For immediate release; February 24, 2019; Portland, Oregon

Contacts: In Washington, DC, Lily Tajaddini, 240-498-4218, lily[at]codepink.org

In Tehran, Medea Benjamin +001-415-235-6517, medea.benjamin[at]gmail.com

A CODEPINK delegation of 30 Americans will be traveling to Iran from February 25-March 6  to express their deep concern to the Iranian people about the effect of the Trump  administration’s brutal sanctions, abrogation of the Nuclear Agreement and building a case for war. The delegation is composed of lawyers, journalists, physicians, activists, artists, and other professionals who hope to help move our two nations from a place of hostility and military threats to a place of mutual respect and peace. Delegates will be meeting Iranian academics, students, artists, religious leaders and parliamentarians.

The group will be traveling to Iran just at the time when the Trump administration has been ramping up its opposition to the Iranian government. It organized an anti-Iran gathering in Poland on February 13-14, chastised the Europeans for not joining US-imposed sanctions, and increased its support for fringe opposition groups such as the MEK and royalists.

“Americans should challenge policies of our country that are wrong and harm others,” said retired US Army Colonel and former US diplomat Ann Wright. “The Trump administration’s abrogation of the nuclear agreement and the increased sanctions on Iran are harmful and dangerous, which is why our people-to-people delegation is so important.”

“We are anxious to see firsthand how the sweeping US sanctions are affecting ordinary Iranians so we can come back and convey their stories,” said CODEPINK cofounder Medea Benjamin. “Of course there are tensions between the governments. That makes it more important that we come as good listeners and with the clear message that we don’t want war. There is no reason why we as Americans cannot live in peace with the Iranian people,” said War Prevention Initiative Executive Director, Patrick Hiller.

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Please contact Patrick Hiller, War Prevention Initiative’s Executive Director at patrick@jubitz.org or 503 505-5721 (phone upon return) who has joined the delegtation from Oregon for articles, blogs and speaking engagements.

The War Prevention Initiative informs and educates about viable alternatives to war and violence