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Given how rapidly things have been developing in the Middle East, by the time you read this we may very well know the answer to today’s question. In this week’s edition of the Action Update we focus on just one issue: the future of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

**As it Stands at the Moment**

Here’s where we stand. Since December of last year, it is estimated that approximately 40,000 innocent Iranians have been slaughtered by the regime. During this time period, the U.S. has escalated rhetoric against the regime, President Trump has explicitly stated our support for the protestors, and – putting money where mouth is to be found – the President has ordered a sizeable armada to the region.

At the beginning of the week, we began hearing that the U.S. and Iran would hold meetings on Friday. The IDF Chief of Staff was in Washington last week, and the President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff traveled to the region on Monday to meet with Israeli and later Iranian officials. But…on Wednesday, Iranian gunboats attempted to stop an American oil tanker. In addition, an Iranian Shaheed drone flew aggressively towards an American ship and was destroyed by an American F-35.

So, what comes next? 

**Of Bridgebuilders and Murderers**

As of this writing, the talks are still on, and as such, we feel we must caution our friends and allies in the Administration: What Washington and Jerusalem are demanding of Iran – no nukes, no ballistic missiles, no support for terror – Tehran will never agree to.

Iran has utilized the same feints, the same maneuvers and the same lies to placate American and European leaders for decades. However, a necessary component for Tehran’s success is Western willful ignorance.

To sign the Iran deal, President Obama had to bury his head in the sand, ignoring warnings from as disparate capitals as Riyadh and Jerusalem. To engage in go-nowhere negotiations with Iran, consistently decreasing demands, achieves nothing, as President Biden should be able to attest, aside from emboldening the Mullahs and enabling horrors like that of the 10/7 Massacre.

There’s an old saying in the American south: you can build 1,000 bridges, but if you kill one person, you’re a murderer, not a bridge builder.

**Game Over – But for Whom?**

This translates to politics generally but even more so in the current situation: all of the gains made in the Middle East as a result of Israel’s destruction of Iran’s ring of fire and the joint American-Israeli bludgeoning of Iran’s most sensitive targets, are extremely valuable. But if the regime in Tehran survives President Trump’s term, the missed opportunity will be remembered by history.

The blood of the innocent cries out to us from the sands of Persia. Forty-thousand innocent Iranians are dead; tens of thousands wounded or imprisoned.  It’s game over for someone in the Middle East, but who… depends on how President Trump and his team approach the next few days. Godspeed.

Sincerely,

The CUFI Action Fund Team

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