Reuters: Iranians surf shark-infested, state-controlled web
Reuters quotes NIAC’s Reza Marashi about the Iranian government’s efforts to “quarantine” its population from the global Internet.
SWIPA “Perfect” Abdo Tells House Committee
“Iran is a sovereign state whose people are struggling bravely for their own freedom. It is natural and right for us to want to support their struggle. The question is how?”
The real story on the Iran “democracy fund”
The BBC has taken a fresh look at a story the Boston Globe first ran a couple weeks ago about the demise of the Iran “Democracy Fund,” a program started under the Bush administration to support regime change in Iran. The story provoked an outcry. Individuals such as Senator Joseph Lieberman and the neoconservative activist […]
NIAC Statement on Human Rights in Iran
The National Iranian American Council expresses grave concern about the human rights situation in Iran and urges the government of Iran to respect the internationally recognized rights of its citizens.
Iranian Civil Society Urges US to End “Democracy Fund,” Ease Sanctions
A group of Iranian scientists, humanitarians, and social service workers has sent a letter to President Bush and members of Congress urging them to abolish the controversial “Iran Democracy Fund” and to ease US sanctions on Iran. According to the group, this will allow greater collaboration through people-to-people exchange and strengthen the cultural and educational ties between our two countries
NIAC Memo: Larijani’s Election Can Boost Congressional Diplomacy
Iranian Nobel prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has long argued that the United States and Iran need to have a dialogue with each other at three different levels: between their executive branches, between their civil societies and between their legislatures.
Iranian NGOs to U.S.: “Don’t Send us Money.”
Massachusetts Representative Bill Delahunt ended the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight hearing by echoing words he heard from Iranian Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in response to increased American pro-democracy funding: “We hear from Iran, for example, ‘don’t send us money, it stigmatizes us.'”
Questions Remain about Iran Democracy Fund
In a controversial move last month, Congress appropriated $60 million for a package of State Department programs designed to “promote democracy, human rights, and the rule of law in Iran,” in part, by funding the activities of Iranian dissident groups.