In the epic poem The Book of Kings, the 11th-century Iranian bard Ferdowsi warns of how “Unrighteous thought and the turn of days / Combine to seal one’s fate.” Ferdowsi’s verse expresses the ethical injunction, deeply ingrained in Persian culture, to speak truthfully in times of personal and collective crisis. Today, as the clerical regime in Tehran grows ever more repressive at home and defiant abroad, Iranian-Americans have a special responsibility to speak out clearly on the moral stakes at the heart of the U.S.-Iran conflict.
Unfortunately, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) — the most visible organization claiming to represent the community — has never fulfilled this duty. By cynically exploiting Iranian-Americans’ deepest fears and by misrepresenting the community’s true aspirations, NIAC promotes an Iran policy agenda that shortchanges both Iranians and Americans.
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