, with the
Iranians making clear that they will not rejoin the JCPOA, any new
interim agreement is likely to be weaker than the 2015 agreement.

What Can Be Done About it?

President Obama showed us that whether or not the majority of Americans
or elected officials oppose a deal with Iran, the President can make any
political agreement they see fit. But we've long advocated that if
President Biden does come to an agreement with Iran, that such should be
submitted to the Senate for ratification as a treaty. This both
strengthens the President's hand in negotiations and, as CUFI's poll
from last summer shows, enjoys overwhelming bipartisan support.

If one wants a durable and strong agreement with Iran, submitting such
to the Senate is a no-brainer. If one simply wants to do the Potomac
two-step and push a weak agreement that won't survive then submitting
such to the Senate is a deal-breaker. Eventually, the Biden
Administration will take steps that will give us a conclusive answer to
what they are looking for. In the meantime, however, there are other
issues related to Iran that need to be addressed as well.

What About Additional Sanctions?

This past week, bipartisan leaders of the House Foreign Affairs
Committee introduced the

**Stop Iranian Drones Act**. The CUFI Action Fund wholeheartedly
supports this smart, bipartisan legislation. In a nutshell, according to
the bill's sponsors, this legislation would "clarify that US
sanctions on Iran's conventional weapons program under CAATSA
[Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act] include the
supply, sale or transfer to or from Iran of unmanned combat aerial
vehicles." Given Iran's increasing use of drones, and of course
their penchant for giving weapons to their terrorist proxies, this
legislation is timely and important as is the signal of Democrats and
Republicans working together to counter the Iranian threat. More to come
on this front in weeks ahead.

The challenge with sanctioning the malign and murderous behavior of the
Iranians is that the Iranians will react negatively. Now, Iran is
already a nuclear bomb seeking state sponsor of terror, so one could be
forgiven for asking how much worse they could get. But in the eyes of
the Biden Administration, it seems these sins are not as central to the
conversation as is the prospect of Tehran using any new non-nuclear
sanctions as an excuse to walk away from the aforementioned (and
completely useless) nuclear talks.

We end, therefore, where we began. Everyone's cards are on the table.
And everyone knows that only strength will bring Tehran to heel.
There's still time for President Biden to correct his course and
provide real leadership on this issue. But in the meantime, we'll back
every legitimate piece of legislation that has the potential to thwart
Iran's malicious ambitions, even if that spoils President Biden's
plans for another worthless Iran nuclear agreement.

Sincerely,

CUFI Action Fund Team

SUPPORT CUFI ACTION FUND
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