January 18, 2021

The American Mideast Coalition for Democracy vehemently opposed lifting sanctions on two of the most repressive and dangerous regimes on earth despite the World Evangelical Alliance’s support for lifting sanctions on humanitarian grounds.

“The sanctions are the major bargaining chip we have with these rogue regimes,” stated AMCD co-chair Tom Harb. “It would be the height of foolishness to give that up and receive nothing in return.”

“If the Biden administration decides to negotiate with the Iranian regime, they need to make certain that the IRI’s ballistic missile program and its support for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah are on the table,” added AMCD co-chair John Hajjar. “Our side needs to also understand that the entire Christian population of the Middle East is supported by their relatives living abroad. Those regimes scapegoat them now as a proxy of all actions taken by Western nations and will oppress them even more if sanctions are lifted.”

“This is a very dangerous road,” added AMCD vice-chair Hossein Khorram. “I remember we allowed Saddam Hussein to cheat on the sanctions we had put on Iraq and he used those funds of pay his security forces which suppressed dissent and propped him up in power. All of that eventually led to the second Iraq War, which was one of the costliest wars in American history and which ended up making Iraq practically a client state of Iran.”

“While we have deep compassion for the suffering of the people of Iran and Syria, we must consider their long-term best interests as well,” continued AMCD Executive Director Rebecca Bynum. “Giving the Iranian regime breathing room will only prolong the suffering of its people over the long term.”

AMCD strongly opposes the Biden Administration’s intention to enter back into the Iran Nuclear Deal. We believe pressure in the form of sanctions must be maintained in order to force Iran to change its malign behavior and that Iran must never be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.