A Chorus of Condemnation

As we pray for the peace of Israel, we must bear in mind that Iran remains possibly the greatest threat to that peace. While Iran’s goal remains to destroy Israel, its tactics toward that end extend far beyond the Middle East.

For example, French authorities in June foiled a plot to bomb an annual Paris rally attended by tens of thousands of people who are opposed to Iran’s current anti-Israel regime. Among those in attendance were Jewish people living in France. The gathering’s sponsor was the France-based National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), Iran’s largest single dissident group.

The NCRI calls itself Iran's Parliament in Exile, and it aims to establish a secular democratic republic once the mullahs are toppled. It operates in numerous countries, including Israel and the U.S.

Prominent individuals from the U.S., Canada, Europe and the Middle East attended the June NCRI rally. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich were among those who addressed the crowd.

A Chorus of Condemnation

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Iran’s failed terror plot at the NCRI rally justifies the Trump administration’s broad re-imposition of sanctions.

The Times of Israel reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately “urged European countries to call off planned talks with Iran over preserving the nuclear deal. One of Israel’s largest complaints with the nuclear deal was that it failed to address Iranian sponsorship for terror around the world,” Netanyahu said.

“This Iranian terror plot was planned on the soil of Europe on the same week that the European leaders were supposed to meet the president of Iran about circumventing the sanctions on Iran,” Netanyahu added. “Stop funding the very regime that is sponsoring terrorism against you and against so many others. President Trump decided to leave this bad deal, and he did the greatest thing for the security of the world and for the security of Israel,” Netanyahu concluded.