ADL Calls on U.S. to Address Iran's Hostile Policies as Next Steps After Pulling Out of Iran Deal

New York, NY, May 10, 2018 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) today outlined a series of recommended next steps for the United States to ensure that Iran does not develop nuclear weapons and that more effectively combat the regime’s hostile internal and external policies.

Following Tuesday’s announcement from President Trump that the United States would be pulling out of the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), ADL wrote a letter to President Trump calling on the White House, Congress and the international community to work cooperatively toward preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and curtail its aggressive militarism across the region.

“The recent revelations of Iran’s nuclear archives confirm the regime’s long record of deceit and its intent to weaponize its nuclear capabilities,” said Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO. “It underscores how imperative it is for the international community to cooperate to halt the threat that the Iranian regime poses in the Middle East and around the world.”

ADL is recommending the following action steps:

• Recommitting the international community’s determination that the Iranian regime never be permitted to acquire nuclear weapons, including through a robust and effective inspections mechanism, and the imposition of other diplomatic and financial tools. Based on Iranian behavior over the past three years, including its sponsorship and training of terror groups around the region and its unending support for the brutal regime of Bashar Assad in Syria, it has become crystal clear that an empowered Iran threatens its neighbors and endangers civilians across the region.
• Implementing more measures to combat the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The IRGC has been the direct patron of terrorist groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah and worked to subvert other governments in the region. This is enabled in part by IRGC interests who control much of the Iranian economy. Additional steps to deter foreign businesses from transactions that enrich the IRGC are also needed.
• Additional sanctions to ensure iron-clad constraints on the Iranian government’s nuclear-capable ballistic missile program. These sanctions should hinder, and prevent if possible, Iran’s development of ballistic and cruise missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran’s developing missile program also has serious conventional military implications for U.S. and allied forces in the region and for technological proliferation to Hezbollah and Hamas.
• Pursuing a strong, united diplomatic front to ensure Iran not be permitted to establish a permanent civilian or military presence in Syria, with a specific emphasis on Russia. Iran’s expanding military presence in the country not only harms the Syrian people but also directly threatens Israel and other vital U.S. allies. Consider new sanctions and other measures to prevent an Iranian entrenchment in Syria.
• Targeting propaganda tools of the Iranian regime through sanctions against Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). This entity is a crucial regime propaganda tool often used to portray human rights activists as treasonous and threatening to national security. IRIB also is used as a tool to spread the regime’s ideology of supremacy and anti-Semitism across the Middle East and beyond.
• Reforming Voice of America (VOA) Persian. The U.S. has a critical role to play in shedding light on the behaviors of the Iranian regime. The Administration should move quickly to reform VOA in order to provide content that does more to promote democratic values and to highlight the regime’s widespread abuse of women, religious and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ individuals, and political dissidents.
• Encouraging international financial support for Iranian human rights NGOs inside and outside Iran. At a time when the Iranian regime is arresting Iranian dissidents and ordinary civilians simply for exercising their voice and expressing a desire for freedom, we can play a more significant role in supporting these important voices.

ADL had long expressed concern regarding Iran’s aggressive policies that are not constrained by the JCPOA, including its hostile regional policies (its increasing entrenchment in Syria being just one); its untrammeled development of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile program; its serial support of terrorism; its state-sponsorship of anti-Semitism and anti-Americanism; and its ongoing human rights violations against vulnerable minorities and activists inside Iran.