National Iranian American Council
| Motto | Community. Democracy. Universal Rights. |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Trita Parsi, Babak Talebi, Farzin Illich |
| Established | January 2002 |
| Mission | Strengthening the voice of Iranian Americans and promoting greater understanding between the American and Iranian people |
| President | Trita Parsi |
| Chairman | Ali Youssefi |
| Location | Washington, DC, United States |
| Address | 1411 K St. NW, Suite 250, Washington, DC 20005 |
| Website | www |
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization with the stated mission of "strengthening the voice of Iranian Americans and promoting greater understanding between the American and Iranian people." NIAC supports engagement between the US and Iran in belief that it would enhance US national security by helping to stabilize the Middle East and bolster the moderates in Iran.
Trita Parsi, 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order, is the organization's president.
NIAC was founded in 2002, by Trita Parsi, Babak Talebi, and Farzin Illich to promote Iranian-American civic participation. At NIAC’s founding, Parsi explained the purpose of the organization, saying “Our community is educated, affluent, dynamic, and professionally successful. However, we have yet to harness our immense human potential into constructive engagement in American civil society.”
During the Iranian Green Movement, NIAC urged President Obama to condemn the Iranian government’s crackdown on peaceful demonstrators after the disputed election. As the violent crackdown escalated, NIAC put out a statement arguing “the only plausible way to end the violence is for new elections to be held with independent monitors ensuring its fairness.”
The organization supported the Stand with the Iranian People Act, introduced by U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN), which included proposals for targeted measures against individual Iranian government officials responsible for human right abuses. In 2011, NIAC successfully advocated for the re-establishment a United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Iran to investigate rights abuses.
NIAC advocates against war with Iran and advocated in support of the Iran nuclear deal. The Congressional publication, The Hill, cited NIAC's work in support of the Iran nuclear accord as one of the "Top lobbying victories of 2015." Shortly, before the conclusion of the Iran nuclear deal, NIAC urged members of Congress to support the Schakowsky-Doggett-Price House letter, the strongest Congressional statement of support for diplomacy with Iran on record. The letter was signed by 151 Members of Congress, and signaled to the Obama administration enough Democrats would support a diplomatic agreement with Iran to block a veto override of any legislative attempts to undo the agreement. The organization also supported an earlier letter supporting diplomacy, the Dent-Price letter, which was signed by 131 Representatives. The Dent-Price letter advocated for giving negotiations with Iran on the nuclear issue a chance after the election of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani.
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