Last week, Gabriel Noronha, a heroic former State Department on the Iran desk, published an earth-shattering tweet. He wrote, “my former colleagues from the United States Department of State, the National Security Council and the European Union were so concerned with the concessions being made by Robert Malley [during the Iran negotiations] in Vienna, that they allowed me to publish the details in the hope that Congress will act to stop the concessions.” 

This is why EMET is here. We have spent countless hours educating policymakers and their staffers on Capitol Hill about the details of what is about to be negotiated away to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Prior to our meetings, many staffers were focused solely on Ukraine, and were totally oblivious to the details of what, if agreed upon, would constitute an almost irreversible assault on the national security interests of the United States, our Sunni, Gulf allies, and Israel. 

What came out was appalling. Mr. Noronha wrote that one former colleague warned him, “What’s happening in Vienna is nothing short of a disaster. The entire negotiations have been filtered and essentially run by Russian diplomat, Mikhail Ulyanov.” 

It has become abundantly clear through Russia’s war on Ukraine (which they have been warning of for months), that Russia is not on our side. Putin has threatened the United States if we get involved in the war in Ukraine regarding what might happen to our military convoys if we transfer weapons to Ukraine. 

As you know, the United States was not even allowed in the negotiating room. To have a sworn enemy of the United States be our water carrier in these delicate negotiations would be risible if it were not so tragic.

A viral video shows Ulyanov gloating about his wins for the Islamic Republic, saying “Iranian clerics are fighting for Iranian nuclear, national interests like lions.” (His emphasis.)  “They fight for every comma, every word, and as a rule, quite successfully...I am absolutely sincere in this regard. Iran got much more than it could expect, much more….Our Chinese friends were also very efficient and useful as co- negotiators. We could rely on each other on many, many points.” 

Here are two sworn enemies of the United States serving as our water carriers in very delicate negotiations. 

And what exactly might be negotiated away?  

The US will lift sanctions against 112 of the world’s worst terrorists and human rights abusers, including Brig. Gen. Hussein Deghan of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), who was responsible for the 1983 Hezbollah bombing of Beirut, killing 241 American service members while they were asleep in their barracks.   

Sanctions would be lifted as well on Mohsen Rezaei and Ali Abkhar Veleyati who were responsible for planning Hezbollah’s 1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, killing 85 civilians and maiming hundreds of others. Also lifted would be the sanctions against Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, “the butcher of Tehran,” who presided over sham trials of over 5,000 dissidents that, according to Noronha “typically lasted only a few minutes before the guilty verdict was delivered.”   

Sanctions would be further lifted on Ahmad Jannati, a cleric described by Noronha as “pure evil,” and “routinely pushing the regime to kill protesters.” Jannati admitted that, when told that a prison in the Khuzestan province was getting overcrowded, he “volunteered to go serve there as a judge.” Both he and Raisi are responsible for the blood of thousands of dissidents and LGBT people.  

Noronha also revealed that there will be a $7 billion signing bonus for Iran from assets in South Korea, they will reportedly receive an additional $90 to $100 billion.  

None of this money will trickle down to the people. It will pay the salaries of Iran’s terrorist proxies around the globe and toward their missile development and their nuclear program. 

When Secretary of State Antony Blinken sat before the Senate for his confirmation hearings, he promised “a longer, stronger deal.” What we have gotten is a shorter and weaker deal with tremendous concessions just to have Iran sign. 

There is absolutely no attempt to address Iran’s malign behavior throughout the region and the globe, the sunset clauses (one of which has already passed last October), or its missile development program. 

When we meet with Congressional staffers, we explain that past performance is the best predictor of future behavior. Iran has tried to deceive the IAEA nuclear inspectors countless times, and although they committed to only enrich uranium to 3.65% purity, they already have two tons at 60%, which is an easy stretch to 90%, the level necessary for a nuclear bomb. 

These points have all been cited extensively as fatal flaws of the 2015 JCPOA. 

And today, news broke that Russia received written assurances from the United States regarding its ability to trade with Iran and resume the nuclear talks. This came out the same day we are threatening China not to deal with Russia in an attempt to isolate Russia over its horrific war on Ukraine. 

We have asked our congressional contacts to be sure and abide by both the letter and spirit of the 2015 Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, an act of federal law that stipulates that any agreement made with Iran must be submitted to Congress for a full and open public debate within five days. 

Countless staffers and members of Congress from both sides of the aisle have sincerely thanked my colleagues and me for our exhaustive knowledge of the issues and details of the deal of which they had been unaware. 

 Since we have begun our work, 49 Republican senators sent a letter to President Biden saying they would not support such an agreement. Last week, 12 Democrats and 8 Republicans also sent a joint letter to the president, saying that they could not support such a deal. 

On Wednesday night, Jews will celebrate Purim, which commemorates our survival in ancient Persia in light of plans to destroy the Jewish people. We all know that modern-day Iran is hard at work trying to destroy the modern-day Jewish state. 

It is “for such a time as this” that EMET is here. Please support the tireless work of EMET to the very best of your ability. 

Thank you very much. 

Warmest regards, 

Sarah Stern