Iranian Americans support Obama vs. pro-Netanyahu, pro-Saudi Lobby. Battlefield: US Congress
For about a month now, every single night, major American TV stations have been airing prime time ads, heavily funded by the pro-Netanyahu, Pro-Saudi lobby, against Obama's nuclear agreement with Iran. The goal of these ads are to place constituent-side pressure on members of the US Congress to ensure a veto-proof vote against the Iran deal in September. The likes of Sheldon Adelson, a multibillionaire right wing Pro-Netanyahu Jewish casino tycoon, have poured considerable funds into the fight. According to a report by The Guardian, Adelson is ready to spend over $100 million on the anti Obama, anti Iran Deal campaign. Recently, freshman members of the US Congress were treated to an all-expenses paid trip to Israel for a week of briefings and lobbying intended to ensure they vote against the Iran nuclear deal. The satirical site Funny or Die made a spoof of this in a video parody of the movie Expendables:
On the other side, majority of Iranian Americans seem irked by the TV ads. More than 80 percent of Iranian Americans have close family in Iran, according to a Zogby Research Services poll. Even reformist activists believe the Nuclear Deal is good for human rights in Iran (news link). But despite their considerable wealth and population, the one million strong Iranian Americans are mostly on the side lines, not knowing what to do!
Fortunately, there are several pro-peace campaigns people can still join to have an impact in this last week before the crucial vote in the US Congress. For example, National Iranian American Council (NIAC), through its advocacy arm offers a variety of ways people can help. On their campaign page niacaction.org (link) they have videos by Reza Aslan, Morgan Freeman and other prominent supporters of Iran nuclear deal, outlining what people can do to support the deal.
On the other hand, 24 influential Iranian Americans signed and published a letter in The New York Times expressing support for the nuclear agreement as a "unique opportunity for Americans and Iranians to connect." The list of signatories (on Supportpeace.org) has now swollen to more than 2000, including prominent names such as (those six in the picture, from top left to right, then bottom): Hamid Biglari (Former Vice-Chairman, Citigroup), Salar Kamangar (Former CEO, YouTube), Shohreh Aghdashloo (Academy Award nominated actress), Firouz Naderi (Director, Solar System Exploration at NASA, JPL), Gholam Peyman (Inventor, LASIK), Maz Jobrani (comedian, actor), as well as big names from the Silicon Valley like Ali Rowghani (Former Chief Operating Officer, Twitter), Hadi Partovi (Investor, AirBnB, Facebook), Shervin Pishevar (Investor, Uber), Omid Kordestani (Chief Business Officer, Google), and Arash Ferdowsi (Co-founder & CTO, Dropbox). Anyone can join them on this link: supportpeace.org
Several prominent American advocacy groups such as J-Street, the pro-peace, pro-Israeli lobby, and Friends Committee on National Legislation (AFNCL, through their "5 ways to Support Iran Deal" page) are also working hard to support Obama's diplomacy and peace initiative with Iran.
The US Congress asked for 60 days to review the Iran Deal, but most members opposed it within a few hours! after the agreement was reached. There are currently only 31 US Senators on Obama's side, not enough to counter the veto-proof pro-Netanyahu, pro-Saudi opposition. US and Iran may be very close to make historic amends but if Iranian Americans and pro-peace campaigns fail, and the US Congress decides to go against the US President, the bad blood will continue between the two countries for many years to come.
Political Blog by R. Bazargan
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