REPORT: Biden Considers Lifting Sanctions on Ayatollah to Get Nuke Deal

This is Jay Sekulow breaking news.

President Biden considers lifting sanctions on Iran's Ayatollah in order to get a nuclear deal. Live from Washington DC, Sekulow Live. Phone lines are open for your questions right now.

Call 1-800-684-3110. And now Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, Jay Sekulow. Hey everybody, welcome to the broadcast. Well, this Monday is starting off interesting and that is reports from NBC News, actually, that President Biden's administration is weighing and considering right now lifting sanctions on Iran. Not just economic sanctions on Iran, the country, but the Ayatollah himself. The President, the incoming President of Iran, the Ayatollah are under what's called personal sanctions.

In other words, limited travel, can't come to the United States, freezing of assets if they were in the United States or in a territory of the United States. They're considering lifting that, lifting those sanctions while, are you ready for this, simultaneously the United States executed a engagement in Syria and Iraq with proxies of Iran as the targets. So on the one hand, we launched airstrikes on Iran's proxies. On the other hand, we're thinking about lifting sanctions on the Ayatollah himself.

I'm going to go to Wes Smith, Colonel Smith on this. Wes, obviously, this is a big development both on the sanction level, but also on the military engagement. Yeah, and it's not just mixed messaging. I would call it inconsistent messaging, which is not helpful to the strategic interest of the United States. In fact, his attack on these Iran backed militias, which have been attacking US troops, we have about 2,500 US troops in Iraq. Five times these Iranian backed militias have attacked our troops in our facilities. There've been some minor wounds of our soldiers there. And so I think the correct thing is what the President did. He ordered attacks on the Iranian backed militias because as the commander in chief, he has an obligation to defend US troops wherever they are. What we should not be doing is considering lifting sanctions on the world's leading sponsor of state terrorism, who is also, according to the nuclear experts, probably three or four months away from having a nuclear weapon unless we continue to throttle their economy with our sanctions.

At the same time, let me tell you something. We're going to get into this on tomorrow's broadcast because we've got some additional breaking news. The American Center for Law and Justice filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the State Department and other government agencies regarding, remember that they said there were no negotiations going on with the Iranians during the Obama administration during this particular time. Well, now we find that not only were there negotiations going on, we're getting a great deal on this tomorrow. We actually we actually obtained through court orders, the unredacted emails, intergovernmental emails. And Logan, we're going to get into this tomorrow, but this is the one where the video was edited on purpose. I feel like we've been talking about this for a decade.

I feel like getting close, better part of a decade, but you know what? A lot of the same characters are back in office. So it makes it maybe a little bit more relevant to what's happening right now.

We're going to discuss that heavily tomorrow. And again, the video that was edited, they claimed wasn't edited. It was a glitch and all of that nonsense that we have coverage on purpose. They wanted a quote. I'm going to give you the one little part of the email that we got. They want to batten down the hatches, Andy, on further questions. And that's why we go to court. That means trying to hide something when you start battening down the hatches is what that means. Very simply suppressed, deleted the video, equivalent to battening down the hatches. In other words, lying to the American public.

Yeah. And it was about, cause they said, well, we're not going to start negotiations till the new moderates in power. And the fact was it looks like, and we're going to get the exact timeline tomorrow, but they are, of course, we're negotiating the whole time. And as Logan just said, guess what? The same players from the Obama administration have now been promoted in the Biden administration.

Same people, different jobs, more influence. Stay engaged with the ACLJ. Logan's going to tell you how.

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1-800-684-3110. We'll be right back. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, the play on parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. All right, so take a listen to this, an understanding of this. And this I think is important to mention. The Biden administration is considering actually lifting sanctions against the Ayatollah himself, who is the Supreme Leader of Iran. What signal does that send Colonel Smith? That we are open to giving in to their demands, while meanwhile they are not giving into any of the demands of the United States, which are not just good for the US, but for the region, for the peace and security of the world. The Biden administration, to their credit, they should not be in these negotiations for reasons we've discussed on this broadcast many times. But to their credit, what they are pressing Iran to do is to quit, you know, using their terror proxies in the region to attack other places. And the Biden administration wants to address their ballistic missile program in addition to the nuclear research and development. Iran is locking their heels. They're saying absolutely no way they will not do this. And it appears that even though they're locking their heels, the US is probably toying with the idea of going through with reentering the deal anyway, even though it's bad for us, bad for the peace and security of the world, and horrible for the region, especially our ally, Israel.

Here's an interesting comment from one of our YouTube viewers. It says, so President Biden's strategy is to bomb our enemies, then lift sanctions against them. And then Representative Rob Whitman, as a Republican from Virginia, said the Biden administration continues to consider a return to the Iran nuclear deal, even as we strike Iran's proxies in Iraq and Syria. Iran can be trusted with nuclear materials.

Then why are these strikes necessary? If not, then why is the administration so eager to reenter this deal? This is not the way to conduct diplomacy, Andy.

We have done that. We have conducted trilateral negotiations, multi-country negotiations. It's mixed messaging at best and mixed signals at worst.

Well, Jay, that's right. You know, when you negotiate, you try to get something in exchange for what you give. You yield on something, you get something back. And I'm sitting here thinking, they're sitting on the Ringstrasse in Vienna right now, having their little coffee and their croissant, and they're talking on the seventh, the series of negotiations. And meanwhile, we're bombing them on the Iraqi-Syria border. Khatib Hezbollah and Khatib Syed al-Shahada are being bombed, which are the proxies of the Iranians. What are we getting out of coming back into the JCPOA? Tell me one concrete thing that the Iranians are conceding to us.

I'd like to know. A return to Obama's great, in their view, foreign policy achievement, Logan. This is, you said it earlier, same people, different jobs.

Yeah, absolutely. It seems like it's on repeat. We're now back to how things were just a few short years ago, and now everything, we're learning a lot, but we are seeing, again, it just feels like it's on repeat. It feels like we're talking about the same topics. Tomorrow, we're talking about a topic that at this point is nine, 10 years old, but we're still uncovering things. Things are still happening. And as much as we're moving forward, it feels like we're moving backwards.

Well, I think, well, here's the problem. We are moving backwards because what this is going to do is we're sending real signals of weakness to our adversary. Let me underscore that one, to our adversary. And we're showing a lack of commitment to our allies. And our allies in the region now are very, very different because of the success of the Trump administration as it related to, specifically, the Abraham Accords. Those countries that have signed onto the Abraham Accords, and even countries that have not, like Saudi Arabia, who are de facto members of the Abraham Accords, have one common denominator enemy, and that enemy, Wes, is Iran.

Absolutely. And that's what has helped Israel and the United States with our relationships with the Arab Gulf States and other Islamic countries there. And that is they realize that Israel is not a threat. The United States is not a threat. Iran is a threat, an existential threat to the countries in the region. But if you believe the Iranian President's chief of staff, over the weekend, he said that he believes that the U.S. is prepared to lift all sanctions. And in fact, again, telegraphing what they're about to do, which is not a good negotiation strategy, three weeks ago, the Biden administration actually lifted sanctions on three Iranian energy companies and their executives. Why would you negotiate publicly with what you're going to do that you haven't done yet while you're trying to negotiate, like you said, Andy, a better deal? Well, you wouldn't.

I mean, if you knew what you were doing, obviously these people don't know what they were doing. I mean, a child can negotiate better than that. A piece of candy for a toy, at least, if they get something in return. But I still can't figure out what we're getting in return from what we're doing in Vienna and what we lift the sanctions against the Ayatollah.

What did you get in return for doing that? No, they want to get back. They want to return to the Obama foreign, what they view as the Obama foreign policy success of the JCPOA, the comprehensive plan dealing with Iran's nuclear deal, which we know is not even a written agreement. Listen, this is from CNN. Listen to Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, CNN military analyst.

Here's what he says about it. These Iranian-backed Shia militias have been operating with impunity in the area near the Syria-Iraq border. The strikes were two in Syria, one in Iraq at facilities used by Kataib Hezbollah, KH, and Kataib Saeed al-Sahuda. These are two Iranian-backed militias that, frankly, have been operating independently. And by reports, they have conducted five drone strikes against U.S. forces in that area.

So it is a defensive action protecting U.S. forces in that part of Iraq, Syria. We're going to take your calls at 1-800-684-3110. Your comments already, we've mentioned some from Facebook and YouTube and other social media platforms. If you want to talk to us on air, 800-684-3110. What I found so fascinating about this is we are about to uncover, and I think we'll have this put together by tomorrow, that the lead up to the negotiations, what the American people were told and what existed, Logan, were two different things. Yeah, absolutely. I'd love to hear from people too and their thoughts in general on this. And we have some phone lines open and we'll be taking some coming up at 1-800-684-3110.

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Hundreds of thousands of you have already, because there's new great content coming soon. It's interesting. In June of 2019, after a US drone was shot down by Iranian forces, President Trump imposed the sanctions on the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini. Now, what's interesting about that is the lifting of that, the message that that sends to the Iranians. When Trump was trying to deal with strength, the message it sends is weakness.

Yeah, absolutely. They're telegraphing their negotiation strategies. They're projecting weakness. Every indication from multiple media outlets and from people who have knowledge of these negotiations in Vienna, is that the Biden administration is prepared to really give Iran pretty much what they want in exchange for nothing. The original JCPOA was flawed. It did not keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

It simply delayed it for a number of years. Because Iran has enriched uranium now to 60% levels and have increased their centrifuges, nuclear experts say they're down to three or four months breakout time to having a nuclear weapon. And yet in spite of all of these stark facts, these realities, the Biden administration is intent on going through with it anyway, even though it actually, Jay, it will allow, it will facilitate Iran getting a nuclear weapon. But the irony of all of this is that when the United States pulled out of the JCPOA, this Iran nuclear deal, the Europeans were still in it. The Europeans have confirmed that Iran has not fulfilled its obligations. In fact, continued to develop centrifuges and other weapons leading towards a nuclear weapon, other capabilities leading towards a nuclear weapon. So why in the world would you trust these people going back into a deal when they're more intent now, Andy, than ever and using their proxies to actually attack US forces?

Well, you wouldn't trust them. And look, the European view should not be and ought not to be the American view. Ambassador Grinnell has said that many times. Europe looks at these Iranians and so forth in the Middle East with a completely different set of spectacles than we use or that we ought to use.

Well, that's not happening. Biden went over there. He hugged all the European Union leaders. He hugged the NATO people. He went to Geneva.

He did all these wonderful things. But that's the globalism that's part of the Democratic and Biden playbook. And as Logan said, we have been talking about this, it seems like, for centuries. We're back in the Obama days again here, Jay. That's where we are. Yeah, it's just the people have been promoted.

I mean, that is what has happened here. All right, Ambassador Rick Grinnell, our senior advisor, joining us in the next segment of the broadcast. We'll also take your calls and comments. Logan will let you know how.

That's right. The full lines are open right now. 1-800-684-3110. If you're watching on social media, share this with your friends. If you are watching on YouTube right now, hit that subscribe button. Hit the thumbs up. That helps get this into more people's feeds. And also some great new exclusive content is coming very soon to YouTube.

You want to make sure that you are engaged there because you're going to love a brand new series that's launching very, very soon. We'll share more about that when we can. We'll be right back with more and Rick Grinnell on Secular. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected, is there any hope for that culture to survive? And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena.

And we have an exceptional track record of success. But here's the bottom line, we could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work.

Become a member today, ACLJ.org. Hey, welcome back. Ambassador Rick Grenell, our Senior Advisor, and of course, former Acting DNI, Director of National Intelligence is joining us right now. And Rick, I'm going to get right to the situation with Iran because while we launched airstrikes, justifiably it seems like, against proxies of Iran in both Syria and in Iraq, the Biden administration is not only bending over backwards and doing somersaults to try to get a nuclear deal, but let me take it up a step further and they are willing to lift the sanctions that your administration, when you were there, put in place against the Ayatollah himself. And we've been saying, this is not strong negotiating tactics from someone that is, and they are our enemy.

Rick? Look, they don't know what they're doing. You cannot be talking and negotiating with the Iranian regime to drop sanctions and at the same time, take to the air to bomb their activities.

This is ludicrous. Regular people can see this is inconsistent and yet inherent in that whole idea of the Iranian regime negotiations is an assumption that you trust the Iranians and what they're saying. You cannot trust the Iranians in negotiations while looking to see that they're spreading terrorism, so much so that the Americans have to go in and bomb in Iraq and Syria the Iran backed terrorists.

And so this is pretty plain to most people. And I would urge the Biden administration to actually look at what the left hand and the far left hand are doing. You know, to me, what is interesting here is that this is being done to salvage the Obama legacy of this JCPOA. They view that as one of their legacy moves foreign policy wise. And Colonel Smith, that legacy move, as we've said, and as Rick just said perfectly, the problem with it is it was a bad deal to begin with, only being made worse as we're negotiating for it.

Oh, it is much worse now. There's no way that we can undo the knowledge that Iran has achieved over the last six years, nor what are they going to do with the uranium, which is almost weapons grades now. My question to you, Rick, is this. It appears, unless something drastic happens, that Iran is going to have a nuclear weapon.

The JCPOA simply delayed it, but what's going on now, the breakout time has been drastically reduced. So if that happens, what do you see as the consequences? How does that change the geopolitical landscape if Iran has a nuclear weapon? Because it appears that the Biden administration is going to facilitate them getting one. People just need to look no further than our North Korea policy and how trapped we are because of the nuclear programs that the North Koreans have.

Imagine the region when an Iran has a nuclear weapons program. I'm not convinced that they are for sure going to get it. They certainly are on the march.

There is no question that their motives are there, that they're given money. The Biden team seems to be allowing the Europeans, which again, they don't have the same threat assessment when it comes to Iran that we do. The Iranians are not targeting Berlin and Paris as much as they're targeting Washington. And that's just a reality. So we can't allow the Europeans to water down our policy just because we want to get along with the Europeans and we want this transatlantic hug.

That is dangerous right now. We are different and we need the transatlantic alliance to be Western facing. We need to negotiate with people who understand that we're a Western alliance. And I think that it's one of the reasons why we have Brexit, right?

The British decided to leave the EU because it wasn't Western facing, wasn't following the rule of law on immigration or open borders. And so we need to signal to the Europeans giving the Iranians money will only create more problems and that this is why the Biden team has decided to bomb Iranian backed terrorists because we cannot trust the Iranians. We need to be very clear. And lastly, let me just say, I think the Israelis are watching this very closely. They will never allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon.

Rick, I was going to say the same. There is no circumstance. We have an office in Jerusalem, as you know. There is no circumstance upon which the Israelis are going to allow the Iranians to get a nuclear weapon, but that's just going to cause more instability in the region. Now here's what's also interesting at the same time, Andy, and that is Iran's President's chief of staff is quoted in Iranian media as saying the US has already agreed to lift sanctions on Iran's senior leadership. And the US is denying this. Meanwhile, it's being leaked out that Ayatollah Khomeini's sanctions will be lifted.

Well, I mean, that's probably true. And these back-channel communications are really, you know, probably the true story that we've already conceded that to them. But I want to ask Ambassador Grinnell, because you said something that I think bears repeating and emphasizing the European view of Iran in the Middle East should not be the American view. Am I correct on that, Rick?

Absolutely. Look, it took the Europeans and specifically the Germans nine days to figure out whose side they were on in Venezuela. This is a European Union entity that has been moving away from the Western Alliance.

We haven't moved away. They have. They have decided whether it's Iran, whether, you know, when I was in Berlin, North Korea had a youth hotel in the middle of Berlin, despite the fact that there were UN sanctions to not support North Korean entities and businesses. And so this is a region, the European Union, the Europeans that do not share the same threat assessment that we do when it comes to Iran, China, North Korea, the list goes on. And here's what John Kirby, the Pentagon press secretary said. He said that the airstrikes that the Biden administration authorized were being, the targets were being used by Iran back militia groups that have used the facilities as staging grounds to launch attacks against US troops in Iraq.

So go ahead. We've been watching them for a long time. This is, I'm pleased to see that the Biden administration recognizes that we have to protect American troops.

Now, look, Jay, you know, and I want to say this very clearly. I'm all about America first. I love the fact that Donald Trump brought our troops home and is not starting new wars. I am not somebody who wants to just utilize American power recklessly. It has to be tailored and targeted and only used, only used when US national security is threatened. I think that this is one of those situations.

Yeah, I do too. I mean, when you, when you got attacks being launched by proxies of Iran against US troops, you take action. You didn't.

Well, let me tell you what you don't do. You don't on the same hand saying, by the way, Ayatollah, we're going to lift sanctions against you. That mixed messaging in diplomatic circles, and we'll end on this Rick, we just got less than a minute here. That kind of mixed messaging in diplomatic circles, and I've done diplomatic negotiations, multilateral, trilateral, country negotiation. It doesn't work. You've done it. You're an ambassador.

It does not work when you mix message like this. It not only doesn't work, but the Europeans know that we look silly and inconsistent and they're just laughing all the way to the bank because if Europe raises some sort of concern about a US policy, Biden rushes to change the policy because he maximizes getting along with the Europeans more than he does a Western facing alliance. All right, Rick Grinnell, ambassador, former ambassador, former acting director of national intelligence, proud to say a member of the ACLJ team, especially as it relates to issues like this and great to have your insight. And Rick's got a lot of things posted at ACLJ.org. We'll talk more about that win tomorrow that we got about Iran through our FOIA case, so we'll keep you posted on that. Got an announcement when we come back from the break, a little off topic, but a nice little win.

Back with more in a moment. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today, ACLJ.org.

Live from Washington, D.C., Sekulow Live. And now, Chief Counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, Jay Sekulow. So we're talking about the fact that Iran has got these proxies operating in Iraq and Syria, and the United States took action militarily to take them out because they were staging grounds to attack U.S. troops. At the same time, word got out through NBC News, ready for this, that the President is considering lifting sanctions against the Ayatollah. You mean the one that the Ayatollah that orders these proxy groups to attack U.S. troops? We're going to take sanctions off of him?

We're rewarding him for killing American troops? You say, well, that seems like it's a bit much of a statement, but that's exactly, Wes, what has happened here. Oh, absolutely. You know, it's on the face of it. It's insane.

You know, why would you do this? You're the leader of the free world. You're the commander in chief of the United States of America. We do not need to have this agreement with Iran. We certainly don't need an agreement that will allow them to eventually get a nuclear weapon. And meanwhile, they're attacking U.S. troops. The messaging is all over the board.

And as you were discussing with Rick, it is not an effective strategy when you're going to the negotiating table with an enemy. Nope. Let's go to Gerald, who's calling from Maryland on Line 1. Gerald, you're on the air. Good afternoon.

How are you doing? Good. Hey, let's help Gerald back on hold just for a second, just to make sure, see if we can check his sound quality, if we can pick up the phone.

All right. Let's continue conversation. We'll get back to Gerald in a moment. We told him we'd be going to him, so he just needs to have whatever he has that was wind or something going on there. It was a little hard to hear.

You can tell. But I think what we have to understand here folks, and by the way, we've got a little wind to announce at the end of the segment, which will be nice. We did a FOIA action against the Obama administration on the duplicity, what we alleged was duplicity in the way they were saying what was going on in these negotiations to begin with. And we got an answer.

Now we're going to lay it out tomorrow in great detail. But just to remind everybody of what this was, Logan, I think it's important for people to know. This started because of a report from our friend, James Rosen, and a video that was actually deleted by the state department.

Yeah. Portion of a video. So it was a, you know, midway through conversation, all of a sudden there was a white flash edit that happened. We all thought that was a bit strange to see what it was that was edited out. They claimed at the time that it was a glitch in the video, which made no sense to anyone who ever done even simple video editing, even on your phone. It was clearly just a transition that they had placed in there to remove something that they did not want out there. And we dove into it.

And again, this is now a decade-ish later, and we're still talking about it because there's still more information being redacted, more information coming out. All right. We're going to try to go back to the call. I think he's ready. Let's go to Gerald.

We'll try one more time. Gerald, Maryland. Yes. Hi. Good afternoon.

How are you doing? Oh, good. Much better. Thank you, Gerald. Yes. I was wondering, thank you for all what you do. I was wondering in regards to the deal that the administration is trying to go back into, is there anything that the Congress can legally do to stop them from doing what they're trying to do?

Avoid having them to do that. Yeah. Great question. If it was a treaty, it would require congressional approval, Andy. It's not a treaty. Thus, it's foreign policy, and it's in the discretion of the executive branch of the President.

Yeah. To answer the caller's question directly, no. The Senate and Congress cannot involve itself in foreign relations.

Those are done by the executive branch of government. It's up to the President to negotiate foreign policy and to make foreign policy, and so that's not the case. If I was in Vienna right now, I'd get up and leave.

That's what I would do. Well, and there's a reason it's not a treaty, because there's no way it would have passed the Senate. Absolutely not. One of the things Iran said last week was that they want an assurance that another American President cannot withdraw from the deal again. That's a treaty. Yeah, yeah.

And we cannot give them that assurance because it is not a treaty, and any President going forward who is elected probably should not be a part of this deal. I just got notifications. A little off topic, but I always like to announce a win when we get one, and it's a federal court win, and that is California has agreed to a settlement of our case involving the ban on singing and chanting. We've been litigating that for over a year since the pandemic started. The case has now been settled.

The singing ban that we challenge is no longer in existence. So a great win for the churches in California, and your support of the American Center for Law and Justice allows that to happen. There's going to be a blog on that tomorrow. I'm sure we'll have more information tomorrow on that. But again, whether it's an international policy or a church needing help in California, the ACLJ is there.

That's right. We'll be back. Take your phone calls. 1-800-684-3110. Check out ACLJ.org. Download the ACLJ app and follow us on all social media.

Be right back. The challenges facing Americans are substantial. At a time when our values, our freedoms, our constitutional rights are under attack, it's more important than ever to stand with the American Center for Law and Justice. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines protecting your freedoms, defending your rights, in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. And we have an exceptional track record of success.

But here's the bottom line. We could not do our work without your support. We remain committed to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

That remains our top priority, especially now during these challenging times. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org where you can learn more about our life changing work.

Become a member today. ACLJ.org. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

It's called Mission Life. It will show you how you are personally impacting the pro-life battle through your support. And the publication includes a look at all major ACLJ pro-life cases, how we're fighting for the rights of pro-life activists, the ramifications of Roe v. Wade 40 years later, Planned Parenthood's role in the abortion industry, and what Obamacare means to the pro-life movement. Discover the many ways your membership with the ACLJ is empowering the right to life.

Request your free copy of Mission Life today online at ACLJ.org slash gift. Now here's another one as we're talking about Iran. We're taking your calls too, by the way, at 1-800-684-3110, 1-800-684-3110. So we have these inspectors in part of the nuclear deal where they had these ongoing inspections. It was originally set to expire. They extended it for another 30 days, these inspectors, which the Europeans wanted, of course. And now it expired over the weekend. And guess what Iran said?

No more inspections. Not only that, they possess the video. They had the tapes, if you will, of these surveillance. And they're supposed to share that with the IAEA. They not only have canceled the agreement, which was established in February, they're refusing to turn over the videos.

Where we are, this is where we are today, Jay. Iran is intent on continuing their research and development of nuclear technology. They're intent on continuing to support terror groups, their proxies throughout the region and parts of the world. They are perfecting them. They actually have perfected their ballistic missile program.

Two weeks ago, we discovered there are nuclear sites where they are developing shock generators, which is what you need to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to put it on the missile. These are the facts on the ground as we know them today. Meanwhile, they are demanding that all sanctions be lifted. So the question is, in light of all of those things, what will the Biden administration do? Well, here's, we had a couple of good questions that came in on social media.

I think Logan, let's take a look at, do you have them up there on your screen? Susan on YouTube said, President Trump weakened Iran, but now Israel and those in the Abraham Accords are now having to face a stronger Iran, destabilizing the Middle East due to the Biden policies. And that's a hundred percent correct. So Iran was, I think, fair to say, Andy, at its weakest point. Yeah, it was teetering.

It was teetering. And then the President of the United States, Donald Trump comes in. He comes up with the Abraham Accords.

He supports Israel totally, unreservedly, without any question. Now we have a rerun back to the Obama days and President Biden trying to recapture and reprise the great crowning achievement of the Obama administration, the joint comprehensive plan of action with Iran. And what did we get for that? Nothing. The President, the Speaker of the Iranian Parliament says, quote, the agreement, that is the inspection agreement, has expired.

Any of the information recorded will never be given to the International Atomic Energy Agency and the data and images will remain in the possession of Iran. So why in the world would you be at a table in Vienna having discussions even with intermediaries? You wouldn't. You wouldn't.

It's ridiculous. A child would know this, much less diplomats to the United States. But you're going to destabilize the entire Middle East with this policy.

Absolutely. You're going to have, as Rick and I were discussing, a country like North Korea, only much more volatile and unstable, if you can believe it, than Kim Jong-il in North Korea. And if we don't do something, they're going to get a nuclear weapon.

And yet it appears... The Israelis will never let that happen. I agree with you there.

Okay. But that means the whole region is destabilized. That means the whole region is destabilized.

It means military action. It means the potential for a larger war. All of that could be avoided if we would continue to sanction Iran and take a firm, firm, undegotiating stance with these people.

And we're not. Another comment that came in on YouTube, a couple of comments, but I think this is one that we just addressed a little bit, but I think it's fun to hear. Scott on YouTube said, what's the obsession with playing nice with Iran? It seems like there's nothing to gain with these deals. I am absolutely convinced that what the administration is doing is trying to resurrect what they view as their previous run at this with the Obama-Biden administration's foreign policy they consider success of the Iran nuclear deal, which as we're laying it out for you, you realize what a farce this is. The Iranians holding the tapes of the inspectors, saying no more inspectors, violating the agreement as it was going on, destabilizing the region, taking proxies to attack US troops that we then take military action against, wisely so, to take out. And we're going to reward them for bad behavior.

Okay. Reward them for bad behavior by giving them a deal that reduces or eliminates sanctions, not only against the government, but against the author and order giver of killing American troops, the Ayatollah. Bad negotiating.

Yeah, absolutely it is. This guy has the blood of Americans on his hands, as does the government of Iraq. There were over a thousand US troops killed in Iraq that we can tie directly to the Iranian government. They lie. They are not good faith partners in any negotiation. We can't believe anything they say. And we know all the things I mentioned about what they're doing with their nuclear weapons program. They're attacking US troops.

And yet we're sitting down in Vienna with this shuttle diplomacy, trying to pretend like we can believe what they say. Yeah. We've got a very interesting comment coming in. We're getting a lot of comments on our social media platforms.

By the way, if you want to ask us questions, you can do that at 1-800-684-3110 as well, 800-684-3110. But great comments coming in on social media. Look at Anna's. Yeah, another comment from Anna on YouTube says, what's scarier about this deal this time around is that China now has a vested interest in Iran. So China clearly, Andy, is putting a China first policy, always has. Now, you know, when we were strong and acting strong and being tough, they were not first. But China has a vested interest now with Iran.

And this causes multiple problems. Well, the Chinese are very smart. They see where our weakness is and they they capitalize on it.

And they they pampel up with the Iranians now and gang up against the United States. And instead of having a President, we have someone who is weak in doing the response of diplomacy. President Trump would never have allowed this to happen. He wouldn't be in Vienna. I don't think I can't speak for him. I haven't talked to him, but I don't think he'd be in Vienna. I think he would be doing the bombing. Yes, indeed.

But I don't think he'd be talking or removing the sanctions that he imposed in 2019. So, you know. Yeah. The new Israeli foreign minister, Yair Lapid, head of the meeting with Secretary of State Blinken, has said this, Israel has some serious reservations about the Iran nuclear deal that is being put together in Vienna. We believe the way to discuss those disagreements is through direct and professional conversations, not in press conferences.

Yeah. Israel, you know, they... That is a big, big statement. It is a big statement. And as we have said, Israel will not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon. But in the meantime, I'm sure there are some very, very frank back-channel conversations going on between Israel and the United States over this. Oh, I don't think so back-channel. I think very direct. Well, yeah.

I think the conversations taking place between the United States and Israel are serious because rather than building on the Abraham Accords, they are doing this press conference diplomacy. Yes. And they're... Logan, you deal with the media all the time. The reason they're being so public about this is because they know it'll all come out anyways.

Oh, yeah. You got to be... You don't have to be upfront at first, but you certainly have to play both sides to know that eventually all of this will come out, especially with the amount of FOIA requests that we put out and other organizations put out. I mean, look, I mean, you had the alien big announcement last week because of the fact that so many people pushed on, you know, getting all the information out there that it ended up being anything.

No, they ended up being, you know, we don't know what's going on either. That's sort of the big problem, but they will always have to play the media correctly because they know even if the media seems like they're more on their side, which of course they are, they still want to get a story. They still want to get the clicks. Yeah.

You know, story and clicks are one thing. Destabilizing the Middle East, Andy, is another. Well, it's a very dangerous thing.

What we have allowed, another thing that we have allowed is we have allowed the Iranians to drive a wedge between us and Israel. Already. Already. That is the worst thing that can possibly happen. Yes.

That's the only parliamentary democracy in the Middle East. I've been there, Jay. You've been there. I've been there six, seven times.

I don't know how many you've been probably more. We have sat in the Supreme Court. We have sat in the Knesset. We have seen the operation of a parliamentary democracy. We have spoken with the prime minister. Why are we allowing any nation or any entity to drive a wedge between us and Israel?

I have no idea. Especially a nation west that's willing to say, uh, by the way, your inspectors, we're not going to extend the inspections, but please have us come back. We want to deal with you because we want the economic benefit. Yeah. And the Europeans would go along with it in a minute.

Oh yeah. The other five signatories to this agreement, you know, the UK, France, Germany, China, and Russia are pressuring the US to lift the sanctions and to go forward with this. And it absolutely would be a colossal, colossal mistake that impacts the region and the world. And we mentioned China a minute ago. China and Russia are our two chief adversaries. They are allies with Iran. We know that they've been selling weapons to Iran.

We also know that they are sharing their GPS satellite system with Iran for military purposes, that they are supporting this government, which is intent on destabilizing the region and is intent on possessing a nuclear weapon and Russia and China are cooperating with them because they have a common enemy. And that's the United States of America. So if you're joining us late, in addition to dealing with a major international issues, and of course we've got an office in Jerusalem also happy to report. I just got this from our senior counsel, Ed White, that the case involving the ban on singing in churches and chanting in churches, which some liturgical churches do as well, has been resolved. The state has agreed that the ban will no longer be in existence.

This took about almost a year of litigation to get this resolved. But the end result is the ban on singing and worship in California churches has been removed. Andy, this is a big win. It is a big win. We can now make a joyful noise unto the Lord and not be afraid of being in contempt of a federal judge.

And then you have that line in your song, Logan. There's a line in the song about you're going to go to California, but they'll probably try to warn you. Right, exactly. Maybe they're turning in their new leaf here. Yeah, well, I doubt it.

Maybe doing that because a certain person wants to stay in office, but we'll see. Hey, phone calls or phone lines are available. 1-800-684-3110. That's 1-800-684-3110. If you want to hear your voice on the air, this is the time to give us a call as we head into the final segment of the day.

You mean you think that they've settled the case because Newsom wants to avoid a recall? Yeah, yeah. And then all of a sudden Disneyland's open with no masks. You know, it's just shocking things that are developing quickly. We'll be right back. Only when a society can agree that the most vulnerable and voiceless deserve to be protected is there any hope for that culture to survive. And that's exactly what you are saying when you stand with the American Center for Law and Justice to defend the right to life. We've created a free, powerful publication offering a panoramic view of the ACLJ's battle for the unborn.

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ACLJ.org. We got an interesting comment that came in on YouTube. We're getting a lot of comments on our social media. And if you want to call us 800-684-3110, we'll get your comments in our social media platforms. Logan, let's take the comment from Howard.

This is very true and very troubling. Yeah. He said, I'm afraid that Iran will say no inspections and Biden will just say, okay. Well, I'm afraid Andy Howard is probably, I mean, I could see that definitely happening.

Oh, I could definitely see it happening. I don't think there's any question about it. They say no inspections.

He says, okay, no inspections. We take your word for it. We trust you. You've historically been so accurate in what you've done and you've been such a good ally and you're so to be believed. There's no question about it. That means America's interests are first. No, don't worry about inspections.

Do what you want to do. We trust you. Nonsense. Yeah. Iran, you know, uh, cannot be trusted. And I think the Biden administration, it appears at this point, uh, are in deep denial about that. Uh, they're breaking from this geopolitical reality. And I think there is a probability that at least a large number of these sanctions will be lifted when they lifted the sanctions three weeks ago, they, the Biden administration said they did it to inject momentum into the negotiations with Iran, which installed at the time. I think Iran will continue to lock their heels.

They're not going to give into inspections or to, to modifying the JCPOA. The Biden administration looked for them to go ahead and relieve some of the sanctions in the way in hopes that they can bring Iran back to the table. You know, in, in diplomatic discussions and dialogues and negotiation, they look at something called CBMs, confidence building measures.

In other words, moving forward. So we give a confidence building measure. We're going to lift sanctions. Iran gives a confidential building, uh, confidence building measure.

And you know what theirs is? We kill American soldiers. I'm going to say that to you again in diplomatic circles and diplomatic international negotiations, you look at CBMs confidence building measures, the United States wants to go back to the table and negotiate with the Iranians. And they're talking about lifting sanctions, the Iranians confidence building measures are to mobilize terrorist groups that are their proxy to kill American soldiers.

That's the confidence building measure they're giving. The second confidence building measure they give is to say no more inspections at the nuclear sites and we control the tapes. We kill American soldiers.

We throw out the inspectors. The administration, the current administration does not build on the Abraham Accords. Instead, they go back into a, or try to get back into a deal with a group that exports terrorism, the largest exporter of terrorism in the world. Confidence building measure. We will lift sanctions. Confidence building measure from the Iranians. We will kill your U S soldiers.

Shouldn't that say it all? So of course, Israel, the UAE, the Gulf States, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, are all concerned about what Iran is up to because Iran takes those proxies and destabilizes their countries too. In 2009, there was a student revolt in Iran where millions of students were on the streets of Tehran, millions. There was very close to an overthrow of the regime. It happened in Iran before.

The Persian people do not want to live like this. You know what the Obama administration did? Suppressed the entire movement. Showed no support.

Not a confidence building measure. And we're seeing, Logan, as you said, a repeat of the same history by the same players all over again. Yeah, that's absolutely right. Exactly the same people.

It does. It feels like you could just skip the last, like the last five years, four years didn't happen. And just go right back to it, whether that's what's happening in Israel, whether it's happening in Iran, whether it's happening in our own country right now, just jumping right back into things. Because if the Trump administration did it and it was a success, it doesn't matter.

As long as they had that label on it, they're going to remove it, replace it. And that's just a sad part of society right now to where we can't even acknowledge when a good thing happens, even for a political party that you disagree with, just because it has that stamp on it, it must mean it's bad. I spoke to President Trump yesterday. We talked about some of the foreign policy initiatives that were so successful. And I'll tell you something, I did talk to him about it.

I don't understand this. Why did the Biden administration not build? I know what you're right, Logan, because they didn't want to acknowledge this success. Why would you not have built on the Abraham Accords, Andy? Because anything President Trump did was wrong and bad and evil and corrupt and terrible and horrible for the United States.

And they will never allow the opposite to be the case. Let me tell you something right now, more than ever, I was in France in 1981 when Valerie Jiscard d'Estaing was running for President. And the signs around the country said in French, and I'll translate it, but in French it said, Il nous faut un President, which translates means we deserve a President. We don't have one right now. We had one. We don't have one right now, Jay. This is the, I mean, this policy, folks, the reason we spent an hour on it, and this could be a catastrophe for the Middle East, Wes, and for our allies. Absolutely. If, and I hope that we are right that this is not going to happen, that Israel at least will stop this from happening. Wes, let me say something on that. If they stop it from happening, which they will, but let me tell you what that does.

I don't have to tell you, you were a colonel in the United States Army. The destabilization in the region will be unbelievable. You think gas is expensive now? Okay, wait. Well, and, and, and all the progress that has been made will be set back a generation. For decades, for decades, there was no answer to the, to the crisis in the Middle East and, and no peace. In four years of the Trump administration, there was, they came together. Iran was isolated. The rest of the countries, including Israel, came together and all of that is being, being walked away from by the Biden administration.

Absolutely right. Let's go to Michelle in California on line one. Michelle, welcome. You're on the air.

I'm Michelle. Hi. So I just, I love you guys. I just want to thank you so much for what you're doing in California.

I really appreciate it. And as far as Newsom goes, I saw a commercial yesterday on the television and he just given away free stuff, free pre-K, free everything just to try and stay in power. It's disgusting. Oh yeah. He's certainly pulling out all the stops here as the recall vote is happening. It's not getting as much attention nationally as it was just a few months ago when it's happening, but obviously there, there are real contenders here. It's going to be an interesting few months for those of you who live in California.

You think, you thought that the settlement in our case could well be motivated, which is the singing and church band. I mean, I don't know the specifics, so I don't want to say that, but I do feel like the California has intentionally rolled back a lot of their restrictions. Obviously as vaccinations happen, things happen, but a lot of them have come very abruptly, very quickly. We're members of some clubs in California. I spent a lot of time in California. It seems like all of a sudden it went from zero to a hundred percent very quickly. And you saw the restrictions being lifted.

You saw these kinds of situations happen. Is the latest on the, on the California recall, it's still going to happen. They've got, they've certified. They have enough votes, but it's going to be harder for him to be beaten if California is back to their normal, whatever that is. I think that's the, that's the kind of big interesting part of the conversation, which is what will be more difficult as California returns to normalcy as people start. How many people are running for it?

I mean, it's quite a few, but it doesn't, because of that, it's not the way it works. If the governor's recalled, by the way, it's whoever gets the most votes, you can get 26%. It's the same ballot. It's, I believe it's the recall first. Do you want to recall yes or no? And here's who do you want to replace?

So it's, it's a one shot thing. It'll be an interesting process to follow. If he gets recalled, I think it'll be very interesting. I'm not, I'm sure this is politically calculated. All right. On tomorrow's broadcast, we're going to get more into this win in California, what it means, what it was about. It's important for you to understand that we go from the international to the, to the situation in California. We're also going to get more into our win in our FOIA case involving Iran.

And we got a big win there. So we're going to get to that information. That's why your support of the ACLJ is so critical at ACLJ.org. That's ACLJ.org.

We'll talk to you tomorrow. For decades now, the ACLJ has been on the front lines, protecting your freedoms, defending your rights in courts, in Congress, and in the public arena. The American Center for Law and Justice is on your side. If you're already a member, thank you. And if you're not, well, this is the perfect time to stand with us at ACLJ.org, where you can learn more about our life-changing work. Become a member today. ACLJ.org.