Amid a wave of protests in Iran over mass water shortages that has shaken the Iranian regime, an Iranian-American group is petitioning the Biden State Department for an immediate sit-down about ways to hold the regime accountable for its violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators.
The National Union for Democracy in Iran, a nonpartisan organization of Iranian Americans that promotes human rights in Iran, says the latest mass protests-and the Iranian regime's violent crackdown-represent a watershed moment in the Iranian people's efforts to depose the hardline clerical regime.
Pressure is now mounting on the Biden administration to address Iran's mass human rights abuses just a day after it restarted diplomatic talks with the regime aimed at securing a revamped version of the 2015 nuclear accord.
Groups like NUFDI are pressing for additional sanctions on the Iranian government, but such sanctions are unlikely to happen as the Biden administration negotiates with Iran.
NUFDI says that under the Biden administration's leadership, "Iran has been reduced to a mere nuclear file. The ongoing crimes against humanity and the Iranian people's widespread campaign for freedom have been roundly ignored." The group is demanding the administration "Enforce all current human rights-related sanctions" and immediately investigate the Iranian regime's violent crackdown on protesters, which most recently has included firing on citizens in Isfahan and shutting down the internet to stop the flow of information.
The Biden administration should restart efforts launched by the Trump administration aimed at increasing the Iranian people's access to internet so that they can report the regime's ongoing crimes, according to NUFDI. The group also urges the Biden administration to avoid a repeat of the Obama administration's much-criticized decision to refrain from backing protesters when in 2009 they threatened to topple the ruling regime, a time known as the Green Revolution.
Iranian Americans for Liberty, a fellow advocacy group, last week also raised the human rights issue and called on the Biden administration to take a more active role in supporting protesters.
Wednesday, December 1, 2021
As Protests Shake Iranian Regime, Iranian Americans Demand Meeting With Biden Admin
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