Iran

But the fall of Syria’s Assad and the weakened states of Hamas and Hezbollah have diminished Iran’s influence. At the same time, domestic unrest and a struggling economy create growing threats to Iran’s clerical rulers. The Trump administration has an historic opportunity to use diplomacy to move Iran away from its dangerous nuclear brinkmanship and toward a better future for the Iranian
people.

Call on Congress to support diplomatic efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring or developing a nuclear weapon.

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In early June, nuclear negotiations between the United States and Iran were upended when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched “Operation Rising Lion,” a 12-day bombing campaign targeting Iran’s main enrichment facility in Natanz, nuclear scientists who had worked on Iran’s nuclear program, and entities connected to Iran’s ballistic missile program. On June 21, without authorization from Congress, the Trump administration joined the Israeli operation, conducting strikes on three of Iran’s nuclear facilities in a dangerous escalation that put thousands of U.S. troops and citizens in the region at risk.

A ceasefire was reached days later, but the overall diplomatic situation has deteriorated: with the scuttling of U.S.-Iran talks and Iran’s refusal to allow international inspectors to regain access to Iran’s nuclear sites, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany triggered the snapback of United Nations sanctions against Iran. Meanwhile, initial U.S. intelligence reporting indicated that the strikes on Iran only set back its nuclear program by months, with the fate of Iran’s existing stockpile of highly enriched uranium unclear. The door to diplomacy remains open and urgent, and bold U.S. diplomatic leadership can prevent a wider escalation of this crisis and put Iran’s nuclear program back in a box.