Washington, D.C. – On June 2, 2025, Senate Minority Leader Schumer posted a video to X criticizing and classifying President Trump’s ongoing efforts to negotiate and secure a nuclear deal with Iran as a “side deal” that “lets Iran get away with everything.” The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) released the following statement in response to Senator Schumer’s comments:
“The National Iranian American Council calls for Senate Minority Leader Schumer to retract his deeply irresponsible comments in a video he released yesterday attacking and mischaracterizing ongoing negotiations with Iran to resolve the nuclear standoff and avert a war.
“The vast majority of Americans of all political stripes and backgrounds, as well as a clear majority of Iranian Americans, rightly believe that a war with Iran would be disastrous for our country. Regardless of political party, every American administration must be willing to pursue a diplomatic solution to prevent the devastation of war.
“Senate Minority Leader Schumer’s video oddly borrows directly from the outrageous conspiracy-fueled attacks that Republicans leveled at President Obama during his nuclear talks with Iran — claiming falsely that the President had struck a “secret side deal” with Iran. Openly deriding and misconstruing efforts at diplomacy for partisan political points reduces the lives of Iranians and Americans who would die in a war to a punchline for Washington elites.
“Parroting the kind of neoconservative talking points that led our country into senseless wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and that continue to fuel the devastation in Gaza, does not serve the American people, nor our community of well over 1 million Iranian Americans who have made a better life in the States while hoping for peace at home. Minority Leader Schumer, and any Members of Congress who would reduce our lives to a partisan gambit, should be held accountable for their remarks.”
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