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Washington DC - NIAC will host a conference on Iran in the US Senate on Wednesday March 10, 900AM-145pm, with Congressmen Keith Ellison (sponsor of the Stand With the Iranian People Act), Mike Honda (sponsor of the Congressional Noruz resolution), Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, Professors Shireen Hunter, Scott Lucas, Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak, Juan Cole, Muhammad Sahimi and Ambassador Robert Hunter. Don't miss it - rsvp today at rsvp@niacouncil.org and read more at www.niacouncil.org/march10. 

NIAC, The Iranian American Bar Association (IABA), and the Bay Area Iranian American Democrats (BAIAD) are teaming up for special event intended to teach Iranian-Americans how to build a more influential community.

Join us at NIAC along with IABA and BAIAD at the Board Room at Campbell Community Center on March 10, 2010 from 6:30-9:00 PM. (Address: 1 W. Campbell Ave, Campbell, CA 95008).

Regardless of your political affiliation and personal beliefs, you will learn how to help empower the Iranian-American community and increase the presence of Iranian Americans in the US. For more information call (408) 857-2709.

Contact: Phil Elwood
917.379.3787 

Washington, DC - The National Iranian American Council applauds today's Treasury Department decision to reverse harmful policies barring U.S. Internet communication software from being available to Iranians.  Today's welcome announcement will help ensure that U.S. policies no longer stand in the way of Iranians seeking to have their voices heard, and will enable the people of Iran to access vital tools that facilitate free speech and the free flow of information.  

NIAC has sought revisions to US sanctions that harm innocent Iranians since long before the disputed June 2009 Iranian elections, and has worked continuously with the Administration and Congress to fix this harmful policy.  As recently as March 2^nd, NIAC sent a letter to OFAC discussing the urgent need for this general license to be issued swiftly.

"This decision is the right way for the U.S. stand with the Iranian people," said Jamal Abdi, NIAC Policy Director.  "By removing barriers that prevent Iranians from communicating freely and accessing information online, the U.S. is taking concrete action to help the Iranian people."

Washington, DC - NIAC sent a letter today to the Director of the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) calling for a general license to support Iranians' access to information and communication tools online. NIAC has repeatedly called for revisions to US sanctions that block vital communications tools for Iranians.

The full text of the letter is available below.

Los Angeles, CA - The Iranians Count 2010 Census Coalition (“ICCC”) is continuing its proactive role to ensure that statistics for the Iranian-American community are accurately reflected in the upcoming 2010 United States Census (“Census”). Currently comprised of 30 organizations spread throughout the United States, ICCC today launched itsofficial website, Iranianscount.org, as an informational resource for the community. ICCC has also produced two Public Service Announcements (“PSA”) to help raise awareness about the importance of participating in the Census and how to accurately fill out Census forms to assure that Iranians/Iranian Americans can be counted for.

Furthermore, through the utilization of viral networking and micro-blogging websites, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, ICCC is expanding the reach of its message nationally. 

In a recent article published by the Harvard International Review, Sam Sasan Shoamanesh, a lawyer with the International Criminal Court, and Dr. Trita Parsi, President of the NIAC, called for a list internal and external measures that ought to be employed to improve the human rights situation in Iran.  Reproduced below is a modified version of said article as published.

Washington, DC - The House of Representatives' Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission held a hearing yesterday to discuss the human rights situation in Iran and what measures US policymakers can take to support the rights of the Iranian people.  NIAC President Trita Parsi testified before the commission, urging lawmakers to place a greater emphasis on the human rights issue in dealing with Iran.

All members of the commission stressed the importance of bringing greater international attention to the repression going on in Iran since the June election last year, and the panel of expert witnesses offered their recommendations for practical measures the US Government can take to press the issue.  Among these recommendations, lawmakers and witnesses agreed on the need to correct certain US policies that have unintentionally imposed burdens on the Iranian people, rather than the government.  

Washington, DC - "I can't believe you are buying from that terrorist. He is from Iraq, and he is funneling money back to his family and other terrorists. I have a brother over there and what you're doing is helping kill my brother," a car salesman from Bob Tyler Toyota allegedly stated to a customer after learning they had decided to buy from Eastern Shore Toyota, according to a lawsuit recently filed by the Iranian-American owner of the latter.

Shawn Esfahani, owner and manager of Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, AL, is suing BobTyler Toyota in Pensacola, FL and a sales manager there, Fred Keener, for slander and defamation. The lawsuit alleges Bob Tyler Toyota and certain employees willfully spread false and malicious information amongst the local community about Esfahani and his dealership. 

Iranian lawyer and women rights' defender testified on Friday February 12 at the United Nations regarding her arrest and detention in July 2009:

Violation of rights in Iran, a window from my experience to a broader picture

When I was sitting in an interrogation room, with my face to the wall, my eyes covered with a blindfold and my body with a chador, I never imagined that one day I would be at the United Nation Headquarters giving my testimony about this very day. So, I am very glad that I have the chance to be here, especially when many other political prisoners are still locked up inside the prisons or, even among those who were released, have to remain silent and neutralized out of fear. Let me start with my own experience, which is just one example of the many human rights violations that have occurred in Iran since the June 2009 Presidential Election.

Old habits are difficult to break. After years of almost singularly focusing on the nuclear issue, the west has been slow to react to the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. While United Nations Security Council members are preparing new sanctions over the nuclear issue, the UN has yet to address Iran’s human rights abuses since the fraudulent elections last summer.

Now more than ever, the narrow nuclear focus must be set aside and renewed attention given to the state of human rights in Iran. It is literally a matter of life and death.

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Ever since last June's disputed presidential election, Iran has been in the throes of change, with the nascent "green movement" protesting against an ever-more-authoritarian state. For months, Washington has asked itself: Should the United States actively push for regime change? Torn between the fear of ending up on the wrong side of history by being too cautious and the fear of ending up undermining the pro-democracy movement by being too aggressive, Barack Obama's administration is playing a difficult balancing act.

History shows that intervention is easier said than done. Past U.S. attempts to sway Iranian internal affairs -- such as the CIA-fomented 1953 coup d'état against a democratically elected prime minister, Mohammad Mossadegh -- have proven costly for U.S. interests. Most notably, Washington's support for the shah fueled the 1979 Islamic Revolution, inspiring anti-Western movements in Pakistan, Egypt, and beyond.

Download PDF Version

Washington DC - The Iranian American 2010 Census Project proudlyannounces the addition of Andisheh Center, Association of Iranian American Professionals of San Diego, Bay Area Iranian-American Democrats, Empowered Women United, Iranican, Iranian Studies Group at MIT, Persian Center and Persian Cultural Club to its list of coalition partners.

Now at 19 partners and counting, the coalition was formed to ensuremaximum and consistent participation by Iranian Americans in the 2010 U.S.Census. The addition of these new organizations strengthens and expands thecoalition's outreach and penetration, providing it with more resources and alarger platform for educating Iranian Americans nationwide and encouragingtheir participation in the Census.

Washington, DC - NIAC condemns in the strongest terms the Iranian government's execution of political dissidents Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmani Pour today.  NIAC calls on the Iranian government to immediately end its campaign of politically motivated executions, release all political prisoners, and ensure that detained individuals are no longer denied the right to fair trial in accordance with international human rights standards.  NIAC also calls on the United Nations and its member states to ensure that the Iranian government upholds its obligations and is held accountable for acts committed in violation of the Iranian people's rights.

For Immediate Release
Contact: Phil Elwood
917.379.3787

Congressman Barrett,

The National Iranian American Council and the Iranian-American community is outraged by your plan to reintroduce legislation mandating the deportation of thousands of Iranian students and workers who came to this country legally in search of education, liberty and a better way of life. The Stop Terrorist Entry Program (STEP) Act would make discrimination against Iranians into United States law. There are over one million Americans of Iranian descent woven into the diverse fabric of this nation through family and community--your legislation would divide and fracture these families and communities in the name of false security. Read more.

Washington, DC - Since Iran's disputed presidential election in June, lawmakers in the United States have searched for ways to support the Iranian people's movement for basic rights and freedoms.  Yet, with the tattered history of US involvement in internal Iranian politics, they must tread lightly or else risk buttressing the Iranian government's claim that its opponents are "agents of foreign powers." 

Taking those concerns into consideration, Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) introduced H.R. 4303, the Stand with the Iranian People Act (SWIPA), to support the Iranian people's democratic movement by ensuring that America's Iran policy imposes pressure on the Iranian government--not the innocent Iranian people.  In order to do this, SWIPA imposes targeted sanctions on Iran's human rights abusers, while simultaneously relaxing restrictions on US humanitarian assistance delivered directly to the Iranian people.

تحلیل: قانون حمایت از مردم ایران

واشنگتن دی. سی. – از هنگام انتخابات ریاست جمهوری ایران در خراد ماه امسال، قانون‌گذاران ایالات متحده راه‌های مختلفی را برای پشتیبانی از جنبش مردم ایران به منظور دستیابی به حقوق و آزادی‌های اولیه خود مورد بررسی قرار داده‌اند. با این وجود، با تاریخ تباه مداخله‌های ایالات متحده در سیاست‌های داخلی ایران، آنان باید خیلی آهسته و محتاطانه قدم بردارند وگرنه بر ادعای دولت ایران مبنی بر اینکه مخالفانش "عوامل قدرت‌های خارجی" هستند صحه می‌گذارند.    

با در نظر گرفتن این ملاحظات، کیت الیسون (نماینده جمهوری‌خواه ایالت مینسوتا) قانون اچ. آر. ۴۳۰۳ یا «قانون حمایت از مردم ایران» ((SWIPA را معرفی کرد تا از جنبش دموکراتیک مردم ایران با این تضمین که سیاست‌های آمریکا در مورد ایران فشارش تنها بر روی دولت ایران است – و نه مردم بی‌گناه ایران- پشتیبانی کند. به منظور انجام چنین امری، این قانون تحریم‌های هدفمندی را بر روی نقض‌کنندگان حقوق بشر در ایران تحمیل می‌کند، حال آنکه همزمان محدویت‌های در خصوص کمک‌های بشردوستانۀ ایالات متحده که به طور مستقیم برای مردم ایران ارسال می‌شود کمتر می‌گردد. 

Washington, DC - For decades, Iranians have lived under the double burden of repression by their government and unintended hardship caused by US sanctions.  Even now, Congress is rushing to pass the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA), which will only contribute to the Iranian people's suffering by seeking to restrict Iran's supply of heating oil and gasoline.  Prominent members of Iran's opposition movement, such as Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi, as well as human rights defenders like Shirin Ebadi and Akbar Ganji, have all spoken out strongly against such sanctions that punish innocent Iranians.

Today, however, a group of Members of Congress are standing up to reverse this failed paradigm.  Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) has introduced the Stand with the Iranian People Act (SWIPA), and Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) has introduced the Iranian Digital Empowerment Act (IDEA).  Together, these unprecedented pieces of legislation will enable the US to genuinely support the Iranian people by removing unnecessary obstacles that have made their struggle for rights and freedom more difficult

Click here to tell Congress to stand with the Iranian People!

The following statement was issued by NIAC in response to today's article in the Washington Times: 

Washington DC - NIAC is proud of its work to advance US national security through a smarter and more effective policy on Iran. NIAC rejects the insinuations made by Washington Times that its activities are in violation of tax laws, the Foreign Agents Registration Act and lobbying disclosure laws.

NIAC has provided tens of thousands of documents and all its financial records in order to prosecute a defamation case against Hassan Dai. Those documents prove the allegations made against NIAC are completely false. The judge denied Dai’s motion to dismiss the case on 18 out of 19 counts. Realizing this, the defendants have decided to maliciously leak those documents to a reporter at the Washington Times, Eli Lake, in an attempt to litigate the case in the media rather than in a court of law.

What is happening is ominously similar to what has happened in Iran - radical and extremist elements are increasingly dominating the public discourse, while the moderate center gets smeared into silence.

Here at NIAC, of course, we refuse to be silenced.

This article recently appeared in the Huffington Post.

In the usually wonky world of non-profit issue-advocacy organizations, a decidedly political campaign has been waged against foreign policy institutions that promote diplomacy over militarism.

Two relatively new organizations -- each covering distinctly opposite ends on the spectrum of Middle Eastern affairs -- have been the target of withering public relations attacks in recent weeks and months.

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC), an organization that promotes diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and Iran, sprung to prominence recently for its active media presence in the aftermath of Iran's disputed elections though its influence in the nation's capital had been felt long before then. But as NIAC's voice grew louder in foreign policy circles, so too did the vehemence of its critics.

Tel: 202 215 0998

For immediate release

Washington, DC, Oct 3, 2008 -- The National Iranian American Council, working in partnership with a coalition of grassroots NGOs successfully defeated a Congressional resolution that would take a decisive step towards war with Iran.

"Stopping this dangerous resolution is a significant victory for the Iranian-American community," said Emily Blout, Legislative Director at the National Iranian American Council. "It is also a testament to the American people's opposition to another war in the Middle East."

Washington DC - What do former Under Secretary of State Tom Pickering, Congressmen Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD) and Jim Moody (D-WI), comedian and actor Maz Jobrani, author Reza Aslan and Professor R.K. Ramazani have in common? They all serve together with ten other prominent academics and professionals on NIAC's new Board of Advisors.

NIAC has issued a position statement on the deteriorating human rights situation in Iran. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have reported a significant increase in human rights violations in Iran in the past few years. The statement expresses grave concern about the human rights situation in Iran and urges the government of Iran to respect the internationally recognized rights of its citizens.

As the human rights situation in Iran deteriorated, NIAC consulted its membership for guidance. As the largest grass-roots organization representing Americans of Iranian descent, NIAC regularly seeks direction from its membership to determine its priorities. The NIAC membership voted in favor of raising the organization’s profile in speaking out against human rights violations in Iran.

Washington DC - Thousands of priceless artifacts from Persepolis that are on loan to the University of Chicago risk being auctioned off to the highest bidder. In an effort to defend the collective cultural heritage of Iranian Americans, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has secured pro bono representation from with Mayer Brown LLP with connection to the case, Rubin v. Islamic Republic of Iran.

“The Iranian-American community has felt helpless in face of this threat to their historic heritage,” said Trita Parsi, NIAC President. “With Mayer Brown’s help, we are creating an avenue for the community to have their concerns and interests considered in this legal battle.”

Download Farsi version in PDF

Washington DC - NIAC’s funding has grown significantly over the last few years. The structure of NIAC’s financing reflectsthe organization's grass-roots nature and the strong support it enjoys in the Iranian-American community. NIAC is an organization for Iranian Americans because it’s funded by Iranian Americans. At the same time, we have been fortunate enough to receive support and grants from major US and Iranian-American foundations such as Ploughshares Fund, Colombe Foundation, National Endowment for Democracy, Tides Foundation, Kenbe Foundation, Pluralism Fund, Open Society Institute, Connect US, Parsa Foundation, the Hand Foundation, Ahoora Foundation, the Houtan Foundation and the Eurasia Foundation.

Washington DC - The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) has been the target of several erroneous, maliciously defamatory opinion pieces by Kenneth Timmerman and Hassan Daioleslam in Frontpage Magazine. The articles are riddled with inaccuracies, misquotations, incorrect links and references to figures that played no role in NIAC's inception, operations, or its development over the years.