The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) outlines the agreement between Iran and the countries of 5+1.  The 5+1 is dominated by the United States and its European allies (Britain, France, and Germany), which are Iran’s main adversaries.  As JCPOA is being reviewed for approval or rejection by the United States House and Senate, we the undersigned state and demand the following:  

Considering that sanctions were aimed to break the resistance of the Iranian people and bring regime change in Iran, the nuclear agreement that suspends and eventually lifts certain sanctions on Iran signals the defeat of sanction policy.  This in itself is an achievement for Iran, even with the sanctions lifted conditionally.  Such an achievement has been made possible thanks to the heroic resistance of the Iranian people.

In addition, there is another aspect in the agreement that should not be overlooked.  This aspect is contradictory to Iran’s gain; it concerns Iran’s formal acceptance through the agreement to give up certain legitimate rights to acquire and develop nuclear technology.  This means that there is a fundamental difference in the nature of concessions given and taken by the contending parties.  Iran is supposed to officially forgo certain legitimate rights; its adversaries make unreliable promises to recognize partially and conditionally the other rights of Iran that have been long denied by the same adversaries.  In other words, it is all about Iran’s rights, which were denied earlier. These same adversaries promise to recognize some of Iran’s rights now while the rejection of Iran’s other rights are being legitimized through the nuclear deal.

The rights that Iran shall forgo include its accepting restrictions on almost every aspect of the country’s nuclear technology program for long periods of 10 to 25 years and more.  Such restrictions which have been imposed on Iran through threats of war and coercive diplomacy would not only reduce the current capability of Iran to nationally enrich its own uranium supplies but would also prevent Iran from developing peaceful industrial nuclear technology. According to the rules and regulations of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), there is no legal basis for the restrictions that have been imposed on Iran through the JCPOA, and therefore they are totally illegitimate.

The agreement also entitles the inspectors of the IAEA – an organization highly influenced by the United States – to collect “information” that will essentially involve spying activities under the guise of extensive inspections.  This will not only take place in Iran’s nuclear sites but also in any site in the country, including the military bases that the US government and its allies may consider as places of “suspicious” activities.  Considering the previous experience of the IAEA inspections in Iraq which were used as a preparatory step to launch a war on Iraq and also considering the earlier dubious activities of such inspections in Iran itself prior to the killing a number of Iranian nuclear scientists, the right of excessive inspections granted to the IAEA through the nuclear deal is highly risky for Iran and would even endanger Iran’s sovereignty.

As warned by many activists of the resistance movement, both in Iran and abroad, the United States government intends to utilize the nuclear agreement as another tool to destabilize and suppress the Iranian Revolution. Such a drive is already manifested in the text of the UN Security Council’s Resolution 2231.  The resolution, which was passed right after the nuclear agreement, while adopting the same agreement, bans Iran from using and developing certain kind of conventional missiles.  Iran, as a country that is constantly threatened with military attack by the United States, an aggressive country which has previously killed thousands of innocent people by using the atomic bombs and which currently possesses hundreds of nuclear missiles, is being told that it has to limit its rights to self-defense. The US dares to dictate which weapons could and which could not be used by the country that it is targeting!

Although it is the legitimate right of Iran, as a sovereign nation, to reach agreements on issues of its interests with any country, including those governed by its adversaries, we, the undersigned who are committed to fight for peace and justice cannot keep silent about pressures by the US and its allies against Iran to force the government and people of that peaceful nation to forgo its legitimate rights.  That is why we say:

No to Illegitimate Restrictions on Iran!

We demand:

Lift All Sanctions on Iran Now, Unconditionally!

Initial Signers 

Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, former President of the United Nations General Assembly, former Foreign Minister of Nicaragua,

Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General and internationally renowned human rights lawyer,

Denis Halliday, former UN Assistant Secretary-General and former UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq,

Hans von Sponeck, former UN Assistant Secretary General and former UN humanitarian Coordinator for Iraq,

Mike Gravel, former US Senator (Democrat),

Giulietto Chiesa, former Member of the European Parliament for Italy and journalist,

Michel Chossudovsky, economist, author, professor, and recipient of the Human Rights Prize of the Society for the Protection of Civil Rights and Human Dignity,

James Petras, sociologist, author, professor, and recipient of the Career of Distinguished Service Award from the American Sociological Association,

Mairead Maguire, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate,

Sara Flounders, Co-Director of the International Action Center -IAC,

Cindy Sheehan, anti-war activist and founder of Camp Casey,

Ismael Hossein-zadeh, economist, author, and professor,

Art Olivier, former mayor of Bellflower, California,

Matthew P. Hoh, former US Foreign Service Officer and US Department of State Senior Civilian Representative to Afghanistan,

Farid Esack, author, professor and former Gender Equality Commissionaire of South Africa,

Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya, sociologist, author, and geopolitical analyst,

Stephen Lendman, author and Progressive Radio Network host,

Paul Larudee, founder of the Free Gaza Movement and the Free Palestine Movement,

Denis Rancourt, physicists, former professor of physics, and author,

Nchamah Miller, political scientist and philosopher,

Ellie Omani, Co-Founder American Iranian Friendship Committee

Amir Tafreshi, Director of House of Latin America (HOLA),

Philip Giraldi, former counter-terrorism specialist and military intelligence officer of CIA, Executive Director of the Council for the National Interest,

Abdolhamid Shahrabi, Co-founder and Coordinator of SI – Solidarity Iran,

David Swanson, anti-war activist and author,

Michel Collon, author, journalist, and historian,

Eric Walberg, economist, journalist, and author,

Manuel Ochsenreiter, author and journalist,

Pepe Escobar, Asia Times columnist,

Silvia Cattori, journalist,

Joe Lombardo, Co-Coordinator of United National Antiwar Movement,