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Advancing Peace & Diplomacy
Two Days of Negotiations Conclude in DohaTalks this month were an important opportunity to inject life into the vital Iran nuclear negotiations. Unfortunately, the Biden administration still seems more interested in winning a blame game against Iran than in saving the nuclear deal. But even if the administration succeeds in pinning the blame on Iran for a collapse in negotiations, they will still own the catastrophic consequences, including Iran on the threshold of a nuclear weapon and growing risks of war. Several Iran Amendments Submitted to National Defense Authorization Act NDAA in HouseNIAC worked with numerous Congressional offices and allied organizations to support several amendments aimed at averting war, supporting diplomacy and advancing human rights that could receive a vote next week during debate on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – often the most significant annual foreign policy legislation that is considered by the U.S. Congress. ➡️ Read More Why a US War with Iran would be a catastropheAssal Rad for Middle East Eye Hawkish voices in Washington calling for pressure-only policies on Iran further risk an escalation that could entrench the US in another ‘forever’ war. ➡️ Read More NIAC Arizona Leadership Council Member Jazz Mimoun wrote this opinion piece for the Arizona Daily Star ➡️ Read it Here Learn More ➜ Protecting Civil Rights
Progress in Effort to Secure Accurate Representation of MENA Communities in Federal DataMembers of Congress sent a letter calling on the Biden Administration to take a key step to ensure communities like the Iranian-American community are accurately represented at the federal level. The letter calls for the establishment of a Middle Eastern - North African (MENA) category, which would begin to address gaps for communities like ours in federal research, grants, and policymaking. This change could set a path for accurately counting and securing representation for our communities in the Census and to obtain community benefits from federal agencies like the Small Business Administration. ➡️ Read more Lawsuit Targeting Bank of America’s discriminatory practices against Iranians upheld in CaliforniaFor years, NIAC has tracked reports as Iranian Americans, Iranian nationals, and other minority groups have faced discriminatory bank account closures. One of the biggest culprits of these practices, Bank of America, has refuted discriminatory intent and falsely claimed account suspensions were necessary to comply with U.S. sanction laws. In spite of this outreach, Bank of America failed to end their discriminatory practices and has yet to face consequences for over-complying with sanctions regulations – until now. The Honorable Judge Cynthia Bashant of the Southern District of California, upheld a class action lawsuit targeting Bank of America’s discriminatory practices against persons of Iranian descent. Judge Bashant’s report cited NIAC’s letters and other public commentary as evidence of Bank of America’s discriminatory intent. ➡️ Read more
Spotlighting Human Rights
Sanctions on Iran as Collective PunishmentAssal Rad for Jadaliyya Despite ubiquitous promises to end endless wars from both Democrat and Republican administrations, the policies imposed on Iran reflect a shared imperialist logic that sees sanctions and war as corresponding strategies with the same ultimate goal: to render the submission of the targeted state. It is a point of irony that U.S. officials use the language of human rights and international law to justify policies that intentionally hurt civilians and to mask the actual objectives of such policies. ➡️ Read More Iranian Lawyers and Human Rights Defenders SentencedHuman Rights Watch reported last week that an Iranian court has sentenced five human rights defenders to prison ranging from 95 days to four years. In response to the government’s negligent handling of the Covid-19 pandemic—which has ravaged Iran with over seven million infections and more than 141,000 deaths, though the actual numbers may be significantly higher—a group of Iranian lawyers and rights activists met in an office last August to discuss a plan to file a lawsuit against Iranian authorities, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, for “mismanaging the pandemic and hampering the vaccine rollout with a politically motivated ban by Mr. Khamenei on importing vaccines made in the United States and Britain.” ➡️ Read More Siamak Namazi Pleads for Biden to Secure His FreedomSiamak Namazi has become the longest held Iranian-American prisoner in Iran, with a detention that has spanned three different U.S. administrations, including President Obama, President Trump, and now President Biden. The New York Times ran an opinion piece authored by Siamak beseeching the Biden administration to change tactics and take immediate action. ➡️ Read More
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Building Political Power
Congratulations to NIAC Action endorsed candidates on your Primary Election victories!We are so excited to see that Sara Aminzadeh, Shebreh Kalantari-Jonhson, Congresswoman Katie Porter, and Congressman Ro Khanna are all heading to the California General Election on November 8, 2022. We are extremely grateful to our endorsed candidates at every level of office for being willing to join us in that fight, and to our members for working so hard to help build power together with these candidates. NIAC Academies Civic TrainingsIn the second half of June, our team traveled across the country to host civic trainings for members of our community in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. At these trainings, we discussed how the different levels of government work, how we can influence policy, and how to mobilize our networks to build power for our community. These civic trainings set a foundation for taking action to advance the issues impacting our community most: equitable immigration, civil rights for all Americans, and advancing peace and diplomacy. ➡️ Support more Civic Trainings across the country |
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