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The warning lights are flashing – experts are issuing dire warnings – but President Joe Biden is still moving full speed ahead to another dangerous nuclear deal with Iran.

At Tablet magazine, Iran expert Gabriel Noronha warns: This isn’t Obama’s Iran deal. It’s much, much worse:

Ambassador Mikhail Ulyanov, who led negotiations on behalf of Russia, has crowed that “Iran got much more than it could expect. Much more,” and bragged about how Russia teamed up with China and Iran to get dozens of wins over the United States and European negotiating positions.

The list of concessions that follows is long, detailed, disturbing, but also somewhat technical. But this much is clear to me: The deal being negotiated in Vienna is dangerous to US national security, to the stability of the Middle East, and to the Iranian people who suffer most under that brutal regime. The lack of evidence to justify a removal of US sanctions is illegal, and the deal that will be foisted upon the world without the support of Congress will be illegitimate. This deal will not serve US interests in either the short or long term.

This is an essential article. Read it in full here.

Another respected expert analyst on Iran, Richard Goldberg, writes at National Review:

The new agreement is even worse than the 2015 deal made by the Obama administration. Biden’s version would lift US terrorism sanctions on Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, and leave Tehran’s illicit nuclear infrastructure intact without first demanding a full accounting of Iran’s secret nuclear work.

Under the deal, Iran would get access to more than $100 billion, which it could spend on terrorism, missiles, and the pursuit of regional hegemony. Enforcement remains weak or non-existent, so there is no barrier to Iran’s crossing the nuclear threshold at a time of its choosing. Terrorism sanctions imposed on the Central Bank of Iran, the National Iranian Oil Company, and a host of other banks and companies will be suspended without any evidence that these institutions are no longer engaged in financing terrorism.

The State Department may even rescind the terrorist designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps…

The Biden administration has continued to pursue this terrible deal even though the US knew earlier this year that Iran was plotting to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Tom Rogan at the Washington Examiner reports:

At least two Iranians belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards’ covert-action Quds Force have been plotting to assassinate former national security adviser John Bolton [and former secretary of state Mike Pompeo], according to a Justice Department official with direct knowledge of the investigation.

The source tells the Washington Examiner that the department possesses indictable evidence against the Iranians but that Biden administration officials are resisting publicly indicting the men for fear that it could derail their drive for a nuclear deal with Iran, currently nearing completion in negotiations in Vienna, Austria. Biden’s hope is to resume the 2015 JCPOA Iran nuclear accord.

… Speaking on the condition of anonymity, four active and former government officials with knowledge of the most recent intelligence backdrop confirmed that Iranian threats against Bolton and Pompeo are continuing, specific, and highly credible.

Further reading:

Behnam Ben Taleblu: New Iran Nuclear Deal? Same Old Missile Problems.

The Russians have been part of the negotiations in Vienna on a new Iran nuclear deal from the start – they are intermediaries for the United States at the negotiating table since the US delegation is not allowed in the same room with the Iranian delegation.

Reports on what the new Iran deal contains have included this jaw-dropping item (per Richard Goldberg:

But wait, there’s more: America may trust Russia to maintain custody of Iran’s enriched-uranium stockpile with a promise to return the stockpile to Iran if the US ever reimposes sanctions.

That sounds fine, right?

Now Vladimir Putin has complicated the Vienna talks. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sparked international condemnation and sanctions from the US and Europe. Last weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov demanded a US guarantee that the sanctions that have been imposed on Moscow for invading Ukraine won’t be applied to Russian trade and investment with Iran. Putin still wants to do business with his chief ally in the Mideast. It’s unclear what will happen next, but the Russian demands could derail or at least delay the talks. The fight over President Biden’s terrible deal with Iran is not over.

Further reading:

Cliff May: The war in Ukraine and the battle in Vienna

In a surprising move, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, an observant Jew, broke the Sabbath last Saturday and flew to Moscow to try to convince Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine. (It is permissible to break the Sabbath in order to save lives.) The two men met for three hours.

Lahav Harkov at the Jerusalem Post reports:

Bennett informed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in advance of the meeting with Putin and called him before departing Moscow. Bennett also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron, according to Ynet.

Bennett flew to Berlin after the meeting with Putin, to have dinner with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. The two leaders spoke for an hour, discussing a number of issues including the Russia-Ukraine War.

Why is Israel in a position to mediate between Ukraine and Russia? Yair Rosenberg quotes Anshel Pfeffer at Haaretz (behind paywall) to explain:

Israel is in an ideal position to offer its mediation services – it is probably the only country with good ties to and open channels of communication with both Moscow and Kyiv. And with over a million Israeli citizens who were born in either Russia or Ukraine, the government in Jerusalem has plenty of senior officials and advisors who understand the issues well.

Senate Committee holds hearing on hate crimes

On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on hate crimes with Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Kristen Clarke, former Antisemitism Envoy Elan Carr, and Colleyville, Texas, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker. Committee staff asked the RJC to recommend witnesses from the Jewish community to discuss recent antisemitic attacks and we were pleased to forward the name of former envoy Elan Carr.

How the Biden Administration is funding the effort to delegitimize Israel

The Biden administration is offering nearly $1 million for groups to investigate alleged human rights abuses in Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip, an effort that will delegitimize Israel, according to sources who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon.

In sign of warming ties, Herzog makes historic visit to Turkey

Israeli President Isaac Herzog was greeted with a 21-gun salute and a military band playing Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikva,” at Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s 1,150-room presidential palace in Ankara on Wednesday. The visit — the first to the country by an Israeli leader in 14 years — is being touted by both parties as a first step in restoring diplomatic ties… Erdoğan has for months been signaling a desire to improve relations with Israel, speaking via phone with Herzog at least three times since the Israeli leader took office in July. His efforts to resume ties — which faltered after the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident in 2010, in which Israeli forces killed nine Turkish activists attempting to reach the Gaza Strip — come as Turkey faces a severe economic crisis and as it attempts to upgrade its diplomatic ties in the region.

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