Lobbying Campaign to Kill the Deal Commences

Anti-deal lobby - “President Obama formally began his lobbying campaign in Congress on Wednesday to secure the Iran nuclear deal, deploying three cabinet secretaries to the Capitol for classified briefings. But they faced counterprogramming from Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, who met with the most conservative House Republicans to urge them to ‘leave everything on the field’ to derail the accord.”

--Congressman Jim Jordan, (R-OH), said that “before the cabinet secretaries could make their case, Mr. Dermer, the Israeli envoy, met with dozens of House Republicans, using sports analogies to implore them to kill the deal.” Mr. Dermer’s plea to undercut the deal, “which is widely expected to be followed by a mail, television and radio assault in Democratic districts during the August recess — demonstrates the power that the Israeli government and supportive interest groups in Washington maintain over congressional Republicans.” Full story here. http://nyti.ms/1CWVMzO

Tweet - @mviser: John Kerry: In negotiating with Iran, a unicorn deal was not possible.

Get the Facts - Critics and supporters alike have an online outlet in @TheIranDeal, the White House’s newest twitter handle. Debunking myths and “setting the record straight”, here. http://bit.ly/1OvsARH

Deja vu - “The same politicians and pundits that are so quick to reject the possibility of a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear program are the same folks who were so quick to go to war in Iraq and said it would take a few months,” President Barack Obama said during a speech on Tuesday. “We know the consequences of that choice, and what it cost us in blood and treasure. So I believe there's a smarter, more responsible way to protect our national security.”

--“Instead of chest-beating that rejects the idea of even talking to our adversaries, which sometimes sounds good in sound bites but accomplishes nothing, we’re seeing that strong and principled diplomacy can give hope of actually resolving a problem peacefully… That is what we owe our troops. That is strength, and American leadership.” http://lat.ms/1Ilzrye

Off target - There are 5 fundamental reasons that AIPAC’s opposition to the Iran nuclear deal is misguided, writes Daryl Kimball for The National Interest. First up is AIPAC’s claim that it “fails to provide ‘anytime, anywhere’ IAEA access. That is true only if AIPAC expected Iran to submit to random inspection of any site without reason or notice—something that is not necessary to effectively verify Iranian compliance with the agreement.”

--Second, AIPAC claims that Iran will not be required to fully disclose its past military work on nuclear weapons. Not true. “UN sanctions will only be suspended if and when Iran fully explains and answers questions regarding its past activities with possible military dimensions (PMD), and the IAEA verifies that it has completed other major nuclear nonproliferation and transparency steps.” The full list of how the nuclear deal stacks up to AIPAC’s criteria is available here. http://bit.ly/1g8cEKb

Scheduling - “There is a step-by-step schedule stretching out three months or more before implementation takes place of the complex deal aimed at preventing Iran from producing a nuclear weapon — it’s called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA),” writes Walter Pincus for The Washington Post.

--“Annex V of the JCPOA sets out the schedule and states that actions, such as the release of any frozen Iranian funds and the ending of various sanctions, will not occur until the International Atomic Energy Agency has verified that Iran has fulfilled 12 separate steps related to controlling its various nuclear programs.” Read the full piece here. http://wapo.st/1InLw5T

Tweet - @TheIranDeal: "If we walk away, year 15 or 16 or 20 starts tomorrow—and without any of the long-term verification or transparency safeguards" —@JohnKerry

The nutty professor - The Iran nuclear talks had come down to the 11th hour, and serious obstacles had emerged. “Then, an American nuclear physicist with an untamable mane of wiry gray hair came up with a compromise: Allow the Iranians to tell their hard-liners they were keeping Fordow, but convert it to a research facility whose centrifuges would churn out harmless medical isotopes instead of enriched uranium. Ernest Moniz, the eccentric MIT professor-turned-U.S.-Energy-secretary, by all accounts played a pivotal role in reaching the historic nuclear accord.

--Moniz and his counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, Iran's atomic energy chief, had overlapped in during their time at MIT, and one night they “opted to dine together at a hotel, trading stories about mutual colleagues from MIT. That broke the ice for others on the U.S. and Iranian teams to get acquainted away from the tense negotiating table. He's not one who's very attached to protocol,” Robert Malley, the senior director at the White House's National Security Council told reporters. “He very quickly was joking with the Iranians. The Iranians responded extremely well to that." Read the full story from AP. http://yhoo.it/1MmiG6N

Quick Hits:

--“Nuclear Deal: How Iran Could Enhance Regional Stability,” by Emilie Nakhleh for LobeLog. http://bit.ly/1SCJcHG

--“Obama: Critics of Iran deal are the same people who rushed to war with Iraq,” by Michael A. Memoli at Los Angeles Times. http://lat.ms/1Ilzrye

--“Carter: Saudis welcoming Iran deal with reservations,” by Robert Burns for AP. http://bit.ly/1Ig1mcB

Events:

--“Missile Defense, Arms Control and America’s Security,” featuring Frank Rose, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance. Friday, July 24th from 8:00 - 9:00 AM at the Capitol Hill Club, 300 1st Street, SE, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://conta.cc/1JepG3E

--“Russian Military Forum: The Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty at a Crossroads,” featuring Amy Woolf, Steven Pifer and Paul Schwartz. Monday, July 27th from 10:00 - 11:30 AM at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2nd Floor Conference Room, 1616 Rhode Island Ave, NW, Washington, DC. To RSVP email rep@csis.org.

--“Some Perspectives on the Future of the Nuclear Enterprise,” featuring John Harvey, former Principal Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs. Tuesday, July 28th from 8:00 - 9:00 AM at Capitol Hill Club, 300 1st Street, SE, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://conta.cc/1fmSFpO

--“Future Ballistic Missile Defense Systems,” featuring Lt. Gen. Samuel Greaves, Kelly Hammett Richard Ritter and Richard Matlock. Tuesday, July 28th from 1:00 - 2:30 PM at the Capitol Visitor Center, SVC 202-3, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1Kltn6u

--“Examining Regional Implications of the Iran Deal,” featuring Colin Kahl, Geneive Abdo, Adm. Kevin Cosgriff and Ellen Laipson. Wednesday, July 29th at 11:00 AM at the Stimson Center, 8th Floor, 1211 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1HWfVSu

Dessert:

Broccoli tantrum - On the popular HBO show Last Week Tonight, John Oliver pointed out that the most vocal opponents of the Iran deal, including Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), hadn’t even bothered to read the text of the agreement. “Lindsey Graham is discussing the Iran deal the way a four year old talks about broccoli. ‘It’s disgusting. It’s the worst food in the world.’ ‘Have you ever tried broccoli?’ ‘No, I have not, but I know I hate it.’” Watch the full segment here. http://on.fb.me/1OzKByr