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Editor's note -
Lately NIAC - the National Iranian-American Council, an Iranian-American advocacy group with headquarters in Washington, D.C. has been the subject of many discussions in the Persian Media specially Satellite TV's. Their president, Dr. Trita Parsi, has been the subject of some attacks. This month we had a chance to talk to him by phone. Some excerpts:
Payam-e-Ashena: Dr. Parsi can you tell us a little about yourself, how old are you? How long you have been in the United States?
I was born in Iran in 1974. My family left Iran right before the revolution and I grew up in Sweden, though I spent a lot of time in the US. I have always been passionate about politics so it was natural for me to focus on political science in my studies. In 1997 I did an internship in Congress and in 1998, I worked for the Swedish Permanent Mission to the UN, where I served in the Security Council and the Third Committee of the General Assembly. In 2001, I moved permanently to the US to do my PhD at Johns Hopkins University SAIS in Washington DC.
Payam-e-Ashena: How did you get involved in the American political community?
In 1991, I spent a year as a high school student with an American family. My host dad was no one else than Bob Ney, who at the time was a State Senator in the Ohio Senate. Being already interested in politics, particularly foreign policy, this gave me an opportunity to see it up close.
Payam-e-Ashena: Did you ever work with Dr. Amirahmadi of AIC?
In early 2001, I worked for AIC for a few months. It was not a good fit for me and quickly moved on.
Payam-e-Ashena: When was NIAC established and for what purpose?
A group of us came together after 9/11 and discussed the need for an Iranian-American voice. Our community is so talented, so resourceful yet so voiceless. After 9/11, that was a great concern to us because we knew that our community would be targeted, yet we didn’t have an organization to defend ourselves through. So NIAC was established as a non-partisan, non-sectarian, and non-profit organization in order to transform the Iranian-American community to actively participate and contribute to the American political system. Through its activities, NIAC has given a greater voice to Iranian-Americans. Our vision is to ensure that decision makers in the US never make a decision that impacts the community without the community first impacting that decision.
Payam-e-Ashena: What has NIAC accomplished sine its inception?
NIAC has won several milestone victories for the Iranian American community. Just this summer, we managed to get Hollywood to change the script of a major movie starring Harrison Ford and Sean Penn. The original script featured an Iranian family killing their daughter due to a relationship she had with a Mexican man. The idea of an Iranian American family committing an “honor killing” in the US is simply unheard of and could have a devastating effect on our community, similar to the movie “Not Without My Daughter.” We contacted the director of the movie and initiated a very constructive dialogue that eventually led to the elimination of the honor killing from the movie. This story attracted a lot of media attention and was by the Guardian, Reuters and many others.
In 2005, we waged a large campaign and managed to get the National Geographic to reinstate the name Persian Gulf on their maps instead of the Arabian Gulf. This is a highly sensitive issue for our community and our efforts were highly successful.
There are several cases in which we stopped major violations against our community, including the discriminatory policies of Monster.com and getting radio show host Don Imus to apologize for having insulted our community.
Most importantly, perhaps, NIAC has been very successful on Capitol Hill, working with a coalition of 50 other organizations, seeking to prevent war between the US and Iran. NIAC’s analysis has been featured in the Washington Post, New York Times, CNN, PBS, BBC, NPR, and Meet the Press to name a few.
Payam-e-Ashena: How many members does the organization have?
NIAC’s mailing list reaches about 30,000 people.
Payam-e-Ashena: How are you funded?
NIAC’s funding comes primarily from Iranian American donors and respected foundations like the Ploughshares Fund, the Open Society Institute, and the Eurasia Foundation. As a 501 c3, NIAC’s tax-returns are by law available to the public. This is important in our view because transparency is extremely important in an open democracy like the United States.
Payam-e-Ashena: Lately you have been the subject of many attacks in the Persian circles. Can you tell us what are these about and who are the people that are attacking you?
NIAC has been the target of several erroneous, maliciously defamatory opinion pieces by Kenneth Timmerman, a neoconservative, and Hassan Daioleslam, a person closely connected to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO). The articles are riddled with inaccuracies, misquotations, incorrect references to figures that played no role in NIAC's inception, operations, or its development over the years. It seems that the real reason for their attacks on NIAC is to silence an independent Iranian American voice opposing war. These elements favor war with Iran and are angered by the successes NIAC has had on Capitol Hill pushing back their pro-war agenda. But instead of debating the merits of various policy options on Iran, they resort to undemocratic means such as character assassinations and slander. This further entrenches the Iranian American community in a fundamentally undemocratic and unhealthy political culture. We should be able to discuss all issues openly without resorting to personal attacks, even when we are in a minority and our views are highly unpopular.
Payam-e-Ashena: You said NIAC was established 5 years ago. Why is it that they are targeting you now?
NIAC’s members voted in early 2006 that the organization should use its resources to seek avoidance of war between the US and Iran. Ever since, NIAC has worked extensively to counter the pro-war agenda on Capitol Hill and in the media. In 2006, NIAC was quoted more than 150 times in major national media on this issue, for instance. As NIAC’s success has grown, that has naturally dismayed groups who favor confrontation and war between the two countries. Unfortunately, instead of debating the issue in a democratic fashion, some of the groups have resorted to slander and personal attacks. This is the cost of success and the cost of having a voice. There is a well organized campaign by neo-conservative entities in the US to silence NIAC and the many Iranian Americans that support it. I believe that we have attracted these groups’ anger precisely because we have been effective in countering their pro-war agenda. Had we not been successful, they would like not have bothered to put their energy into silencing us.
Payam-e-Ashena: How would war affect the Iranian-American community?
War will be devastating for the US, for Iran and for everyone else. This is not the time to sit silent, it’s the time to speak out and be counted. War will affect Iranian Americans in a very direct way, besides the problems it will cause for their American countrymen and Iranian relatives. Almost all of the civil rights and immigration problems Iranian Americans face in the US have a foreign policy root. Addressing the civil rights issues directly without addressing the root cause – the dysfunctional relationship between the US and Iran – has proven futile. If war occurs, then naturally, the problems Iranian Americans will face in the US will increase significantly.
Payam-e-Ashena: Do you receive any funding from the Government of Iran?
Absolutely not. NIAC is entirely funded through donations from private individuals, private enterprises and foundations. NIAC does not accept any funding from any government, including those of Iran and the US. This is easily verified through a review of our tax-returns.
Payam-e-Ashena: You are accused of being a 'lobby' group for the 'mullah's', how do you respond to that?
NIAC is a non-profit non-partisan organization that encourages Iranian-American political participation. We want our community members to be part of the debate instead of sitting on the side lines. And we do not want them to be scared into silence by anyone. Because we oppose a US-Iran war and support dialogue, supporters of war are accusing us of lobbying for the regime. This is completely erroneous. Equating talks with support is false. Dialogue is the most civilized way of solving problems. By the token of the false logic of the neoconservatives supporting war, the Iraq Study Group and 80% of the American public are also lobbyists for the Islamic Republic, because they too support dialogue between Iran and the US. By making these accusations, the pro-war groups avoid discussing the real issue at hand: Why do they support war with Iran after having seen what war did to Iraq and why are they not open to debating their views in a democratic fashion instead of slandering those who disagree with them? I think our community would benefit greatly if we could have a real debate about these important issues. This shows that dialogue within our community is needed more than ever before.
Payam-e-Ashena: Have you responded to these groups?
While NIAC respectfully disagrees with those favoring war, it welcomes an open and exhaustive debate on this issue. In fact, Mr. Timmerman was invited to NIAC’s conference on Capitol Hill. We believe that it is important to discuss these crucial issues in the open rather than resorting to personal attacks and defamation. But there is a red line that the debate cannot pass. Fortunately we live in a democratic society where laws guarantee freedom of speech while also establishing the limits of that right. One such limit, of course, is slander and defamation. The very foundation of our democratic society is attacked when entities resort to slander, defamation and the spreading of deliberate lies. While NIAC is countering the attacks of the neoconservatives by publishing articles and pieces in support of peace, we have also taken legal action to ensure that the slander and defamation are stopped. We hope that other organizations in our community will be strengthened by this action so that we as a community show zero tolerance for slander and personal attacks.
Payam-e-Ashena: What can Iranian-Americans do to help their causes?
There is a lot the community can do. First of all, they need to express their concerns directly to members of Congress, by setting up meetings to discuss these issues. If they don’t know how to, they can join NIAC and we will help them (www.niacouncil.org/donate.asp). This is really important because even though Iranian Americans tend to vote in the elections, very few people know about the “Iranian-American vote.” Since we don’t communicate with lawmakers, our votes are not leveraged. We need to make sure that our representatives know that we have voted and what our views are. “Loud” votes count a lot. Silent votes don’t count at all.
Payam-e-Ashena: How do our readers contact you or NIAC?
All information about contacting us can be found at www.niacouncil.org.
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