CUFI Update - Autumn 2019

Autumn 2019
cufiupdate Christians United for Israel United Kingdom
TIME FOR THE UK
TO DEFANG IRAN
IN THIS UPDATE:
CUFI Washington Summit 2019 Recap
CUFI’s first ever conference in Wales
Act now on the Iran Deal
Tensions between Iran and Britain have spiked in recent weeks, highlighting to the world the Islamic Republic’s belligerence.
The world needs to stand up to this aggression, but that will only happen if the heads of state come to possess a clear-
eyed view of what Tehran really is: a dictatorship with imperial and nuclear ambitions.
The United States appears to understand Iran’s evil objectives, and U.S. President Trump should be applauded for withdrawing from the ill-fated 2015 Iran nuclear accord. The United Kingdom should do likewise, but sadly, the British government has remained a staunch believer in the deal with a regime that has proven time again that it is not to be trusted.
It seems that Downing Street is playing down the international embarrassment that Iran is still holding hostage a British-flagged oil tanker, the Stena Impero, and the majority of its crew while the Iranian Grace-1 oil tanker has been released from Gibraltar and illegally delivered its oil to Syria. Nor do our leaders seem terribly concerned with the fate of British subjects held prisoner by the Islamic Republic.
The new leader of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, will recall that while he served as foreign secretary, British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe was arrested in 2016 for the trumped-up charge of “plotting to topple the Iranian government” and remains in prison to this day. In recent weeks, Tehran elected to give her less access
to her family. She can now only see her daughter once a month and can no longer call her husband in London. Let’s be in no doubt: This action by Iran aims to embarrass Johnson, whom some feel is partly responsible for Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s extended sentence.
Likewise, when our leaders consider defending the Iran nuclear deal, they might recall that the agreement was struck with the captors of Aras Amiri, an Iranian student at London’s Kingston University and permanent resident of the United Kingdom who, according to her testimony, was arrested for refusing to spy for Iran. Amiri appealed against her 10-year sentence, though last month was denied.
Finally, we should also consider the plight of British-Iranian anthropologist Kameel Ahmady, who was arrested by Iranian authorities in August. No actual charges have been announced; he was simply kidnapped by the Iranian regime.
This is how Iran conducts its foreign policy. It puts a gun to the head of innocent people and then expects Western nations to capitulate to Iranian demands.
There is no way to trust such a regime and no way to verify that Iran is abiding by the nuclear accord. In fact, they have announced they are breaking it, exceeding their uranium enrichment and moving closer to a nuclear warhead.
The deal is worthless. And lest anyone believe that all of this is somehow the result of the United States pulling out of the accord, recall that Iran’s international belligerence, support for terror and