Congress is exploiting recent tensions to jam through a series of hawkish approaches toward Iran and the Middle East as a whole, including legislation to push forward a ban on U.S. travel to Iran and a package that provides billions to send weapons to Israel and an expansion of broad Iran sanctions.

Congress is poised to advance – with President Biden’s endorsement – a massive $26 billion Israeli military aid package that includes several billions of dollars in unrestricted offensive weaponry for Israel and expansive new sanctions on Iran. With Israel planning a possible military incursion into Rafah opposed by the U.S. and facing no accountability for […]

We were deeply disturbed by the reports of an Israeli military strike in Isfahan last night which risked triggering a new cycle of violence in the brewing conflict between Israel and Iran. We call on Iran and Israel to stand down from further retaliation and respect international law, and for President Biden to finally move with urgency to de-conflict and end the war in Gaza.

We are deeply concerned by the legislative theater planned by the Republican Majority concerning U.S. policy toward Iran. This weekend, we saw the consequences of reckless militarism in the Middle East when Iran launched a massive volley of drones and missiles against Israel to retaliate for Israel’s April 1 bombing of its diplomatic compound in […]

We are deeply concerned that Iranian retaliatory strikes following Israel’s April 1 attack on its diplomatic compound in Damascus will move the region even further from the path to peace and security. Now is the time for restraint and diplomacy, not more military escalation. Anyone who yearns for a future in which Iranians are free of the shackles of authoritarianism must reject war and work for peace and diplomacy.

S.2626 – “The MAHSA Act” – requires the President to determine whether the office of the Supreme Leader and the office of Iran’s President should be designated under existing sanctions authorities. Both the current Supreme Leader and President are already designated under one such authority, so in practical terms this bill would not lead to […]

By Jamal Abdi Iranian Americans who have had their bank accounts closed or who have been subjected to invasive and persistent questioning by their banks because of their Iranian heritage were dealt another blow in the effort to stop banking discrimination. Two years ago, Bank of America was sued for shutting down the bank account […]

San Diego, California – The Southern District Court of California issued a sweeping ruling in favor of Bank of America in the ground-breaking class action lawsuit that alleged the bank had discriminated against Iranian Americans in its efforts to comply with U.S. sanctions on Iran. While this ruling is deeply disappointing to the more than […]