Washington, DC – Jamal Abdi, President of the National Iranian American Council, issued the following statement regarding U.S. and Iranian pronouncements that a deal is being finalized to end the U.S.-Israel-Iran war:
“News of a diplomatic breakthrough and the possible near-term finalization of a deal to end the war is light at the end of a very dark and dangerous tunnel. Far too many innocent people lost their lives and were injured by this senseless war, beginning with the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab and continuing through this week with strikes on water storage facilities.
“The terms of the deal are still being sorted out, and it will take some time to separate what’s real from what’s not. But what is absolutely clear is that the U.S. faces a choice between the promise of a deal and the chaos and violence of more war. Having seen the senselessness of war and the loss that follows, a majority of the Iranian-American community and the broader American public clearly wants our leaders to choose peace over war.
“We urge those who wrongly cheered this war and the sanctions that preceded it to look at what it gained: nothing but misery for the people of Iran and anyone in the war’s path. Bombs and missiles aren’t shortcuts to democracy and freedom, as we said before the war and has been painfully demonstrated over the last year.
“At a basic level, the deal should end the economic crisis triggered by the now double blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, and pave the way for steps to reduce concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program. If a deal is finalized, Iran should see sanctions relief, which is urgently needed amid an economic crisis that pre-existed the war and has been severely exacerbated by destruction wrought by war.
“We hope the path being struck today can lead to a brighter future for the people of Iran and a more secure U.S. and Middle East. Sanctions relief, if enacted, would have material benefits for ordinary people in Iran and put pressure on the Iranian government to allow for the brighter future that they deserve. It won’t guarantee any changes to Iran’s political system – nothing does – but it will put the Iranian people in a better position to chart their future.
“We expect if this deal is finalized there will be a major political battle, filled with slander against those who demand peace instead of a return to war and fueled by the war lobby and the significant resources that back it. They will do everything in their power to obfuscate the fundamental decision before us, which is between war and peace.
“More than a decade ago, tens of millions of dollars were spent to derail a strong deal. The deal’s unraveling led not to a brighter future, but to eight years of impoverishment of the Iranian people, a worsening human rights crisis in Iran, increasing regional instability and a disastrous war with massive economic reverberations across the globe. We know the choice we face, and ignorance is no longer an excuse: the U.S. and Iran must choose peace, charting a new path away from the mistakes of the past.”