America.gov, a US State Department publication for international audiences, published this report on the unprecedented level of Iranian-American involvement in the current election, including interviews with NIAC, PAAIA, IABA, and others. 

From America.gov’s Beverly O’Neal:

Los Angeles — Iranian Americans are well-integrated into their communities and are eager to have their voices heard in the 2008 presidential election, according to several Iranian-American organizations.

“Whether it’s volunteering for a campaign, leading fundraising efforts, organizing voter registration drives or get-out-the-vote efforts, Iranian Americans are in the thick of things in this election like never before,” Patrick Disney, assistant legislative director of the Washington-based National Iranian American Council (NIAC), told America.gov.

Full article below the fold…

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Remember: Election Day is November 4!

Click here to find your polling location.

According to David Ignatius of the Washington Post, the Bush administration is planning to announce the opening of a US diplomatic interests section in Iran following the November 4 election.

Plans for the announcement had been postponed in August out of fears that it would unduly influence the Presidential election. The issue of foreign policy on Iran has proven to be one of the most divisive of the entire election; Senator McCain and Obama disagree strongly on whether to engage in direct diplomacy with Iran without preconditions.

An interests section in Iran would house the first American diplomats since the hostage crisis in 1980, and would greatly facilitate Iranians’ requests for visas to the U.S.

In a last-minute legislative maneuver, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced HR7112, the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2008 on Thursday and ushered its passage through the House late Friday evening.

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Darius Shahinfar lost his bid for the Democratic nomination to represent NY-21 in Congress

Darius Shahinfar, the first generation American of Iranian descent who ran in the Democratic primary in the NY-21 Congressional race, lost last night.  New York voters in the district, which includes parts of Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and Johnstown, voted for Paul Tonko with 39% of the vote.  The low turnout election brought out over 38,000 voters.  Mr. Shahinfar, who was not considered a favorite recieved 3,879 votes.

Shahinfar’s canidacy did draw the interest and attention of the Iranian American community that raised over a hundred thousand dollars for his campaign.  During the campaign, he posted a video on his website in which talked about his heritage and what it meant for him personally and politically.

Colin Abele who covered the NY-21 primary election for the popular New York blog The Albany Project said of Shahinfar that “He ran an excellent campaign on true American values.”

Darius follows in the footsteps of other Iranian American candidates such as Goli Ameri, Ross Mir-Karimi, and others who have entered the political arena and embracing their Iranian American identity.

NIAC Legislative Director Emily Blout and West Coast Director Sara Shokravi will cover the Democratic National Convention in Denver for the Iranian-American community. From Denver, they will report on the week’s events and meet with NIAC members, local and national organizations and elected officials.

Throughout the proceedings, NIAC will present an Iranian-American perspective through daily reporting, right here on NIAC’s blog, NIACinSight.

Sara and Emily will also host an informal get-together for local members and the general public in Denver on Tuesday, August 26.  Come say hello to NIAC staff and learn more about the organization at  Café Europa at 76 S. Pennsylvania Street between 7 and 9pm.

Director of Community Relations Babak Talebi and Assistant Legislative Director Patrick Disney will attend the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota from September 1 through September 4.

If you are attending either convention and are interested in meeting with NIAC staff or contributing by writing on our blog, please contact Hormoz Rashidi at hrashidi@niacouncil.org.

In an interview published last Monday, US Congressman Henry A. Waxman (D-CA30), whose district boasts a very large number of Iranian Americans, stated that he’s getting “mixed messages” from our community on how to deal with the Iran situation, but recent polling has shown that on the whole there is very minimal support for military action in the Iranian American community.

It is important for our community to recognize the power it does have in changing and influencing the opinions of their members of Congress. This interview is just the latest clear example that they are listening to us and making judgements, in part, based on our opinions.

Last week, NIAC sent out a report on its mailing list about an Iranian-American candidate for US Congress. Darius Shahinfar declared his candidacy from New York’s 21^st district and faces a competitive primary to be the Democratic nominee in an overwhelmingly Democratic district. In response to the article, I received several emails from our members and other Iranian Americans asking some very legitimate questions –

Should our community automatically support an Iranian American candidate? Does he even have a chance with four primary opponents? Can Iranian Americans impact this race in upstate New York?

I want to spark a conversation on these topics and tackle them one by one. First, follow me behind the link to talk about identity politics…

April 8^th marks a phenomenal opportunity for Iranian Americans to affect policy through the ballot-box. In light of the recent passing of Tom Lantos (D-CA), the 12^th Congressional District in Northern California will hold a special election to determine his replacement. Special elections are held when a Congressional seat is vacated in the middle of a term.  A few recent examples indicate that Iranian Americans can heavily influence the outcome of the CA-12 Special election.

Over the last few weeks, I have been tasked with looking into ways to spread the word about NIAC’s electoral education outreach in the Persian-language media. During this experience, I was both astounded and impressed by the sheer volume of Iranian media outlets (both print and broadcast) based in the United States. It was very unexpected and reassuring to see the lengths of our community’s efforts at creating a media landscape beyond the standard American media outlets. Although the clear lack of professionalism in some of the outlets was discouraging, the vast majority of them were a very pleasant surprise.