{"id":237586,"date":"2021-04-09T13:48:25","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T18:48:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/?p=237586"},"modified":"2023-02-01T04:59:38","modified_gmt":"2023-02-01T03:59:38","slug":"letter-from-more-than-300-iranian-americans-urges-support-for-irans-people-no-relief-for-the-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ncr-iran.org\/en\/news\/letter-from-more-than-300-iranian-americans-urges-support-for-irans-people-no-relief-for-the-regime\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter From More Than 300 Iranian-Americans Urges Support For Iran\u2019s People, No Relief For the Regime"},"content":{"rendered":"

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On Wednesday, a letter was sent to US President Joe Biden, which bore the signatures of more than 300 Iranian-American academics, professionals, and business leaders. The letter applauded the White House\u2019s decision to withhold sanctions relief from the Iranian regime pending its full return to compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, but it also urged the administration to tailor its Iran policy to a much broader set of priorities.<\/p>\n

While the signers noted that Biden\u2019s posture on nuclear negotiations \u201cgives us hope,\u201d they also cautioned him against repeating mistakes that they believe have been recurring in Western policy circles throughout the entire four-decade history of the Iranian regime. The letter suggested that countless policymakers have bought into a \u201cfable\u201d regarding political factions in the Iranian regime and that this has led them to provide unearned concessions in hopes of empowering \u201cmoderate\u201d officials who might oversee serious reforms of the theocratic system.<\/p>\n

This phenomenon was arguably on prominent display in 2013 with the election of the regime\u2019s President Hassan Rouhani.<\/p>\n

Some Western policymakers did indeed express high hopes for Rouhani\u2019s reform agenda, and this seemingly helped to motivate American and European pursuit of the nuclear negotiations that would lead, in 2015, to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. But expectations of broader reform were quickly tempered by reports of ongoing crackdowns on dissent inside Iran, and persistent belligerence in the regime\u2019s foreign policy, targeting all of its traditional allies in both the Arab world and the West.<\/p>\n

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To the signers of Wednesday\u2019s letter, these malign activities are not only evidence that Western support for Iran\u2019s \u201cmoderates\u201d is unfounded; they are direct consequences of that support. Conciliatory policies, the letter says, have \u201cresulted in lost opportunities, devastating outcomes, and tremendous suffering by the people in Iran and in the region.\u201d
\nThat suffering has been especially visible to close watchers of Iranian affairs in recent years, as Iranian activists throughout the country have faced an escalating backlash against their challenges to the theocratic system. In the final days of 2017, a protest in the city of Mashhad provided the spark for a nationwide uprising that continues to have ramifications to the present day. Although the initial demonstration was focused on mounting economic grievances, its spread to surrounding regions coincided with the development of a more general anti-government message.<\/p>\n

Protestors in more than 100 localities were reportedly chanting slogans like \u201cdeath to the dictator\u201d by mid-January 2018. And perhaps even more tellingly, the uprising also rejected Western narratives about \u201chardline\u201d and \u201creformist\u201d factions by calling out to both of them with the same chants and saying, \u201cThe game is over.\u201d The same slogans appeared on a national scale once again in November 2019<\/a>, and Wednesday\u2019s letter unequivocally described these and other protests as expressing \u201cloud and clear,\u201d a popular desire for regime change.
\nIranian regime authorities likely agree with this assessment, as evidenced by the worsening severity of their repressive response. Whereas the first uprising led to several dozen deaths over the course of about a month, the November 2019 uprising was crushed in a matter of only days after forces led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps opened fire on crowds of protesters, killing approximately 1,500. Another 12,000 activists<\/a> were arrested around this time, and Amnesty International later reported that many of them had been subjected to torture for weeks on end.<\/p>\n

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Iran Protests: Nationwide Uprising in Iran- November 2019<\/div><\/div>
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