Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren Held ‘Strategy Call’ with Pro-Iran Group

Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) participated in what organizers branded a “strategy call” with members of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a pro-Iran advocacy group, on Wednesday.

The presidential hopefuls reportedly participated in a call on Wednesday with the group, which describes itself as a “nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to strengthening the voice of Iranian Americans and promoting greater understanding between the American and Iranian people.” However, the group has been known to push pro-Tehran policies and has been accused of lobbying for Iran and the Iran deal, which resulted in billions in available funds for the world’s largest state sponsor of terrorism.

TONIGHT. #NoWarWithIran strategy call w/ @BernieSanders @ewarren @RepBarbaraLee @RepRoKhanna. RSVP now: https://t.co/7aCHvMhnFP

h/t @WinWithoutWar @VetsAboutFace @NIACAction pic.twitter.com/ItsUhK2yte

— MoveOn (@MoveOn) January 8, 2020

The group played a role in the propaganda blitz to push the Iran deal to the public alongside former President Barack Obama’s national security aide, Ben Rhodes, who was largely responsible for crafting the media “echo chamber” on the deal. His ties to the group run deep, as he delivered the keynote address at the NIAC leadership conference in 2016.

The group also has ties to the Iranian regime. NIAC co-founder Trita Parsi has worked closely with senior Iranian officials, including Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, in attempting to spread pro-Tehran propaganda over the years. He was also spotted speaking with President Hassan Rouhani’s brother in Switzerland in 2015.

“Internal documents revealed as part of a failed lawsuit against an Iranian dissident journalist that Parsi and NIAC have been maintaining a years-long relationship with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif,” as Breitbart News reported.

The call also included the groups MoveOn, Win Without War, Indivisible, and About Face: Veterans Against the War. Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Ro Khanna (D-CA) also participated.

Both representatives are pushing additional measures to restrict President Donald Trump’s ability to respond to Iran with force.

Per the Hill:

One from Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) would prohibit funds for offensive military force in or against Iran without prior authorization from Congress.

The other bill, previously introduced by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) last year, would repeal the 2002 authorization of military force against Iraq, which the administration used as legal justification for the Soleimani strike.

Both Warren and Sanders have been advocates for the Iran deal and vowed to rejoin it, which resulted in billions in available funds to the terrorist-sponsoring regime.

The 2015 deal, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), had the Iranian regime supposedly agreeing to “limit its nuclear enrichment activities for eight years,” “limit its stockpile of enriched uranium to 300 kg,” and “limit its research and development” in exchange for economic relief, which resulted in over $150 billion to the leading state sponsor of terrorism.

As Breitbart News detailed at the time:

Under the agreement, which is 159 pages long, the Iranian regime agrees to limit its nuclear enrichment activities for eight years (instead of ten years, as agreed in Lausanne). It will limit its stockpile of enriched uranium to 300 kg, and will limit its research and development, and will be assisted by the international community in some nuclear research, including at the underground facility at Fordow, which it had operated illegally.

In return, the international community will drop major financial and economic sanctions against the Iranian regime. The agreement indicates that new sanctions cannot be applied by the EU or the U.S. before a special dispute resolution process is conducted.

Iran will only grant very limited access to international inspectors to visit nuclear sites. They will be allowed one visit to the military site at Parchin, and visits to other sites will be tightly controlled, with a 24-day advance warning, according to reports. If Iran refuses access, the issue will be arbitrated by a Joint Commission, on which Iran will also be represented. Sanctions can only be re-imposed for “significant non-performance.”

Obama essentially admitted at the time that lifting sanctions would assist the regime in funding terror.

“Iran’s hostilities substantially increased after the foolish Iran nuclear deal was signed in 2013, and they were given $150 billion, not to mention $1.8 billion in cash,” Trump said in an address on Wednesday.

“Instead of saying ‘thank you’ to the United States, they chanted ‘death to America.’ In fact, they chanted ‘death to America’ the day the agreement was signed,” he continued.

“Then, Iran went on a terror spree, funded by the money from the deal, and created hell in Yemen, Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Iraq,” he added, noting that the “missiles fired last night at us and our allies were paid for with the funds made available by the last administration.”