Background:

This petition is in support of the original version of resolution 32078 that NIAC is trying to stop from passing. Efforts to pass the original version of this resolution is led by democrat, progressive women of color, and the support of the community at large. However, NIAC has reached out to the council members with threats and are working to stop our advocacy in support of the Iranian people and the local Iranians in Seattle. We ask you to sign this petition in support of this resolution and against NIAC’s efforts. You can find the text of the resolution as well as the email NIAC has send. The current NIAC president, Jamal Abdi, is also cc’d in this email. The timeline has been extended to Sunday, January 8th, to get the most signatures.

I helped draft the original resolution with my friend and am happy to answer any questions. You may find out more about my actions and activism on my IG: @sagharamiinii

If NIAC succeeds, we may loose the entirety, if not the majority of section 4, which includes technological support and cooperation from Seattle based tech companies and an investigation of NIAC by the Federal Bureau of Investigations as well as calling on elected officials to take further actions to support the Iranian people. 

Resolution text:

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A RESOLUTION affirming The City of Seattle’s support for the Iranian people engaged in peaceful protest for their fundamental human rights; condemning the Iranian security forces’ violation of the rights of women and girls; affirming the rights of local Iranian-American, immigrant, and refugee communities to assemble without fear of persecution; and calling on Governor Inslee, President Biden, and Seattle-based businesses to take specific actions to support the Iranian people.

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WHEREAS, on September 16, 2022, a 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman named Mahsa Jina Amini passed away in the custody of a division of Iran’s security force called the “Morality Police” following a three-day coma due to wounds, including bone fracture, hemorrhage, and cerebral edema - consistent with severe beating - inflicted by the police for purportedly wearing a hijab improperly; and

WHEREAS, witness reports, including video footage of Mahsa Jina Amini’s violent arrest by the Morality Police for allegedly violating Islamic Republic of Iran’s strict dress code, sparked widespread protests for justice in Iran; and 

WHEREAS, Amini’s death ignited protests in the streets of Iran by ordinary people calling for a full-fledged revolution with their rally cry of: “woman, life, freedom” (translated from Farsi “zan, zendegi, azadi”); and

WHEREAS, this revolution is led by women of Iran and mobilized by women, men, and children seeking freedom of speech, expression, and other basic human rights without fear of persecution or retaliation by Iran’s Islamic Republic; and 

WHEREAS, the news of Mahsa's death in 2022 spread to cities around the world - including Seattle - inspiring marches to amplify the voices of Iranian women and show support for countless other Iranians sacrificing their lives for basic human rights; and

WHEREAS, Iran’s Islamic Republic regime continues to violate international law despite overwhelming evidence of constant human rights violations; and

WHEREAS, the people of Iran have been oppressed by the Islamic Republic of Iran for over 40 years through brutal crackdowns on peaceful protests and the eventual removal of Internet access to silence protestors and prevent their organizing; and 

WHEREAS, 227 of 290 members of Iran’s parliament called the protesters “Mohareb,” which means “Enemy of God” and carries the death penalty, and as such called on the judiciary to sentence protestors with the death penalty; and  

WHEREAS, the people of Iran demand basic human rights such as freedom of expression without fear of retaliation or violence, and they call for international protection by leaders such as the United Nations (U.N.); and

WHEREAS, since 1979 Iran has been called the ‘Islamic Republic of Iran’, but the Islamic religion has become a scapegoat for barbaric forms of control by a patriarchal dictatorship upon women and girls, youth, ethnically diverse, and LGBTQIA communities in Iran subject to imprisonment, torture, and killing for simply living their lives peacefully; and 

WHEREAS, the rise in power of the Islamic Republic of Iran forced many Iranians to flee their homeland in search of a better life, and members of the Iranian diaspora now constitute an important part of Seattle’s diverse population, contributing to its thriving economy; and

WHEREAS, the Associated Students of the University of Washington located in Seattle have unanimously passed a resolution that supports an immediate pause of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) negotiations, and discredits the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) as a lobbying arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran; and 

WHEREAS, the Islamic Republic of Iran is a member of the U.N. with the responsibility to uphold the values of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and on November 24, 2022, the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) body held an urgent session and created a new fact-finding mission to investigate the human rights violations by the Islamic Republic of Iran; and 

WHEREAS, the U.N. took action to terminate Iran’s membership in the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women on December 14, 2022; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, THE MAYOR CONCURRING, THAT:

Section 1. The Seattle City Council stands in solidarity with the people of Iran that are engaged in legitimate and peaceful protests against an oppressive, corrupt government known as the Islamic Republic of Iran; respects the rich history and diverse culture of the Iranian diaspora and inclusion of their voices in decisions that impact their community; fully supports the efforts by the people of Iran to promote the establishment of basic freedoms that build the foundation for the emergence of a freely elected, open, and democratic political system; and supports the right of Iranian dissidents to assemble, without fear of persecution and violence, whether in Iran, Seattle, or internationally.

Section 2. The Seattle City Council demands that the Iran’s Islamic Republic regime abide by its international obligations with respect to human rights and civil liberties - including freedoms of assembly, speech, and press without threat of violence or retaliation - and condemns Iran’s Islamic Republic regime’s decades-long patterns of human rights violations against the Iranian people, significant corruption, and destabilizing activities abroad.

Section 3. The Seattle City Council: will motivate local technological and business sectors to protect internet access and tools for organizers in Iran and in the Seattle area; calls on local and international Seattle-based companies to reject requests by the regime to cutoff the Iranian people from social media and other communications platforms; calls on the Seattle-based business, technology, and arts communities to leverage their business networks to support Seattle Iranian grassroots organizers in their daily efforts to amplify voices of Iranian people with tangible tools such as meeting space, advertising, and social media support; and offer space to amplify the voices of Iranian people; and commends the statements of support for Iran protests from the Washington State electorate, community leaders, and key partners. 

Section 4. The Seattle City Council applauds and stands with the Associated Students of the University of Washington for their leadership in speaking up for their Iranian peers. The Seattle City Council: calls on Washington State Governor Inslee and the Washington State Legislature to clearly and proactively support the Iranian people’s right to live in a free society; encourages the government of the United States to provide assistance to the Iranian people to have free and uninterrupted access to the internet, including by broadening General License D-1; urges the Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct investigations on organizations such as the National Iranian American Council for their corrupt influence on U.S. foreign policy; urges the U.S. President and the U.S. Secretary of State to work with the international community, such as the United Nations, to ensure that violations of human rights are part of all formal and informal multilateral or bilateral discussions with and regarding Iran; and urges Congress and the Biden Administration to work to convene emergency sessions of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn the ongoing human rights violations perpetrated by the Iranian regime and establish a mechanism by which the Security Council can monitor and respond to such violations.

Section 5. The City of Seattle stands in solidarity with the people of Iran in their fight for

basic freedoms, and thereby joins the global movement to amplify the voices of people of Iran in their Revolution recognized as “Zan, Zendegi, Azadi,” a rally cry translated from Farsi for “Woman, Life, Freedom,” in honor of the sacrifice and resistance of Iranian people in the face of ongoing human rights violations by a tyrannical regime formally known as the Islamic Republic of Iran.

 

 

Email sent by NIAC: 

On behalf of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), the largest grassroots Iranian-American organization in the country, we write with alarm and concern regarding the resolution you have sponsored in the Seattle City Council (Res 32078) that contains slanderous and serious accusations against our organization that endanger the safety of our staff, volunteers and donors and the civic participation of the Iranian-American community. 

 

NIAC is an American civil society organization that was founded in 2002 to give a platform to Iranian Americans to be involved in the civic process, countering the community’s systemic underrepresentation in the democratic process. Regrettably, the text of your resolution risks creating a further chilling effect on the Iranian-American community’s participation in public life. 

Our organization has deep roots in the Seattle community. Our current President and former Research Director and Executive Director are from the Seattle area. Our sister organization, NIAC Action, has endorsed numerous candidates and elected officials in Washington, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, WA State Representative Darya Farivar, and former Lt.Gov. Cyrus Habib. Our organization and its members, including prominent leaders of the Iranian-American community in Seattle, have worked closely with the members of the Washington state U.S. House and Senate delegations, and along with Rep. Jayapal we have featured Rep. Adam Smith and former Rep. Jim McDermott at several of our events. Our accomplishments include raising awareness regarding the illegal detainment of Iranian Americans at the Peace Arch border crossing in Washington amid the Trump administration and securing a DHS Civil Rights and Civil Liberties investigation into the incident. We routinely condemn the Iranian government for its outrageous human rights violations. We haveno ties to any foreign government.

 

The description of Seattle City Council Res 32078 says it will affirm “the rights of local Iranian-American, immigrant, and refugee communities to assemble without fear of persecution.” 

 

However, the text of the resolution urges the FBI to target the largest Iranian-American civil society organization in the country - the National Iranian American Council - for very serious allegations that are wholly false. Specifically, the text falsely claims our organization has been discredited “as a lobbying arm of the Islamic Republic of Iran” and “urges the Federal Bureau of Investigation to conduct investigations on organizations such as the National Iranian American Council for their corrupt influence on U.S. foreign policy.” The allegations are false and the recommendation dangerously undermines the Iranian-American community’s participation in the civic process.

 

Regrettably, there has been an extensivedisinformation campaign against our organization led by far-right voices who opposed our work with the Obama and Biden administrations to support diplomacy aimed at ensuring Iran cannot get a nuclear weapon and that the U.S. and Iran do not go to war. These attacks have been amplified by the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton, who issued a similar call to investigate our organization in 2020 — a political stunt that even the Trump Justice Department declined to entertain. Dozens of progressive organizations and political leaders - including MoveOn, Indivisible and former Washington Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib - rallied to our defense against those false allegations from Cotton and Cruz in a public letter.  

 

We do not know why these accusations have again been inserted into your resolution, but believe that it was done with minimal understanding and research about our organization and our work. We do not take issue with the underlying focus of the resolution, which is to stand with the people of Iran against the massive human rights violations taking place there, which our organization strongly condemns.

 

However, we must insist that the resolution not move forward in its present form until all false and negative references to our organization are removed from the text.

 

Simply put, the text of Res 32078 that references our organization is slanderous, defamatory and endangers the livelihood of all staff, donors and volunteers of the organization by spreading outrageous lies. It must be pulled, immediately, and scrubbed of any slanderous accusations against our organization.

 

We will be calling your offices shortly to discuss further, and learn why this text was inserted into the resolution. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to me and NIAC President, Jamal Abdi, who is cc'ed here.

 

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This was the context of the resolution and the email sent by Ryan Castello, where Jamal Abi is also cc’d. We look for the Iranian freedom fighters’ support.

 

sincerely,

Saghar Amini