Iran is increasingly involved in the escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
Today there is the following concerning news:
• Iranian operatives recently claimed they have given Hezbollah militants an EMP weapon.
• A powerful EMP, as Iran claims, could damage Israel’s communications and power grid.
• “It is reasonable to assume that Iran has looked at these types of weapons,” a retired general said.
Amid the tit-for-tat shelling and threat-trading across the Israel-Lebanon border, one recently leveled menace stands out — that Hezbollah has a weapon capable of knocking out Israel’s electrical grid.
Iran wants Israelis to worry that Hezbollah has a rare and powerful EMP weapon by Michael Peck, Business Insider, 9/8/2024
I’ve been looking back at situations in the past that provide some historical context for things that are happening now. Today I’m writing about the Iran Nuclear Deal that President Obama worked hard to get approved by Congress in 2015.
One of the greatest foreign policy mistakes of the Trump administration was withdrawal from that deal. The real world consequences of that mistake are that instead of Iran’s nuclear program being monitored by international inspectors as was being done under the deal, reports are that Iran is now producing enough fuel for nuclear weapons.
As a Quaker organization, FCNL opposes all wars and affirms the divinity within every person. We support diplomacy with Iran, regional de-escalation, and an end to the use of broad-based economic sanctions that harm Iranian civilians.
The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal, President Biden’s failure to restore it, and the war in Gaza have dramatically increased tensions with Iran. If action is not taken to de-escalate, the United States could be dragged into a full-blown, disastrous regional war across the Middle East. FCNL is working to support robust regional diplomacy and trust-building measures to address the full range of areas of disagreement between the United States and Iran to prevent a worst-case scenario.
Maximum pressure has been a maximum failure.
Former President Trump’s “maximum pressure” strategy on Iran was a maximum foreign policy failure. Hardliners in Iran’s government were strengthened after the United States withdrew from the nuclear deal, while poverty in Iran increased and space for civil society dissent shrunk. U.S.-imposed economic sanctions severely impacted Iranian civilians by raising the prices of food and essential medicines with the heaviest burden falling on the most vulnerable, including women, children, and ethnic minorities.
While protests swelled across Iran in 2022 with demands of “Women, Life, Freedom” in response to the death in police custody of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, FCNL expressed support to those standing up for their fundamental human rights and condemned all forms of state oppression. We continue to call on the Iranian government to end its attacks on peaceful protesters and to allow freedom of expression. Without the Iran nuclear deal in place, U.S. policymakers have lost critical diplomatic leverage to negotiate to protect the human rights of the Iranian people.
In the wake of Hamas’ brutal October 7 attacks on southern Israel and Israel’s violent and indiscriminate response, there are significantly heightened tensions across the Middle East with diplomatic solutions seemingly even further out of reach. FCNL is increasingly concerned over the risk of a direct military operation on Iranian territory—along with a possible Iranian government attempt to accelerate its nuclear program in response—and the possibility of a wider conflict breaking out. What’s clear is Congress, and not the president, is the government branch that should decide whether and where the United States goes to war and there is no military solution to these cascading crises across the Middle East.
We urge Congress and the administration to push for the restoration of a diplomatic framework with Iran that curtails nuclear proliferation, supports regional de-escalation, bolsters human rights, opens humanitarian access, and achieves a pathway for peaceful coexistence for everyone in the region.
Phone call with President Obama
The Iran nuclear deal faced significant resistance in the US Congress. In July 2015, the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) arranged for those of us who were working for its passage to join in a phone call with President Obama.
Last night President Obama spoke for half an hour by phone to activists who support his efforts to pass the Iran nuclear deal. He described how the Iran deal is a good deal for the United States and all the counties who joined in the negotiations in good faith that they would all agree to the deal. This is the agreement that the international community hammered out and supports.
If Congress defeats this bill, that will likely end any influence the United States could have in the Middle East.
Opponents of the bill only offer that we need a “better deal” but have nothing to offer as to what that could possibly be. Those who say we should continue with sanctions don’t understand that is not possible now. Sanctions only work when the international community supports and enforces them. That won’t happen if they see the U.S. cannot agree on a foreign policy, as would be evident if this bill is defeated.
There is also the question of who the sanctions hurt, which is the people of Iran, not their leaders. This feeds the movement to join terrorist organizations. An improved standard of living for the Iranian people should help mitigate that.
The President specifically asked us to speak out to support this deal. “In the absence of your voices, you are going to see the same array of voices that got us into the Iraq war, leading to a situation in which we forgo a historic opportunity, and we are back on the path of potential military conflict,” he said.
“In the absence of your voices, you are going to see the same array of voices that got us into the Iraq war, leading to a situation in which we forgo a historic opportunity, and we are back on the path of potential military conflict,” President Obama said.
Our Indiana Senator, Joe Donnelly, had not committed to support the deal.
“I’ve spent the past week, (July 2015) with the help of Erin Polley, AFSC, organizing the delivery of a petition with over 10,000 Indiana signatures supporting the Iran nuclear deal. Members of North Meadow Circle of Friends, Indiana Moral Mondays and MoveOn met with the staff at Senator Joe Donnelly’s Indianapolis office. Just before our visit, the Senator announced he supported the deal, so this became a ‘thank you’ event, which the Senator’s staff indicated didn’t happen very often.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 26, 2015
Contact: Erin Polley (AFSC)
HOOSIERS THANK SENATOR DONNELLY FOR SUPPORTING THE IRAN DEAL Constituents will deliver 10,000 signed petitions and publicly thank him for his support of this historic deal
Indianapolis, IN- Today, a group of citizens will gather in front of Senator Joe Donnelly’s office and publicly thank him for his support of the historic deal announced by the U.S., Iran and other world powers that would prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. More than 10,000 Hoosiers signed petitions urging Senator Donnelly to support the deal. A 60-day clock started the moment negotiators announced the Iran deal, meaning Congress will vote on whether to approve this historic agreement in early September.
President Obama has stated he will veto any legislation rejecting this deal. Republicans need 13 Democratic votes in the Senate and 44 Democratic votes in the house to override the President’s veto so support for this deal is of an urgent matter if the United States is to avoid a future war. Last Wednesday, Senator Donnelly publicly stated he was behind the Iran nuclear deal, saying that the U.S. must exhaust every option before going to war with Iran.
“Despite having questions about Iran’s intentions, I am willing to give this agreement the opportunity to succeed,” he said in a statement. “While I share the concerns expressed by the agreement’s critics about what may happen 10, 15, or 20 years from now, I cannot in good conscience take action that would shift the potential risks of 2026 and 2031 to 2016.”
“This is one of the most important votes Senator Donnelly will ever cast as a member of Congress. His choice to support the deal is a vote for peace, not war, “ said Erin Polley, Program Coordinator for the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker organization. “We want him to know that we recognize his good consciousness about this deal and we support his decision.”
WHO: Hoosier voters
WHAT: A rally to thank Senator Donnelly for his support of the Iran deal
WHEN: Wednesday, August 26, 4:30 pm gather in front of Donnelly’s office, 4:45pm deliver 400 petitions in support of the deal
WHERE: Senator Donnelly’s Indianapolis office, 115 N. Pennsylvania ###
Des Moines Mutual Aid
I was deeply involvement with Des Moines Mutual Aid when I lived in Iowa. The following is an example of thinking globally, acting locally.
One year ago today Des Moines Mutual Aid participated in a march protesting the potential for war or increased hostilities with Iran that followed the fallout of the assassination of Qassem Soleimani by drone strike in Baghdad.
This was our first “public” event since adopting the name Des Moines Mutual Aid, a name we gave our crew during our growing work with our relatives at the houseless camps throughout the city and our help with coordinating a weekly free grocery store that has a 50-year history, founded by the Des Moines Chapter of The Black Panther Party For Self Defense.
Des Moines Mutual Aid
Photos of our petition delivery to Senator Donnelly’s Indianapolis office, July 2015:
unflinching 