By Gabe Toole | June 10, 2022

The relationship between Iran and the IAEA has soured in recent weeks and was further exacerbated over the latest board meeting. Not only is a quick resolution unlikely, the survival of the JCPOA may soon be impossible. One of Iran’s demands for returning to the JCPOA is that the IAEA close its ongoing probe into Iran’s clandestine nuclear program, which seemed realistic a few months ago. In March, Iran and the IAEA agreed to a 3-month timeline that would resolve the outstanding investigation into Iran’s undisclosed nuclear activities. However, this week marked not only the expiration of Iran’s agreed-upon timeline, but also the latest IAEA board of governors meetings which met June 6^th  to 10^th.

The IAEA and Iran have had a long and tumultuous relationship dating back to the early 2000s. In 2009, the IAEA voted to censure Iran over the development of a secret uranium enrichment facility; in 2011, the IAEA first publicly outlined its concerns with Iranian efforts to develop a nuclear weapon. As early as 2011, the IAEA publicly concluded that Iran had made efforts to develop undeclared pathways for producing nuclear material, acquired information related to the development of a nuclear bomb and had worked on the indigenous design of a nuclear weapon.

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Luncheon with Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi

Event Date: Monday, June 13, 2022 at 12PM Eastern

Location: One block from Union Station, Washington, DC

We will provide the exact location following RSVP.

The Jewish Policy Center and EMET invite you to lunch! In person. Really.

An advocate of Israeli-Palestinian co-existence, Mayor Revivi will discuss his “bottom-up” approach, nurturing and deepening Efrat’s relationships with neighboring Palestinian villages. He brings new solutions to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis and will discuss how the Abraham Accords helped change the trajectory of relations.

Ukrainian refugees and the long-term impact of COVID on Israel will also find their way onto the agenda.

Mayor of Efrat since 2008, from 2016-2020 Mayor Revivi was also Chief Foreign Envoy of the YESHA Council, acting as the political representative of the Israeli settlement movement to the international community. He served in the IDF and retired after 25 years in reserve service as a Lt. Col. In the tank corps.

Dietary Laws Observed. This presentation will also be broadcast via Zoom video webinar. A recording will be posted to the JPC website after the live event.

In at least 40 cities and towns throughout much of Iran, thousands of people have taken to the streets to protest a government they deeply despise and distrust. Yet, there is hardly any mention in the media about it, and even less from the Biden administration.

This latest round of protests began shortly after May 3^rd, when the government announced its intention to remove its subsidy of flour that had been in place for over 200 years.  The Iranian government had been relying on a Ukrainian supply of wheat, which had threatened the supply chain and global prices, but because of a pervasive atmosphere of total corruption and mismanagement, Iranians took to the streets to demonstrate. On top of that, a building collapsed last week, killing dozens of people and trapping more than 80 under the rubble.

What began as a purely economic protest has morphed into a great protest against the Iranian regime, with shouts of “We do not hate America. We hate the regime. Down with the regime. Death to Khameini.” These people have demonstrated phenomenal courage. The Basij, as well various IRGC militias have randomly shot and killed many of the demonstrations. Others have been rounded up, arrested and tortured, and carted off to the notorious Evin prison, sometimes never to be seen from or heard from again. Yet, the valiant demonstrators continue.

Where is the Western media about this? Why no word from the White House.
 
We are profoundly honored to have with us Navid Mohebbi, a policy fellow from the National Union for Democracy in Iran (NUFDI).

About the speaker: Navid is a former Iranian political prisoner and long-time political activist. In 2010, Mohebbi was arrested by the Islamic Republic in Iran and recognized by the Committee to Protect Journalists as the youngest jailed journalist in the country.

Navid was born and raised in Iran. Before coming to the US in 2013, he lived in Turkey for two years. He holds a BA in international relations and Middle Eastern studies from George Washington University and previously worked as a Persian media analyst for the State Department. He also recently completed a DOD-funded fellowship program in which he researched the impact of climate change on political stability in Iran.