National Iranian American Council

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Founded in 2002, the National Iranian American Council (NIAC) is an organization dedicated to promoting the interests of Iranian-Americans.

NIAC is designated as a 501(C3) non-partisan, non-political, non-sectarian, and non-profit organization. The council is headquartered in Washington DC.

Originally formed to encourage Iranian American participation in American civic life, in 2006 the organization's membership voted to take a stance and to publicly oppose US military intervention in Iran.

NIAC is transparent in its funding and receives funds from organizations such as the National Endowment for Democracy and the Tides foundation, among many others. It receives no funding from the governments of the U.S. or Iran.

Accomplishments

The National Iranian American Council is recognized within the Iranian-American community for its work protecting Iranian Americans and the Persian heritage. As early as 2003, NIAC was successful in combating Monster.com, an online job placement tool, for its decision to eliminate the word “Iran” from the educational and address section of its standard format for resumes.

In January 2005 the National Geographic Society issued an apology, correcting their 8th edition maps to read “Persian Gulf” instead of “Arabian Gulf,” as a direct result of NIAC’s efforts.

NIAC was also successful in generating an apology from MSNBC’s Don Imus for a derogatory comment he made in 2004 about an Iranian airliner crash that morning killing 43 passengers.

In 2007, NIAC worked with Wayne Kramer (filmmaker) and The Weinstein Company to make changes to the screenplay for Crossing Over (2007). The film, which features an all-star cast, originally depicted Iranian Americans committing an “honor killing,” an inflammatory tradition that is not practiced in the Iranian community.