Washington, DC — Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement following the announcement that the United States and Iran have agreed to a final deal to end the U.S.-Israel-Iran war:
“The announcement of a deal to end the disastrous U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is welcome news. The threat of American and Israeli bombs falling on Iranian schools, residential buildings and hospitals will recede, as too will the threat of Iranian drones and missiles streaking through the skies of many countries in the Middle East. Tens of millions of people will rest easier tonight knowing that those threats are diminishing.
“The deal was finalized despite the considerable effort of Benjamin Netanyahu to sabotage it, striking into the southern suburbs of Beirut in a clear provocation intended to deter Iran from signing the deal. It didn’t work – this time – but his motivation to drag the U.S. back into war with Iran will remain so long as he is in office. President Trump was right to sharply criticize Netanyahu again, and he will have to keep one eye on the Israeli Prime Minister if he wants his peace with Iran to stick.
“While reaching the finalization of an agreement is long-overdue relief from the nightmare of war, it also makes us ask ‘what was it all for?’ As best we can tell, precious little. The war was started based on lies that were immediately proven false. Thousands of innocent people were killed and injured in horrific ways, starting with the bombing of Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, with much worse civilizational-level destruction threatened. We should all know now that war is not liberation, and that those who were selling it as a path to freedom and security were charlatans paving a path to misery and death.
“The path to true peace will not be easy. It is likely to be beset by challenges, setbacks and wrong turns. Tens of millions of dollars were spent to slander another Iran deal eleven years ago, setting the stage for its eventual dissolution. Those same forces haven’t been defeated and will mobilize again to get the U.S. off the path to peace and on to the path to war.
“The choice with Iran has always been between peace and war. Now, there are no excuses. We know the price of war, and so we must do the hard work to forge a stronger peace. We have seen where maximum pressure, sabotage, and military escalation lead: impoverishment, repression, regional instability, and finally a disastrous war with global consequences. The lesson could not be clearer.
“The United States and Iran must now implement this deal in good faith, resist efforts to sabotage it, and use this opening to build a broader path away from sanctions, war, and collective punishment. Today’s announcement should mark not merely the end of this war, but the beginning of a new U.S. approach rooted in diplomacy, accountability, and the simple truth that peace is the only way forward.”
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