Advancing Peace & Diplomacy
U.S. Envoy to Iran Robert Malley defended the Biden administration’s Iran negotiations in a high stakes Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on May 26th. The hearing took place with negotiations to restore the JCPOA which largely stalled over the past two months over posturing on lingering Trump-era designations. However, the hawkish leadership of the Foreign Relations Committee – represented by Chairman Bob Menendez (D-NJ) and Ranking Member Jim Risch (R-ID) – failed to land any punches and presented no viable alternative to the JCPOA.
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➡️ Watch: Video highlights of this hearing
NIAC sent a letter on May 16th to Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Treasury Janet Yellen calling on the Biden administration to support the rights of Iranians to access the internet. The letter urges the U.S. Treasury Department to update General License D-1 to support Iranians’ access to the worldwide web, as Iranian authorities continue to disrupt internet access across the country and suppress their rightful protests.
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➡️ NIAC Calls on italki to Restore Services to Iranian Nationals
The Biden administration seems more concerned by the political blowback of diplomacy than the real blowback of another war or a new nuclear state. Iran could become a threshold nuclear power by summer, and Biden will either be the president who let that happen or the president who started war with Iran.
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➡️ Washington Report on Middle East Affairs Coverage of NIAC panel discussing the state of the Iran nuclear deal
➡️ Watch: NIAC Research Director Assal Rad discuss America’s Unipolar Moment on Red May TV
➡️ Watch: Divestment is Class War and Biden’s Iran Catastrophe Dr. Assal Rad for Left Reckoning
Protecting Civil Rights
45 human rights, progressive, faith, and government transparency organizations, representing millions of members across the country, including Amnesty International USA, MoveOn, NIAC, NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice, Project on Government Oversight, and Working Families Party sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland calling on the Department of Justice to give the case against the two U.S. Park Police officers who killed 25-year-old Iranian American Bijan Ghaisar of Fairfax County, Virginia, during a traffic stop in 2017, the full and fair consideration that it did not receive under the Trump Administration. Bijan Ghaisar was unarmed, committed no crime, and was chased by two U.S. Park Police officers who shot at him 10 times as his car slowly moved away from them.
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➡️ Washington Post on our Joint Letter for Justice for Bijan
Spotlighting Human Rights
Protests in Iran call for accountability for those responsible for a building collapse in Abadan, and the need to address corrupt officials. They also reveal deeper frustrations of an Iranian populace that has suffered under economic devastation, as well as social and political repression.
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The UN Special Rapporteur of unilateral coercive measures was in Iran the week of May 16th to examine and report on the impact of U.S. sanctions on the humanitarian situation. Douhan’s findings show that “sanctions have substantially exacerbated the humanitarian situation in Iran,” especially U.S. “maximum pressure” sanctions that were imposed by the Trump administration after quitting the Iran Nuclear Deal in 2018 and maintained by the Biden administration. With deadly force and internet blackouts, Iranian authorities have attempted to crush protests and limit communication with the outside world.
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 See more from our Human Rights Tracker
➡️ Follow NIAC's Human Rights Tracker on Twitter
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➡️ NIAC’s May 12th Statement on Protests in Southwest Iran
➡️ In our May 24th Panel “Targeting Civilians: The Human Cost of Economic Sanctions” leaders from Afghans For A Better Tomorrow, Yemen Relief and Reconstruction Foundation, Oil for Venezuela, and American Friends Services Committee discuss the impact of collective punishment policies.
Community & Culture
Lifting up the voices of LGBTQ+ Iranian Americans is imperative in combating the isolation often perpetuated within the community. This is why NIAC invites all of you—LGBTQ+ individuals and allies—to share YOUR stories as part of our #IAPride campaign. Post your videos, art, and writing on Instagram or Twitter, use the #IAPride hashtag and we'll include it at www.IAPride.com
Canada’s decision to cancel a friendly soccer match with Iran only hurts and shames ordinary Iranians and makes no difference to the Iranian government. Citizen diplomacy, like sports exchanges, are crucial to countering the dehumanization of Iranians—and, by extension, Iranian diaspora communities around the world. If we start targeting soccer teams and cultural ambassadors from Iran as if they themselves have agency over the authoritarian government’s abuses, we will validate and further that dehumanization, making it easier for the world to discount the ongoing mass punishment of ordinary Iranians.
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Beloved Iranian-American chef, recipe developer, and food personality Andy Baraghani joined our NY Chapter to discuss his highly anticipated debut cookbook, The Cook You Want To Be: Everyday Recipes to Impress.
➡️ Watch here
Building Political Power
California Primary Election on Tuesday, June 7th
Voters in California have the opportunity to cast their vote in many consequential elections. NIAC Action is proud to endorse Congressional candidates Rep. Katie Porter (CA-47), Rep. Ro Khanna (CA-17), and Shervin Aazami (CA-32). In local races, we are proud to endorse Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson for Santa Cruz County Supervisor District 3, Sara Aminzadeh for Assembly District 12, and Pete Hardin for Orange County District Attorney.
NIAC Action is proud to congratulate Ari Ghasemian on his election win!
The Mclean Community Center in Virginia is home to performing arts, special events, and public programming and it recently held an election for its governing board. It was a tight race, with 9 candidates running, including a former Trump Administration official. We were happy to quickly mobilize our members in the area to get out and vote and even happier to congratulate Iranian-American candidate Ari Ghasemian on his victory in the election to the governing board of the McLean Community Center!
Get Involved ➜
Saturday, June 4th at 11am PT knock doors for Shervin Aazami for Congress
Sunday, June 5th at 11am PT knock doors for Shervin Aazami for Congress
Saturday, June 4 at 10am PT Virtual Text Bank for Shebreh Kalantari-Johnson for Santa Cruz County Supervisor
Monday, June 6 at 5pm PT Virtual Text Bank to Get Out the Vote in CA
Tuesday, June 7 at 5pm PT Virtual Text Bank to Get Out the Vote in CA
Iran Unfiltered
Protests have broken out in many Iranian cities after the government cut subsidies, causing food prices to jump. Meanwhile, the JCPOA negotiations have made progress after a senior EU diplomat visited Tehran, and Iran says it will execute a Swedish dual national.
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See more from Iran Unfiltered: Our Weekly Digest on News from Iran
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Events
Thursday, June 16th at 8pm ET
NIAC Los Angeles and San Francisco Chapters would like to invite you to this special Pride Month edition of our Virtual Open-Mic night on Thursday, June 16 at 5pm PT/8pm ET. NIAC is proud to celebrate Pride, our culture, and be in community with one another. The event will consist of virtual open-mic poetry and storytelling. Attendees are welcome to share or just listen.
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Sunday, June 12th at 4pm ET
The NIAC Georgia Chapter would like to invite you to attend a Happy Hour on Sunday, June 12 at 4pm in Atlanta! Come learn how you can get involved with NIAC's efforts to support and build political power for Iranian Americans and meet other like minded folks in the greater Atlanta area. We hope to see you there! RSVP for the location details.
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