NIAC Urges State Department to Expedite Visa and Refugee Processing for Iranian Students
The National Iranian American Council wrote Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging him to continue efforts to expedite visas and refugee processing for Iranian nationals, with a specific focus on Iranian students. Unfortunately, Iranian students are encountering difficulties in securing visas via administrative backlogs and unexplained rejections.
More Executions Feared Imminent as Imprisoned Iranian Women Go on Hunger Strike
With four prisoners already executed following allegations of sham trials, renewed fears of two additional executions triggered concern inside and outside of Iran. Reports indicated that Mohammad Ghobadlou and Mohammad Boroughani were transferred to solitary confinement in preparation for execution, sparking a rally outside of Rajai Shahr prison in Karaj as protesters sought to halt […]
Second Protester, Majidreza Rahnavard, Executed by Iranian Government
The National Iranian American Council strongly condemns the Iranian government for its abominable execution of a second protester arrested amid nationwide protests, which followed accusations of a sham trial. Majidreza Rahnavard, just 23 years-old, was arrested on November 19. Not even a month later, he was killed by Iranian authorities. The speed of his prosecution […]
بیانیه نایاک در رابطه با اعدام محسن شکاری
Click here to read this in English. واشنگتن دی‌سی – شورای ملی ایرانیان آمریکا (نایاک) با صدور بیانیه‌ای اعدام محسن شکاری، معترض ۲۳ ساله که پس از کشته شدن مهسا امینی دستگیر شده بود را محکوم کرد. متن بیانیه به شرح ذیل می‌باشد اعدام محسن شکاری پس از یک محاکمه جعلی، ظلمی آشکار و تخلف […]
Two Iranian Students Sentenced to 16 Years in Prison in Iran
Reports broke today that Ali Younesi and Amirhossein Moradi—two honors students at one of Iran’s most prestigious universities, Sharif University—have been sentenced to 16 years in prison by an Iranian court on bogus charges such as “corruption, conspiracy to act against national security and propaganda against the state.” News of these two young and gifted […]
NIAC & NIAC Action Academies
Learn more about our Academies, an initiative to build political power among young Iranian Americans.
Olivia Abtahi’s Perfectly Parvin
In her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, author Olivia Abtahi tells the story of 14-year-old Parvin Mohammadi, a second-generation Iranian American who navigates the trials of adolescence with the added complexity of growing up with different cultures. Growing up in the U.S. with an Iranian father and an Argentine mother, Abtahi herself is a reflection of the increasingly diverse Iranian diaspora. A filmmaker and writer, Abtahi weaves together a story that is not only fun to read, but is also a moving coming of age story fit for our times.
An Old Faith in the New World – Zoroastrianism in the United States
Iranian Americans are one of the most spiritually diverse diaspora groups in the United States due to their wide range of minority religions. Although most are Shia Muslims, they are still much more diverse religiously than Iranians in Iran. An MIT poll of Iranian Americans in 2005 found that half of them identified as Muslim, while the CIA World Factbook estimates that 95% of Iranians in Iran do. In addition to Baha’is, Christians, Jews, and secularists, members of ancient Iranian religions have also found a home in the United States. Of these, perhaps the most interesting example is Zoroastrianism.
Men in Iran are Wearing Hijabs in Support of Women’s Rights
The fight against the forced hijab has been documented since it began immediately after the 1979 Iranian revolution. Iranian women have gone so far as to shave their heads in protest of wearing the hijab. Last week, however, the fight against forced hijab took a new turn. Iranian men have begun wearing the hijab in […]
Top 5 Iranian Teams/Athletes to Watch for During the Summer Olympics
For a moment, absolve your mind of Iran: the politically charged and hotly contested nation that is so often the target of criticism in the news, and engulf yourself in Iran: the nation whose athletes led the Middle East in the most Olympic medals in the 2012 summer games and are hungry to prove themselves again. Excluding 1980 and 1984, Iran […]
Why is Google Analytics blocking Iranians? Thank the embargo
When Google products that have been blocked for Iranians by the U.S. economic embargo suddenly became available in early May, many Iranians felt a glimmer of hope. For a brief moment, it appeared that Google Analytics, Google Developers and Android’s website for developers would join products like Gmail and the Google Play store that had been […]
Rouhani Raises Hopes for Diplomacy at First News Conference as President
By Samira Damavandi and Caroline Cohn At his first press conference as Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani indicated his willingness to reengage in diplomatic talks with the West, raising hopes for finding a solution to the current standoff over Iran’s nuclear program. Rouhani replaced outgoing President Ahmadinejad, whose bellicose anti-U.S. and anti-Israel rhetoric only exacerbated […]