Ploughshares Fund Proud of Successful Campaign to Stop an Iranian Bomb

May 24, 2016

Americans from all walks of life united to secure an historic national security agreement that blocks an Iranian bomb and prevented a new war in the Middle East. The New York Times called the multi-national agreement "a testament to patient diplomacy and President Obama’s visionary determination to pursue a negotiated solution to the nuclear threat, despite relentless attempts by his political opponents to sabotage the initiative.”

Those who favored regime change or even a war with Iran were beaten in their attempts to kill this accord. They are now engaged in a coordinated effort to discredit the agreement and all those who secured its victory.

Bloomberg columnist Eli Lake’s article is the latest attempt, following David Samuels' deeply flawed New York Times Magazine piece. The historic agreement survived a fierce congressional battle last September despite an opposition campaign that vastly outspent those who supported the deal.

As a nonpartisan public foundation dedicated to reducing nuclear threats, Ploughshares Fund is proud to have helped wire a network of respected experts — many of whom spent decades in the service of this nation — that helped stop Iran from building a bomb without starting another war in the Middle East. And we are proud to have led the Iran strategy group, even if we didn’t fund all of its members as Mr. Lake asserts (we have funded about one-eighth of its members at some point over the past five years).

We remain steadfast in our support of the deal. Along with our partners, we will do everything in our power to sustain what is the strongest nuclear agreement in a generation.

Our work on Iran was grounded in years of rigorous technical research. It included grants to a wide spectrum of organizations with a diverse set of views, including the Atlantic Council, the Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Center for a New American Security, RAND Corporation and the Institute for Science and International Security.

These investments paid off. The Iran nuclear deal is now in place — and it is working. Our goal is always to make America safer and the world more secure. This deal has done just that.

Ploughshares Fund’s support was based on policy not politics. We oppose the administration when they’re wrong, we back them when they’re right. We oppose the administration’s $1 trillion plan to build new nuclear weapons because it makes the world more dangerous. We supported the historic Iran agreement because it makes it safer.

We are also proud to have funded independent media that rely on institutional grants for their work. It is common practice for foundations to fund media coverage of under-reported stories. For some, this might be global health, poverty or the impact of conflict on civilians. For Ploughshares Fund, this means bringing attention to the dangers of nuclear weapons — and dangerous nuclear weapons policies. We do not seek to influence editorial direction, but firmly believe it is critical that the American public is educated on the threats nuclear weapons still pose to humanity.