John,
Like many of you, our NIAC team is closely monitoring the situation in Iran, where protests have broken out in several cities in response to the Raisi government slashing subsidies on basic food staples. There are deeply concerning reports of deadly force being deployed against protesters, along with some internet shutdowns.
You can find our latest human rights tracker on the situation here [[link removed]] and our statement from last week [[link removed]] urging authorities in Iran to respond to the Iranian peoples’ grievances, not silence their calls for justice with force. Now, the U.S. needs to respond by ensuring that it is doing no harm. Biden should expand sanctions exemptions to ensure U.S. sanctions do not inhibit Iranians’ ability to communicate freely in the face of government censorship and internet blackouts.
>> Urge President Biden: lift sanctions that help keep Iranians offline [[link removed]]
>> Read NIAC’s letter to the Biden Administration [[link removed]]
The Iranian people are being pressured from all sides. Their own government has mismanaged the economy and engaged in substantial corruption, while expecting civilians to continue to weather atrocious economic conditions with little reason for hope. U.S. sanctions have been unrelenting, helping to push millions below the poverty line. COVID-19 has exacted a harsh toll, with many still in fear of the ravages of the disease. And now, protests over rising food costs are being met with force.
There are many in Washington who will exploit the Iranian government’s abuses to argue for more pressure and suffering for ordinary Iranians. Some of them actually think bombing Iran is the answer, while others are content with economic warfare. But it is always ordinary people who pay the greatest costs of military and economic war.
We recognize the stakes here and - while there is no simple solution - we won’t shy away from advocating what is truly needed.
As a first step, we’ve reiterated our call on the Biden administration to support internet freedom by expanding sanctions exemptions. This is an issue we’ve long advocated on. However, the last internet communications tools exemption was all the way back in the Obama administration in 2014. The internet has changed in fundamentally important ways since that time, as have the Iranian government’s efforts to clamp down on circumvention tools and throttle internet access.
Frankly, this issue should have been fixed a long time ago. Given that Iran has increasingly deployed internet blackouts to respond to protests, it is vital that the U.S. do everything it can to ensure that it isn’t making the situation worse. We need the Biden administration to step up.
>> Tell President Biden to take action here [[link removed]]
Condemnations and spotlighting human rights abuses of the Iranian government can play an important role, and the U.S. should continue to work multilaterally, including through the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran. But that work must happen in tandem with vital diplomacy that can lift broad sanctions that have pushed millions into poverty and increased desperation throughout the country.
There are concrete steps that the President can take to combat Iran’s internet shutdowns. That should start with expanding sanctions exemptions that support internet freedom for the first time since 2014. But we need to work together to ensure that the President knows that the Iranian-American community wants and expects this.
Thank you for your vital support in building a brighter future.
Sincerely,
Jamal Abdi
Executive Director, NIAC
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