We knew the fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive wasn't over - and we were right. Just before the Senate went home for the holidays, Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Kirk (R-IL) and a group of 25 colleagues introduced a new and highly problematic Iran sanctions bill in the Senate - S. 1881, ironically named the "Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013." Over the holiday break, this bill was the focal point of a major lobbying effort, with AIPAC and other groups working intensively to get Senators to cosponsor the measure -- and this effort will pick up additional steam in the coming days.

• Urge your Senators to refuse to cosponsor S. 1881 and to oppose efforts to bring this outrageous bill to the floor for a vote.
  

We knew the fight to keep Iran-focused diplomacy alive wasn't over - and we were right. Yesterday, Senators Menendez (D-NJ), Kirk (R-IL) and a group of 25 colleagues introduced a new and highly problematic Iran sanctions bill in the Senate - S. 1881, ironically named the "Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act of 2013." This bill, introduced just before the Senate breaks for the year, will be the focal point of anti-diplomacy efforts for the coming period.

Over the past weeks and months, APN challenged you, over and over, to take action on the issue of Iran. In each case, APN activists took up the challenge, generating thousands of calls and emails to members of the House and Senate. These interventions came at exactly the right time and conveyed the same underlying message: Americans who care about Israel want Congress to give diplomacy with Iran a chance.

Only weeks ago we welcomed the achievement in Geneva of an historic agreement with Iran. This interim agreement opens the door for a final agreement that resolves U.S. and international concerns about Iran's nuclear program and ambitions. Such an agreement holds the promise of a more secure and stable Middle East, as well as positive impacts outside the region.

Tell your Representative and Senators: support the Obama Administration's ongoing diplomacy with Iran.

The situation is urgent. This week the Senate is debating and voting on amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (the NDAA, S. 1197) - a piece of "must-pass" legislation that has become a magnet for amendments promoting various ideological agendas, including the anti-Iran-diplomacy agenda.

Call your Senators today (toll free - (877) 429-0678). Tell them: OPPOSE amendments to the NDAA that would undermine the current diplomatic effort to deal with Iran.

Just as a diplomatic solution to the Iran crisis appears potentially within reach, and at a time when the Obama Administration is imploring Congress to give it the space it needs to test this possibility, pressure is mounting for Congress to push ahead with new sanctions against Iran. Some are arguing that putting a gun to Iran's head during negotiations while tying the hands of Obama Administration negotiators is a way of promoting successful negotiations.

Last time it was the House; now it's the Senate.

Earlier this month, thousands of APN activists responded to our call to contact their elected members of the House of Representatives and urge them to sign onto a letter supporting reinvigorated U.S. diplomacy with Iran. The result was an historic letter to President Obama, signed by a bipartisan group of 131 members of Congress. Now we are reaching out to you, APN's activists, once again. This time, we need you to contact your senators and urge them to sign the letter being circulated by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) - the full text of the letter is available here.

Recently we asked you to contact your member of Congress and ask him/her to sign the Dent-Price letter - a letter urging President Obama to seize the opportunity presented by the recent election in Iran to try to re-energize U.S.-Iran diplomacy.

Several times in the past, we have asked you to contact your member of Congress to tell them to give diplomacy a real chance with Iran. We are doing so again, today. The recent election of Hassan Rouhani as the new president of Iran presents a potentially historic opening for new, productive U.S. diplomacy with Iran. This is an opportunity which the U.S. cannot afford to miss.

Tell your member of Congress to support diplomacy.

Following up on Secretary of State Kerry's visit to Israel and Palestine, the Israeli Peace Now movement has launched a campaign to tell Secretary Kerry that Israelis want peace.