Sep 3, 2015 3 min read congressmember hakeem jeffries

Rep. Jeffries Voices Support For Iran Nuclear Deal Shortly After Meeting With Local Activists

Photo by Alex Ellefson / Fort Greene Focus.

BY ALEX ELLEFSON AND HEATHER CHIN

Congressmember Hakeem Jeffries announced on Tuesday (September 1) that he would support the Obama administration’s proposed nuclear agreement with Iran, called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In a lengthy article/statement published on Medium, Jeffries explained how he came to his decision:

This deal is not perfect. Nevertheless, after rigorous examination, I have concluded that upholding the agreement and affirming the diplomatic path that has been charted represents the best course of action to prevent Iran from weaponizing its uranium and plutonium stockpiles.

Congress has until September 17 to approve or reject the deal. The deal’s proposal is for the United States and five other world powers to lift crippling economic sanctions on Iran if the country reduces its nuclear stockpile and submits to regular inspections by international representatives.

Jeffries’ announcement followed months of him attending classified and unclassified briefings and meetings with all interested parties, including the Obama administration, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, and constituents to hear their concerns and opinions about the deal.

It also came almost a week after he met with a group of roughly 75 activists from Brooklyn For Peace, Fort Greene Peace, and MoveOn, who brought with them a petition of over 1,000 signatures in support of the deal.

The August 26 meeting at Jeffries’ Fort Greene office was the result of a request from earlier this summer by the local groups for a meeting with the congressman.

In a statement, Fort Greene Peace expressed their support for the JCPOA:

Fort Greene Peace strongly believes that the negotiation hammered out by the United States and the P5+1 is the best possible agreement achievable at this time to promote peace in the Middle East. Fort Greene Peace stands with the many nuclear experts and the diplomats of six nations who support this agreement. We agree with President Obama, who has stressed that the accord is vastly preferable to the alternate scenario: an unbridled nuclear arms race in the Middle East and a greater chance of more war.

Omid Memarian from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran was also on hand. A former Iranian journalist, he was arrested by Iranian authorities in 2004 for his reporting, and was subsequently tortured and forced into a confession of guilt on national television. He fled to the United States in 2005, where he attended graduate school and resumed practicing journalism.

At the meeting, Memarian told Rep. Hakeem Jeffries that the Iran Nuclear Agreement would help moderates in Iran over the religious conservative fundamentalists.

After the meeting, Fort Greene Peace member Karen Malpede wrote a response letter to Jeffries, stating her dismay that despite his criticism of the U.S. vote in 2003 to authorize an invasion of Iraq as a “historical mistake and a foreign policy disaster,” his arguments against the JCPOA “have a great deal in common with those specious arguments.”

Omid Memarian from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran told Rep. Hakeem Jeffries that the Iran Nuclear Agreement would help moderates in Iran over the religious conservative fundamentalists. Memarian was a journalist arrested in 2004, tortured and forced into a confession of guilt on national television in Iran. He fled to the United States in 2005, where he attended graduate school and resumed journalism. (Photo by Anne Pruden) — Omid Memarian from the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, speaking with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries at a community meeting in the congressmember’s Fort Greene offices. (Photo by Anne Pruden)

Of course, Jeffries ended up deciding to voice his support for the deal. Asked whether he thinks the voices of support from some community members such as those in Fort Greene Peace made a difference, member Ed Goldman said that while he’d “love [for us] to take credit for it, I can’t get into his head.

“But whether or not he was swayed by the argument made by AIPAC people and us, during our meeting, he said he was deliberating and weighing all these factors,” said Goldman. “So on some level, I think he was torn between his general relationship with Obama and his strong relationship with everything Israel. I’d like to think that he came to agree with us, but he speaks for himself.”

Jeffries’s support is just one of several from House Democrats, noted the New York Times reports. Jeffries position on the Iran agreement received significant scrutiny, since it could be an indicator of whether Congress would have enough votes to reject the proposal. Jeffries received strong support during his first campaign from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which fiercely opposes the deal, according to the Times.

“Moving forward,” Jeffries wrote, “Congress will play an important role in guaranteeing that sufficient resources are deployed for the implementation of the JCPOA and our increased efforts to counter Iran’s activities throughout the Middle East.”