Statement

October 24, 2017

Statement – Iranian American Community of Wisconsin favors a more robust and active U.S. leadership to counter the Iranian threat and welcomes newly announced U.S. policy changes to address this challenge. We praise the United States government for blacklisting the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) and for taking further steps to verify Iran’s nuclear compliance with the nuclear deal.

Although the IRGC designation appears on the surface, as simply a punitive measure to curtail its terrorist activities outside Iran, the primary impact of the U.S. blacklisting will likely be felt in the streets of Iran. In fact, the pace of protests and regime’s suppression tactics has already increased. Accordingly, IRGC blacklisting as a terrorist entity directly benefits the Iranian people and helps them oppose religious tyranny with further vigor. The designation also weakens the regime and hinders its ability to project power internationally.

These steps, while extremely essential, are not by themselves enough to fully respond to the threat. As bipartisan members of congress and many policy thought-leaders have suggested, the solution must involve the Iranian people and recognize their longstanding movement for democratic change in Iran. To that end, we call on congress to tighten the monitoring requirements on Iran’s nuclear sites. We also call on the administration and the United Nations to refer Iran’s human rights violations to the U.N. Security Council as soon as possible.

Iranian American Community of Wisconsin