Iranian-Americans now have dueling petitions circulating, advocating and opposing approval of the new nuclear deal with the Islamic Republic.
The Iran Times reported last week on the letter of support for the agreement signed initially by 134 prominent Iranian-Americans. As of Tuesday afternoon, the list of signers had passed 2,100 on the group’s website, www.supportpeace.org.
That list was put together by a group of prominent names chiefly from Hollywood and Silicon Valley. It focused on the concern that the agreement averts war with Iran.
The new list, opposing the agreement, focuses on the absence of any provisions for human rights in the agreement. The signature list starts with 16 people identified as having served time in the Islamic Republic’s jails. Perhaps the best-known name is that of Ahmad Batebi, who was jailed during the 1999 student protests and became known globally when The Economist featured his picture on its cover, showing him holding up the bloody t-shirt of another protester.
Here is the full text of the letter in opposition to the agreement, which was released initially with 53 signatures. The full text of the other letter, in support of the agreement, can be found in last week’s Iran Times on page four.
“In the past few weeks, some Iranian activists have vocally supported the nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 (China, Russia, France, United Kingdom, United States and Germany). While we deeply respect the experience and views of these men and women, it is important to hear all perspectives.
“We represent another collection of Iranian activists who share the world’s hope for a better future but believe that appeasing the Iranian regime will lead to a more dangerous world.
“We have spent our lives advocating for peace, justice and freedom in Iran. We represent a diverse array of Iranians who hope to warn the world of the danger of this regime regardless of how many centrifuges spin in Iran.
“This deal will provide up to $150 billion windfall of cash into the bank account of our tyrants and theocrats. This money will not be spent on the Iranian people but rather to enrich a repressive regime.
“Sadly, the world has not demanded real improvements in human rights. Thousands of activists continue to languish behind bars (including several Americans) and it is tragic that their release was not included in these discussions.
“We are sounding the alarm bells before it is too late. Those who care about peace should help restore focus to the Iranian regime’s brutal human rights records, its support for global terror and role in destabilizing the Middle East. More pressure should be applied to the regime, not less.
“One day when the Iranian people are finally free, they will hold an accounting of who stood on their side and who stood on the regime’s. It is not too late to hold the Iranian regime accountable for their continued human rights violations.
“Today in Iran, political prisoners are tortured. Bloggers, journalists and teachers remain behind bars. Sexual and religious rights are trampled. Women are treated as second-class citizens.
“Western apologists and appeasers of Iranian theocracy do no favors to the Iranian people. They distance the likelihood of positive change and undercut the hopes of the Iranian people.
“When the Iranian regime no longer fears its people, then the world will no longer have a reason to fear the Iranian regime.”
Both letters are aimed at the American public in general rather than specifically at the US Congress, which will vote on the agreement by September 17.