Tehran’s Second Front: Influence, Sanctions, and the Vote in Washington

Please join Gregg Roman, Executive Director of the Middle East Forum, for a private lunch on the war Iran is now fighting without missiles. The regime lost on the battlefield and has opened a second front in Washington, pressing for sanctions relief and recasting itself as the stabilizing power the region needs. It is not working alone. The same networks the Forum’s Islamist Watch has mapped for years, from front groups to friendly academics to a growing bloc in Congress, are carrying Tehran’s case, and the midterm just gave that bloc new votes. Meanwhile Israel, which carried the war’s heaviest burden, faces a parallel campaign to condition its aid and isolate it at the United Nations. Gregg will show how the three efforts share people, money, and talking points, what the new Congress can do to block them, and how the Forum is exposing the influence operation while holding the line on maximum pressure.

📅 Monday, December 14, 2026
📍Sarasota, FL (Exact location will be provided upon registration)
🕕 12:00 pm – 1:30 pm