Unparalleled access

This morning I received an email from Jason Isaacson, the American Jewish Committee's Director of Government and International Affairs, demanding that I 'stand up to the threat of a nuclear Iran' by donating to the AJC.

A nuclear-armed Iran under radical Islamic rule would pose an unimaginably greater threat to the region and to world peace. AJC will continue to pursue every legislative and diplomatic avenue to thwart Iran’s quest for nuclear weapons capability.

It is not important, or credible, that as Aslı Bâli wrote a fortnight ago,

Iran’s nuclear program has been the subject of a stepped-up inspections regime, with the IAEA spending more inspection man-hours in Iran in the last nine years than in any other country in its history...The Agency has made 39 reports to its Board of Governors concerning the Iranian nuclear program, the most recent in November 2012. While the reports reflect concerns that the Agency has not fully verified Iran’s past and current activities, each report confirms that there is no evidence that Iran has diverted nuclear materials to military purposes.

Nor that Iran has never threatened Israel or any other country.

He is apparently unconcerned that Israel, which is not even party to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), has an active, explicitly military, nuclear program and possesses up to 400 nuclear weapons. It is no secret that Israel has been planning an attack on Iran for years. 

Bâli also points out that although Iran has scrupulously complied with its obligations under the NPT, it is in violation of numerous UN Security Council resolutions.

the succession of seven Security Council resolutions -- 1696 (July 2006), 1737 (December 2006), 1747 (March 2007), 1803 (March 2008), 1835 (September 2008), 1929 (June 2010) and 1984 (June 2011) -- now constitute the legal framework for the Iranian nuclear program, superceding Iran’s obligations under the NPT.

Which I think raises interesting questions about International Law™ beyond the fundamental principle that the US and those it considers friendly can flout treaty obligations, covenants, declarations, SC resolutions, ICJ findings and the UN Charter with impunity while the people of those deemed unfriendly must endure sanctions and attacks as punishment, notwithstanding their compliance.

Isaacson is pleased that

Current sanctions have cut Iran's petroleum exports in half and crippled its economy. Iran’s currency has plummeted.

Unfortunately, 'Iran's defiant leaders have failed to respond'. So

To stop their reckless quest, AJC is leveraging its unparalleled access to world leaders to press for still more punishing economic and political measures. Our impact has been widely acknowledged in the halls of power.

For literally two decades, AJC has pressed the U.S. and world governments to unite against the Iranian threat. In recent weeks – following our advocacy campaign for European Union sanctions – AJC mobilized advocates across the country to urge support for a new U.S. package of intensified Iran sanctions proposed in Congress. Our voice was heard: the Iran sanctions amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act was adopted and the full measure sent to President Obama for his signature...Our thoughtful, principled global advocacy has earned respect and attention at the highest levels in capitals around the world.

You might almost form the impression that Isaacson was boasting of the AJC's influence. But that couldn't possibly be, because the very same AJC unequivocally rejects 'the ugliest anti-Semitic stereotypes' conjured up by 'identification of a rich and powerful “Israel lobby”, as Zionist poodle Thomas Friedman rashly did last year.