[Peace] (from Peace Action) -- Help protect the Iran Nuclear Deal before it's too late

Wed May 24 17:40:53 UTC 2017

Calling our Senators about this Corkery-Menendez bill, S. 722, which
would impose new sanctions on Iran and (says the Peace Action alert
below) "would violate the spirit, and perhaps the letter, of the Iran
agreement."

    202-224-2152  Sen. Richard Durbin
    202-224-2854  Sen. Tammy Duckworth

Neither of our Senators is on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee,
but the alert suggests they think this is likely to come to the full Senate.

-------- Forwarded Message --------
Subject: 	Help protect the Iran Nuclear Deal before it's too late
Date: 	Wed, 24 May 2017 09:00:46 -0400 (EDT)
From: 	Jon Rainwater, Peace Action <peaceact at reply.salsalabs.com>
Reply-To: 	peaceact at reply.salsalabs.com
To: 	stuartnlevy at gmail.com

*1-202-224-3121
Call your Senators _TODAY_!
Urge them to oppose the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill
*
Dear Stuart,

Do you remember the massive grassroots efforts in 2015 that ensured
Congress upheld the Iran nuclear agreement? *Thank you* for
participating in that successful push. Those efforts have more than paid
off.

*For well over a year now, the Iran agreement has been working, ensuring
that all of Iran’s potential pathways to obtaining nuclear weapons are
blocked.* They have also had an added benefit of empowering moderates in
Iran like President Hassan Rouhani who just won re-election in a
landslide, a clear sign that the people of Iran want to continue to see
relationships with the West improve.

*Unfortunately, politics too often supersedes good policy in the halls
of Congress.* The Senate is gearing up for a floor vote on a new
sanctions bill introduced by Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Bob Menendez
(D-NJ), S. 722, that would violate the spirit, and perhaps the letter,
of the Iran agreement.

*Please call the Capitol Switchboard today at 202-224-3121. Ask for your
Senators and then say: “I am a constituent and I want (SENATOR’s NAME)
to oppose the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill, S. 722. My name is
_________ and I live at ___________.  I would like a response please.”
*(Note: some offices don’t count callers that do not provide address
information.)

The Corker-Menendez bill is overly broad and poorly timed. The very
premise of the Iran agreement was that Iran would experience relief from
economic sanctions in exchange for opening up its nuclear facilities to
inspections. By piling on new sanctions, this legislation threatens to
undermine the agreement by preventing Iran from receiving the very
economic benefits central to the success of the Iran accord.

Moreover, while the U.S. has concerns about Iran’s policies around
missile development and terrorism, sanctions have proven time and time
again to be entirely ineffective at changing Iran’s behavior. During the
Bush-era sanctions ramp-up targeting Iran’s nuclear program, that very
program vastly expanded. It became possible to resolve concerns over
Iran’s nuclear program only when both President Obama and President
Rouhani were willing to come to the negotiating table. More recently,
both the Obama and Trump administrations have sanctioned Iran in
response to its ballistic missile testing, and tests have continued
nonetheless.

Simply put, the best way to address tensions and concerns over Iran’s
policies is through ongoing dialogue, which more sanctions tend to put a
serious damper on.

*Please call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 and ask them to oppose
S. 722, the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill. Be sure to tell them
your name and address so they know you’re a constituent, and ask for a
response.*

With your help, we’ve consistently reminded Members of Congress that
without the Iran agreement, war with Iran becomes much more likely.
Needless to say, any military engagement directly between the U.S. and
Iran could easily spiral into a full scale war, which could well surpass
the Iraq war in both human and economic costs.

*Yet in many ways, the Trump administration appears to be actively
seeking a broader conflict with Iran**,* or at least actively trying to
bait Iran into overreacting to its prodding. Since taking office, the
Trump administration has announced that it’s “officially putting Iran on
notice,” has imposed new sanctions on Iran, and has recently even
targeted Iranian-backed militias in Syria’s civil war for the first
time. On top of that, Trump just signed the largest arms deal in
American history to Iran’s arch rival in the region, Saudi Arabia.
Piling on a broad sanctions bill on top all these provocations would
bring us closer to a direct confrontation with Iran.

*Please call the Capitol Switchboard today at 202-224-3121. Ask for your
Senators and then say: “I am a constituent and I want (SENATOR’s NAME)
to oppose the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill, S. 722. My name is
_________ and I live at ___________.  I would like a response please.”*
(Remember: some offices don’t count callers that don’t provide address
information.)

Thank you for standing with us.

Humbly for peace,

Jon Rainwater
Executive Director
Peace Action and the Peace Action Education Fund

P.S. *The Senate Foreign Relations Commitee begins work on this bill
Thursday. Please call your Senators today at 202-224-3121 and ask them
to oppose S. 722, the Corker-Menendez Iran sanctions bill. Be sure to
tell them your name and address so they know you’re a constituent, and
ask for a response.* Lastly, please share this important action with
your family, friends and colleagues to maximize your impact.

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