The Iran Deal was working; abandoning it failed.
- The JCPOA successfully blocked Iran’s paths to a nuclear weapon: 98 percent of Iran’s nuclear material was shipped out of the country, enrichment activities were heavily restricted, inspectors were given unprecedented access and round-the-clock monitoring technology was used to verify compliance.
- Despite opponents claiming that Iran would cheat, the International Atomic Energy Agency, as well as the US State Department, consistently affirmed Iran was in compliance with the deal prior to Donald Trump’s abandonment of it.
- Trump’s unilateral decision to abandon the deal and institute his “maximum pressure” approach was a complete failure: it strengthened Iranian hardliners, led to a surge in Iran’s uranium enrichment to unprecedented levels, with Iran now just “days to weeks” away from having enough nuclear material to build a bomb — while also ramping up its terror and missile activities.
A supermajority of Americans — including Jewish Americans, Democratic voters, Independents and even most Republicans — support restoring the Iran Deal.
- According to recent polling, a two-thirds majority — 67 percent — of American voters support re-entering the nuclear agreement. This includes 65 percent of Independents and 56 percent of Republicans. (Data for Progress, July 2022)
- A 68 percent supermajority of American Jewish voters favor returning to the deal. (Jewish Electorate Institute, April 2022)
- After Congressional review of the Iran Deal in 2015, not a single Member of Congress who supported the accord lost their reelection the following year.
Israel’s security establishment overwhelmingly supports US participation in the Iran Deal.
- Despite the attempts of then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to scuttle a deal, the consensus of Israel’s military and intelligence establishment supported the agreement in 2015, with Israeli officials recognizing that it neutralized Iran’s nuclear program as an immediate threat.
- Israel’s top security experts condemned Donald Trump’s abandonment of the agreement, with former Director of Mossad Tamir Pardo calling the US leaving the deal a “tragedy” and “strategic mistake” for Israel, and former head of the Iran branch in Israel’s Military Intelligence’s Research and Analysis Division Danny Citrinowitz, characterizing it as a “catastrophe” that unshackled Iran’s nuclear development and increased the chances of armed conflict.
- Top figures from Israel’s security establishment have already spoken out in favor of restoring the nuclear agreement, including the IDF’s current intelligence chief, Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva; Member of Knesset and Former Deputy IDF Chief of Staff Yair Golan; and former Israeli Deputy National Security Advisor Chuck Freilich. Commanders for Israel’s Security — an organization of more than 300 retired senior Israeli defense and intelligence officers — has endorsed the revival of the nuclear agreement.
Top Iran Deal Myths and Facts
Myth: “The Iran Deal is not permanent and allows Iran to acquire nuclear weapons after a number of years.”
Fact: The deal itself does not expire, and after rolling back Iran’s nuclear program, keeps in place permanent, enhanced inspections to prevent it from acquiring a bomb. That’s far better than the current situation in which Iran could have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon within a matter of days, or the two to four years experts say a military strike would set back Iran’s nuclear program.
Myth: “The deal makes the US and its allies less safe because it doesn’t address terrorism, ballistic missiles or other threats.”
Fact: The deal does not let Iran off the hook for its sponsorship of terrorism and continues to punish it for that and other outrageous activity. Under the deal, Iran remains heavily sanctioned for its support for terrorism, human rights abuses and ballistic missile development — activities which all notably escalated following Donald Trump’s abandonment of the deal. And most importantly, this deal keeps Iran from developing a nuclear weapon that it could use as a deterrent to efforts to counter its other threatening activities.
Myth: “The deal won’t work because Iran lies about its nuclear work, including what it has done in the past.”
Fact: The deal is based on verification, not trust. It subjects Iran to the most intrusive inspections regime in its history, with inspections at all nuclear sites, 24/7/365 monitoring and comprehensive tracking of all uranium supplies and inventories. Regardless of what Iran did in decades past, the deal will once again provide the assurance that Iran cannot cheat their way to a weapon undetected.