As the 60-day US Congressional review period for the P5+1 Iran nuclear agreement ticks down to a close, the ZFA reiterates its opposition to this Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).
We are not alone in this view.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Opposition Leader Isaac Herzog have united to oppose the JCPOA. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, American Jewish Committee, British Israel Communications & Research Centre, Conseil Représentatif des Institutions Juives de France and Canada’s Center for Israel and Jewish Affairs have expressed profound reservations about this agreement.
The JCPOA’s shortcomings have become ever more apparent over recent weeks, including:
• patently inadequate verification procedures that rely on Iranian self-
reporting;
• the release of an estimated $US150 billion in previously frozen funds directly into the coffers of the Iranian government;
• the lifting of banking sanctions that previously prohibited the Iranian government from accessing international fund transfer systems;
• sunset provisions on the current embargo against the sale to Iran of arms and ballistic missile technology;
• lifting sanctions against senior terrorists including Major General Qasem Soleimani, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ infamous Quds Force defined by the US State Department as a major perpetrator of international terrorism:
In 2014, Iran’s state sponsorship of terrorism worldwide remained undiminished through the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps-Qods Force (IRGC-QF).
Just last week Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei declared that his countrymen: have realized that their real stubborn enemy is the world arrogance and Zionism and that’s why they chant slogans against the US and Zionism
Comments made by Iranian Foreign Minister Muhammad Javad Zarif have exacerbated fears that the billions in frozen funds to be released by the deal will be used to subsidize terrorism against Israel: the nuclear deal has provided an historic opportunity to stand against the Zionist entity.
We salute those Congressional Democrats – two Senators and 11 Representatives – who have declared their willingness to cross the floor against the JCPOA in defiance of considerable pressure from the White House. Their elevation of conscience over party discipline is a testament to their moral courage and intellectual honesty.
We watch this debate with a mixture of hope and trepidation; hope that the US Congress will vote to nullify this agreement and trepidation about the security of Israel and the world if it does not.
Dr Danny Lamm
President
