Washington, DC – Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), issued the following statement regarding the announced U.S.-Iran Memorandum of Understanding:
“This agreement is significant because it ends the catastrophic hot war between the U.S. and Iran but also because it provides a chance to end the cold war that has haunted the region for a decade. The measures in this agreement should not be read as concessions but rather corrections to a decades-old policy of coercion that was an abject failure and made war inevitable.
“For years, sanctions and military pressure were sold as tools to weaken the Iranian state and force political change. In reality, they accomplished neither. Instead, sanctions devastated ordinary people. Millions of Iranians were pushed out of the middle class by hyperinflation and economic collapse, forcing families into impossible choices about food, medicine, and survival. When people are consumed by the struggle to survive, they have far less capacity to organize, demand accountability, and fight for political change.
“Moreover, it did not dismantle Iran’s security apparatus or halt its military development. As this war made clear, Iran’s security infrastructure proved far more resilient than the war’s architects promised.
“That is why this agreement matters. For those who are anti-war, who support the Iranian people, and who oppose authoritarianism in Iran, this deal creates far more possibilities than war ever could. More war would only mean more dead civilians and deeper destruction. Endless sanctions would only mean a poorer, more desperate Iranian population.
“The ultimate test of this agreement will be implementation. Its success depends on whether the United States finally keeps its word and whether those who have repeatedly undermined diplomacy are prevented from sabotaging this process once again. If this deal holds, it can create the breathing room necessary for ordinary Iranians to rebuild their lives and begin shaping their own future.
“War and sanctions have been proven to be a dead end. The only path forward is peace.”
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