SANTA BARBARA — More than 150 people attended a roundtable briefing on Sunday under the heading: “Stop Iran Now: We only have until September 17th to DEMAND a better deal.”
The briefing and luncheon were merely a precursor to a Sunday evening event anticipated to draw significant numbers in opposition to the P5+1 (United States, United Kingdom, France, China, Russia and Germany) nuclear deal with Iran.
Briefing panelists included: Tom Trento, United West; Capt. Dan Gordon, Israel Defense Forces (Res); Clare Lopez, CIA, Middle East Expert (Ret.); Ryan Mauro, Clarion Project; Amir Fakhravar, Iranian Freedom Institute and Andy Caldwell, The Coalition of Labor, Agriculture & Business (COLAB).
Mauro, a national security analyst and frequent guest on Fox News, spoke with Breitbart News following the briefing. He said that the deal minimizes military options and minimizes economic options when it comes to preventing a nuclear Iran. Mauro commented that easing sanctions and providing large amounts of funds, “can revitalize the Iranian regime and Islamic Revolution that Iranians hate and can be broadcast as successful.” After sanctions are removed it is unlikely that countries benefitting economically will be willing to snap sanctions back should Iran not comply with parameters of the dea,l he said. And even if they are willing to snap sanctions back, Iran will be economically strengthened and more able to withstand future sanctions as a result of the initial lifting of sanctions, he warned.
Lopez also took a moment to share her thoughts on the history of the Iranian nuclear program and cause for distrust of the Iranian regime with Breitbart News. She emphasized the deceit of the Iranian government in interactions with the IAEA, U.S. and P5+1. Lopez stated that the Iran nuclear program began under the Ayatollah Khomeini and that the program has not ceased since. The Iran nuclear deal currently being put forward “is a stamp of approval,” Lopez said. She went on to note the two troublesome side deals discovered: one, a deal in which Iran “does not have to come clean on PMDs,” and two, a deal in relation to the Parchin Iranian military site–and, according to Lopez, over a decade of nuclear work.
California Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian (R-San Luis Obispo), an immigrant from Lebanon, joined the audience at the briefing. He spoke with Breitbart News following the event and spoke to a need for people and politicians to unite in opposition to the current Iran nuclear deal, telling the Obama administration that the current deal is not acceptable. Achadjian emphasized the problem of trusting the Iranian government to monitor it’s own nuclear program, a government which he said remarked has proven untrustworthy.
Again and again the crowd was encouraged to tell their friends to join them in contacting legislators in districts across the country and announcing their opposition to the Iran deal.
From the briefing, audience members traveled to the oppose Iran nuclear deal rally outside the Santa Barbara courthouse.
Follow Michelle Moons on Twitter @MichelleDiana
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