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After months of stalled nuclear negotiations, Iranian and Western negotiators appear to be moving toward an agreement, despite pushback from Israeli officials.
Tehran appears open to dropping several of its prior negotiating positions, including that the U.S. drop the Foreign Terrorist Organization designation for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, and that the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog end an investigation into undeclared nuclear material at its sites.
The U.S. is expected to respond to Iranian comments on the latest draft proposal by Wednesday, triggering another round of negotiations to finalize a possible deal.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Yair Lapid and Alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, are increasingly cautioning the U.S. against rejoining any nuclear agreement. Israeli National Security Advisor Eyal Hulata was in Washington yesterday to meet with his American counterpart, Jake Sullivan, and will meet with Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman today. Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz is slated to travel to the U.S. this week for meetings with CENTCOM Commander Gen. Michael Kurilla as well as Sullivan.
Democratic skeptics of the talks are mostly remaining mum. Jewish Insider contacted more than 40 congressional Democrats who have, in various forms, expressed reservations about the renewed nuclear talks or the original 2015 deal. Only two provided comment by this morning.
“It is essential that the IAEA continues to investigate Iran’s undeclared enrichment and that the IRGC remains a designated foreign terrorist organization,” Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) told JI. “This proposal, as it stands, fails to address key challenges. Under this proposal, Iran would benefit from immediate sanctions relief in return for getting back into a flawed deal that expires soon. The U.S. must demand a stronger agreement to prevent the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran.”
“Iran’s corrupt leaders are habitual offenders, sponsors of terror, and a threat to U.S. national security, Israel and other our allies in the region, and stability around the world,” Rep. Val Demings (D-FL) told JI, hours before the Florida legislator’s nomination as the Democrats’ Senate candidate. “I continue to support all efforts to destroy the Iranian government’s terror networks, break up their ballistic missile program, disrupt their meddling in Latin America and gut their nuclear program.”
On the Republican side, Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX), the ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, sent a letter to President Joe Biden arguing that Congress is not being adequately briefed on the negotiations, and demanding briefings “as soon as possible.”
And in the Senate, 10 Republicans sent a letter to Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas questioning changes earlier this summer allowing people who have offered “insignificant” or “limited material support” to terrorist groups entry into the United States. They speculate that this could allow current and former members of the IRGC or its affiliates to enter the U.S.
empire state politics
In New York, Goldman, Nadler secure primary victories

Attorney Dan Goldman stands with members of his family and supporters during an address on the evening of the Democratic primary election Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022, in New York.
Tuesday’s long-awaited, delayed primary brought victory to moderate Democrats in two high-profile races with the victories of Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) and Dan Goldman. The other New York Maloney — Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) — fell short in her bid against Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY).
NY-03: Democratic National Committee member Robert Zimmerman beat former North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jon Kaiman by around 10 percentage points with 36% of the vote. Nassau County legislator Josh Lafazan, seen as the stronger challenger to Zimmerman going into the race, came in at 20%. In a potential wild card for November, progressive activist Melane D’Arrigo, who will appear on the Working Families Party line in November, picked up 16% of the vote.
NY-04: Former Hempstead Town Supervisor Laura Gillen handily won victory with more than 60% of the vote, trailed by nearly 40 points by state legislator Carrié Solages. Malverne Mayor Keith Corbett, who had been seen as Gillen’s main competition, fell more than a dozen points behind Solages.
NY-10: New York City’s Jewish delegation in Congress will double following last night’s victory by impeachment attorney Dan Goldman in the 10th Congressional District. Goldman received more than 16,000 votes — 26% — over state Assemblymember Yuh-Line Niou’s 24%. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY), who moved to Brooklyn after redistricting divided up his Westchester County district, finished third with 18%. Patrick Dorton, a spokesperson for the AIPAC-affiliated United Democracy Project told JI following Goldman’s win that the group had contributed $350,000 to New York Progressive, Inc., a new super PAC formed Aug. 4 that ran attack ads targeting Niou’s opposition to an affordable housing project. “We decided it was more effective to contribute to a local [Super PAC] run by political operatives with strong knowledge of the district.” Dorton said. When the attack ads first circulated, a Goldman spokesperson said the campaign “reject[s] all SuperPAC activity in this race.”
NY-11: For the third time, voters in Staten Island will choose between former Rep. Max Rose (D-NY) and Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) after Rose’s primary victory over Brittany Ramos-DeBarros. While the original map was drawn to favor Rose, the new map gives Republicans an advantage in November.
NY-12: In one of the most bruising member-on-member primaries, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) handily won his primary over Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Suraj Patel. Nadler’s decisive win over Maloney — 55% to 24% — secures his seat in the next Congress.
NY-16: Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) secured a wide margin of victory over Westchester County legislators Vedat Gashi and Catherine Parker, picking up 57 percent of the vote — outpacing Gashi and Parker’s combined total.
NY-17: With 67% of the vote, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY) was declared the winner over state Sen. Alessandra Biaggi, who ran to the DCCC chair’s left, in the Hudson Valley District. In his victory speech, Maloney declared, “Tonight, mainstream won.”
NY-19: Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan proved recent polls wrong when he eked out a victory against Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro in the special election to replace Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado in the 19th District. Ryan, who was mounting his second bid for Congress, had come in second to Delgado in a high-profile 2018 primary in the district, and will now serve out the remainder of Delgado’s House term. Both Ryan and Molinaro will be on the ballot in November — but will not be facing off against each other. Due to redistricting, Ryan is running in the newly drawn 18th District, while Molinaro will run in the new 19th District, which includes swaths of Central New York.
NY-23: Scandal-plagued far-right gadfly Carl Paladino, who called Adolf Hitler “the kind of leader we need,” was defeated by state Republican Party Chairman Nick Langworthy by less than 2,000 votes, a blow to House Republican leader Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who had endorsed Paladino.