“We are Americans of Iranian descent. Like all Americans, we’re proud of our great country, and we vigorously defend the U.S. ideals of freedom and opportunity,” reads the opening of a letter to the American public focused on the Iran nuclear deal.
The letter is a collaborative effort from prominent Iranian-American tech leaders and investors hoping to influence U.S. government officials working on the deal with Iran. The U.S., Iran and five other countries reached a deal last month that would remove certain nuclear sanctions in the country and allow Iran to enrich higher levels of uranium. However, a GOP-led Congress has scheduled action this September on legislation to block the deal.
Iran’s nuclear negotiations have been strongly contested within both political parties. However, all of the Republican presidential candidates have said they oppose the deal. President Barack Obama came out strongly in favor of it and said he would veto any Congressional action against it.
Shervin Pishevar, brothers Ali and Hadi Partovi and former Twitter COO Ali Roghwani all signed the letter, along with 20 other Iranian-American tech leaders.
“You’d be surprised at how many prominent founders and leaders in Silicon Valley are of Iranian descent,” Ali Partovi told TechCrunch. “The hope is that this letter influences not just Iranian Americans, but other Americans to favor diplomacy.”
It’s important to note that the signatories to this letter said they do not endorse any political party, but do endorse peaceful negotiations. “Our message is about people, not politics.” reads a section of the letter. “Diplomacy with Iran has the potential to do much more than prevent a war.”
The group told TechCrunch this message is “meant as a statement about Iranian people as a population and culture.”
The letter will run as a full-page ad in the New York Times and on supportpeace.org as a single web page containing only the letter with links to other supporting sites.