In response to media reports on the details of a near-final 60-day U.S.-Iran MOU, JINSA President and CEO
@MichaelMakovsky encourages President Trump to reject it and issued the following statement:
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If the reported details of a proposed U.S.-Iran MOU are broadly accurate, it would represent a loss of American nerve and damaging strategic reversal in recent American policy, abandoning many of President Trumpās prior redlines, undercutting many of the tremendous achievements of the military campaign, and undermining U.S. credibility.
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I hope President Trump recognizes the enormous dangers posed by this reported MOU and rejects this disastrous arrangement. He should reverse course and restore American credibility by resuming military action that further weakens Iranās conventional military and nuclear capabilities, ensuring the freedom of commerce through the Strait of Hormuz, maintains economic pressure on the Tehran regime, and supporting Iranians seeking to bring about the regimeās collapse, which is the ultimate strategic prize for the United States.
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The U.S.-Israeli military campaign made major advances in curbing Iranās ability to project power and weakening the regime, for which both countriesā militaries and political leaders are to be commended. However, rather than degrading Iran further, this deal would strengthen and enrich it, thereby prolonging its survival.
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Comparisons to President Barack Obamaās 2015 JCPOA would be immediate and deserved. The United States would again be financially rewarding the Tehran regime to negotiate on its nuclear program while not addressing Iranās missile capabilities or its aggressive regional activities.
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In some respects, this agreement is worse than the JCPOA, since the United States would be relinquishing leverage accumulated through 38 days of direct military confrontation, strategic isolation, maritime pressure, and visible deterioration of Iranās internal and regional position.
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If Iran would not agree to acceptable American terms on its nuclear program during a ceasefire ā while facing a blockade, economic strangulation, internal instability, and the credible prospect of renewed severe U.S.-Israeli military operations ā there is no serious reason to believe lifting that pressure will produce a better outcome.
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Without the complete, permanent, and verifiable dismantlement of Iranās entire nuclear program, the regimeās pathway back to nuclear weapons capability is preserved and will restart, no later than after President Trump leaves office.
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The Iranian regime and its supporters will rightly see this agreement as a victory over the United States, emerging not only intact but with new life thanks to the unfreezing of assets, the resumption of significant oil sales (mostly to China), and effective control over the Strait of Hormuz. President Trump would also be abandoning the Iranian population, with whom he has repeatedly expressed solidarity and support, by rescuing this brutal and corrupt regime from collapse.
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It betrays Israel, our full-fledged partner in the war, which reportedly opposes this deal and was given little say in it. Israel will undoubtedly need to conduct another military action against Iran at some point to undo the damage from this deal. Israel also cannot be expected to adhere to any Iranian veto over Lebanon, and will be compelled to maintain its military action against Iranās terrorist proxy Hezbollah that continues to threaten Israelās northern towns.
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The MOU also leaves exposed our Gulf Arab allies to an emboldened Iran as America retreats from the region.
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The lesson for the rest of the world will be that America can be coerced through brinkmanship, defiance, and threats to maritime commerce and energy markets. China will take note and is a clear winner, and Taiwan a loser.
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There should be no memorandum of understanding, interim deal, or partial arrangement with the Tehran regime, as it will not be worth the paper it is written on.
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