National Iranian American Council

National Iranian American Council

The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization "dedicated to advancing the interests of the Iranian-American community."[1] Trita Parsi is the organization's current president and founder.

Contents

Formation

In 2002, Parsi founded the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) "to enable Iranian Americans to condemn the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks and that he has since run it as a grass-roots group aimed at strengthening their voice." The organization supports engagement between the US and Iran in belief that it "would enhance our [US] national security by helping to stabilize the Middle East and bolster the moderates in Iran."[2] On the group's formation, Parsi commented, "We realized that our primary thing that separates the Iranian-American community from the Jewish-American community, the Arab-American community, the Armenian-American community is that the Iranian-American community has shunned political participation."[3]

Lobbying controversy

In November 2009, the NIAC came under scrutiny when Washington Times national security correspondent Eli Lake alleged that the organization, registered as a 501(c)(3) educational organization, could be "operating as a foreign lobby in violation of federal law".[3] Lake writes, "Mr. Parsi's history suggests a continuing commitment to changing U.S. policy on Iran, and he has clearly become more influential in Washington since the change of administrations."[3] In response, NIAC published a point by point rebuttal of the article written by Eli Lake, stating that "NIAC is a 501 c3 educational organization with an H election. As a result, NIAC is permitted to engage in lobbying up to 20% of its budget. NIAC and its staff are in full compliance with all regulations and laws" elaborating further that "Educational activities and advocacy for general policies, such as opposition to war - as opposed to specific legislation - are not lobbying under the law."[4]

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • American Council — may refer to:In linguistics:* American Council of Teachers of Russian, an organization that has to advance research development in Russian and English language * American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, a national organization… …   Wikipedia

  • Iranian American — Infobox Ethnic group group = Iranian American caption = Farhad Rostampour • Anousheh Ansari • Goli Ameri poptime = 378,000 [http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/tables/08s0051.pdf U.S. Census Bureau: Population by Selected Ancestry Group and… …   Wikipedia

  • Iranian presidential election, 2009 — 2005 ← 12 June 2009 → 2013 …   Wikipedia

  • National Council — may refer to: Contents 1 Conservation 2 Economics 3 Education 4 Politics 4.1 Legislative …   Wikipedia

  • National Endowment for Democracy — The National Endowment for Democracy, or NED, is a U.S. non profit organization that was founded in 1983 to promote US friendly democracy by providing cash grants funded primarily through an annual allocation from the U.S. Congress.[1] Although… …   Wikipedia

  • Anti-Iranian sentiment — (ایرانی ستیزی also ایران ستیزی) refers to feelings of hostility, hatred, or prejudice towards Iran, its citizens, or Iranian peoples.By Arabs Ajam According to Encyclopedia Iranica, the word ajam , in Arabic is applied especially to Persians and… …   Wikipedia

  • American Bar Association — Logo of the American Bar Association Formation August 21, 1878 Type Legal Society Headquarte …   Wikipedia

  • Iranian Revolution — The Iranian Revolution (mostly known as the Islamic Revolution, [http://www.iranchamber.com/history/islamic revolution/islamic revolution.php Islamicaaaa Revolution] , Iran Chamber.] [http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia 761588431/Islamic… …   Wikipedia

  • Iranian reform movement — The Iranian reform movement (Persian:اصلاح طلبان), or the Reforms Front (Persian: جبههٔ اصلاحات) also known as 2nd of Khordad Front (Persian: جبهه دوم خرداد which refers to the date of President Mohammad Khatami s 1997 landslide election victory… …   Wikipedia

  • American-Iranian Council — The American Iranian Council (AIC) was formed in 1997 as a bi partisan think tank focused upon promoting better relations between the United States and Iran. Former United States Secretary of State Cyrus Vance was the original honorary Chair of… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”