Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran

Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII) is a group of people, especially academics, students and professionals of both Iranian and non-Iranian backgrounds whose aim is to advocate against war and sanctions, especially as they pertain to current United States-Iran relations. The group opposes "sanctions, foreign state interference and military intervention in Iran" by the United States. The United Kingdom (UK) branch of CASMII joined with two other groups with similar aims, Action Iran and Iran Solidarity, forming a group with the name Campaign Iran, which is now considered to be the UK component of CASMII.

History and aims

"CASMII"' itself was officially founded on December 1, 2005 in London by Professor Abbas Edalat, and describes itself as independent in the sense that "CASMII is independent of all political groups and governments, in particular the Iranian government, and adheres to no particular religion or ideology. Our core values include respect for human rights and a democratic state, in particular freedom of expression, freedom of press, an independent judiciary, equal rights for women, ethnic and religious minorities in Iran."cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = About CASMII
work =
publisher = Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran
date =
url = http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=about
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2006-10-23 ]

A third group, Iran Solidarity, was a United Kingdom based news and education online publishing group which claimed that "Iran and its people have the right to freedom from the bombs and guns of the U.S. administration and it's [sic] allies" and said that it aimed to present facts which are "unrepresented in the mainstream media".cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = About
work =
publisher = End of Empire
date =
url = http://iransolidarity.endofempire.org/about.php
format =
doi =
accessdate =2006-11-07]

On November 6, 2006, the United Kingdom (UK) branch of CASMII joined together with Action Iran and Iran Solidarity, forming a new organisation in the UK called Campaign Iran, which remains part of CASMII international.cite news | first= | last= | pages= | title=UK peace groups consolidate under "Campaign Iran" | date=2006-11-07 | publisher=Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran | url= http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/430 |accessdate=2006-11-07]

Actions

The group's campaign methods include participation in media, holding public meetings, lobbying members of parliaments, international campaigning and cooperation with all groups sharing similar aims. In November 2006, the group participated in a multi-state "Tour for a Just Foreign Policy" which was a series of speaking engagements as well as photographic displays throughout the Northeastern USA.cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = CASMII President joins Antiwar Tour of Northeastern US
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran
date =
url = http://www.campaigniran.org/casmii/index.php?q=node/361
accessdate = 2006-11-03]

Action Iran

On February 6, 2006, Roudabeh Shafie representing Action Iran participated in a Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament demonstration outside of the headquarters of the BBC, claiming that the BBC presented biased reporting regarding Iran by not reporting alleged violations by nuclear weapons states of Article VI of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.cite web
last =
first =Rick
authorlink =
coauthors =Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
title =CND protests at BBC's "biased" Iran coverage
work =
publisher = peacenews.info
date =March 2006
url =http://www.peacenews.info/issues/2471/2471021.html
format =
doi =
accessdate =2007-01-22 ]

On March 18, 2006, Action Iran members including Roudabeh Shafie participated in a major anti-war demonstration in London.

On June 10, 2006, Elaheh Rostami Povey represented Action Iran at the Stop the War Coalition's "Fifth Annual Stop The War Conference" cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Fifth Annual Stop The War Conference
work =
publisher =Stop the War Coalition
date =
url =http://www.stopwar.org.uk/StoptheWar-Conference.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-01-22 ] .

On September 6, 2006, an Action Iran spokesperson took party in a rally in Manchester promoting a later rally called "Time To Go" advocating the resignation of British prime minister Tony Blaircite web
last =Edwards
first =Chris
authorlink =
coauthors =
title =Spokesperson from Action Iran Helps Mobilise for Time to Go Demonstration (2006)
work =
publisher = Internet Archive
date =
url =http://www.archive.org/details/iranaction_6sep2006
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-01-22 ] and later in the month, Action Iran together with CASMII organised a public rally with Hans von Sponeck, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq after Denis Halliday resigned from that post, cite web
last =
first =
authorlink =
coauthors =
title = Hans Von Sponeck warns of US plans of aggression
work =
publisher = Action Iran
date = 2006-09-20
url =http://www.actioniran.org.uk/2006/09/hans-von-sponeck-warns-of-us-plans-of.htm
format =
doi =
accessdate = 2007-01-22 ]

Reaction to UN Security Council Resolution 1737

In reaction to United Nations Security Council Resolution 1737, CASMII issued a statement titled "A Terrible Day for International Diplomacy"cite news
last =
first =
coauthors =
title = A Terrible Day for International Diplomacy
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = ZNet
date =
url = http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=11720
accessdate = 2006-12-24] dated December 24, 2006. In the statement CASMII expresses grave concern over the UN resolution. It characterizes the unanimous verdict as having been engineered by the US stating "As the "Observer" reported last Sunday, the US is giving up to 270% more foreign aid to Security Council members as incentive for them to support US positions." The statement further argues that the resolution could be abused and taken as a justification for war, just like the 2002 resolution -also unanimously passed- was used as an eventual justification for the US/UK invasion of Iraq. The statement also "notes" that "there may actually be no way for Iran to comply with the UN demands," saying "Just as the repeated American demands for more and more intrusive inspections, for opening up of Saddam’s palaces and interviewing Iraqi scientists did not satisfy America’s suspicions; neither will Iran’s 'compliance' with these demands be ever sufficient to 'prove' the non-existence of a WMD program."

ee also

*Opposition to war against Iran
*Sanctions against Iran
*Anti-Iranianism
*The UN Security Council and the Iraq war
*United Nations Security Council Resolution 1747

References

External links

* http://www.campaigniran.org/
* http://www.stopwaroniran.org/