Dear John,

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during these strange and challenging times. I wanted to share a few quick updates from NIAC:

Calls for suspension of U.S. sanctions contributing to coronavirus spread in Iran

Iran is experiencing perhaps the worst outbreak of the coronavirus outside of China, with at least 850 dead and nearly 15,000 confirmed cases inside the country. As Jamal argued in Newsweek last week, the scale of the outbreak is due to several factors: Iranian government negligence in responding to the threat, and maximum pressure sanctions that have devastated Iran’s public health sector and likely helped distort Iran's decision making regarding public crises.

NIAC sent a letter late last month encouraging the Treasury Department to suspend sanctions interfering with humanitarian relief and we were pleased that the most egregious sanctions that deliberately targeted humanitarian with Iran were indeed suspended. However, these actions are far too limited and past U.S. administrations have done far more in past crises. We continue to press for further action directly with the administration and are working with allies on the Hill regarding potential action. If you would like to help, please take a moment to sign our letter urging further steps from the Trump administration:

Sign our petition: urge the White House to take necessary steps so that U.S. sanctions do not contribute to the spread of coronavirus in Iran >>

Muslim Ban repeal vote delayed

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) made the decision to delay last week's long-planned vote on the NO BAN Act, legislation that would repeal the Muslim Ban and prevent further discriminatory bans. While we understand the decision and need to work on emergency legislation regarding the coronavirus response, we and our allies are pressing to ensure that the Muslim Ban repeal will come to a vote as soon as Congress returns following this week's planned recess and any extended recess due to the virus. 

Call Speaker Pelosi to urge for a vote on the NO BAN Act when Congress returns >>

War Powers resolution passes as cycle of U.S.-Iran violence renews

Tensions are once again flaring between the U.S. and Iran inside Iraq, where the U.S. says groups tied to Iran killed 2 U.S. soldiers in a rocket attack on Wednesday and has responded with retaliatory strikes. This is precisely why it is so important that, last Wednesday, Congress finally approved the bipartisan War Powers Resolution that directs the U.S. to pull all troops out of hostilities with Iran unless authorization is obtained from Congress. Unfortunately, the President will likely veto the bill -- despite the fact that the White House's core argument that the U.S. isn't actively engaged in hostilities with Iran and tensions with Iran have reduced have been rendered completely moot by the exchanges of these past several days. We continue to work with our allies on the Hill, with our coalition of organizations, and with experts and the media to press for de-escalation and a return to negotiations. We plan to release our latest report on a pathway to renewed negotiations with Iran later this month, though our expected launch event with experts on Capitol Hill will now likely be replaced with a virtual launch. More to come.

Thanks for your support and attention, please be in touch if there are issues you would like to see us address in these uncertain times. Sending you and your families all our best.
 

Sincerely,

Jamal, Donna, Mana, Ryan and the whole NIAC team