March 28, 2021
The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy thanks Congresswoman Delbene for her willingness to hear us and for sending her aide, Abe Friedman, to meet with us and allow us to explain the situation with Iran from our unique perspective as Middle Eastern Americans, especially Iranians and Lebanese, whose relatives are often directly impacted by US foreign policy.
AMCD’s, chairs, regional co-chairs, and members met with aide to Congresswoman Delbene (D) for the first district in Washington State on Thursday, March 25, 2021. Several of our members are her constituents or former constituents. Mr. Friedman graciously promised to inform the Congresswoman of our concerns. He mentioned the areas of human rights, women’s rights and peace as areas of agreement.
Our members (as always) were very knowledgeable and presented effective arguments against the Biden administration’s plans to re-join the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Our members argued that due to the fact that:
- Iran is a state sponsor of international terror,
- routinely abuses human rights at home,
- upholds gender apartheid and oppresses its women terribly,
- commonly executes gay men,
- viciously suppresses any opposition,
- have the blood of thousands of Americans on their hands,
- and have continued their nuclear program virtually unhindered after the last talks,
Iran has not earned its right to sit at the table with America. We advise the US to stand strong and demand behavior change on the part of the mullahs before any negotiation should occur.
Our members stressed that there is a great difference between the regime and the people of Iran, who are among the most pro-American populations in the Middle East. They also stressed the fact that any treaty or agreement would only be a temporary expedient for Iran to get what it wants now (sanctions relief and more), in exchange for a meaningless promise about the future on their part. Due to the ideology of the mullahs, no treaty would be adhered to for long. Our members were vehement that negotiations with Islamic Republic are futile.
We hope that Congresswoman Delbene will take our advice into consideration when consulting with her fellow lawmakers. All peace-loving people want to make sure Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. AMCD wants to help Republicans and Democrats come together on a common strategy.