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Quaker Lobby to Join Religious Delegation Going to Iran: Religious Leaders will talk peace, work to reduce tensions between U.S. and Iran

PRNewswire 2-14-2007

WASHINGTON, Feb. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A delegation of 13 U.S. religious leaders will be visiting Iran next week (Feb. 17-25) in efforts to deepen dialogue with religious and political leaders there in the hope of defusing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.

During the weeklong visit the group is scheduled to meet with Christian and Muslim religious leaders, women serving in the Iranian parliament, former President Mohammad Khatami and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The U.S. delegation includes representatives from the Mennonite, Quaker, Episcopal, Catholic and United Methodist churches as well as the National Council Churches, Pax Christi and Sojourners/Call to Renewal in Washington, D.C. The trip comes after 45 religious leaders met with Iranian President Ahmadinejad during his visit to New York, Sept. 20, 2006.

"Our primary goal is to engage in dialogue with a variety of Iranians," said Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) international program director, Ron Flaming. With the rhetoric of war intensifying, and no direct talks planned between U.S. and Iranian officials, the group is hoping their visit will make a positive contribution toward negotiating peace between Iran and the United States.

"As our lobbyists from the Friends Committee on National Legislation walk the halls of Congress, we are hearing new concerns from members of Congress about President Bush's escalating confrontation with Iran and President Ahmadinejad's escalating confrontation with the U.S.," explained Joe Volk, the Executive Secretary of Quaker lobby and a part of the delegation to Iran. "I am going on the trip because FCNL views this as an opportunity to educate ourselves and return to Washington with a different understanding to work with members of Congress from both major political parties to encourage negotiations and direct diplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran."

Joe Volk also explained that FCNL opposes any efforts toward nuclear proliferation and plans to discuss ways in which people in Iran and the United States can work toward a Middle East free of the threat of nuclear weapons.

The delegation is mindful that there is great risk that the goal of encouraging improved relations between the people of Iran and the U.S. will be overshadowed by the controversy surrounding President Ahmadinejad. The Iranian president has been the focus of international criticism for his controversial statements denying the Holocaust, a recent conference in Tehran supporting that view, and his condemnation of the state of Israel. Iran also has an ongoing dispute with the United Nations and the International Atomic Energy Agency about the oversight of their nuclear energy ambitions.

"As we did at the meeting in New York, we intend to continue to engage the president on his statements regarding the Holocaust," Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the AFSC. "The Holocaust is a historical fact and one of history's greatest human tragedies." She added, "these statements make it difficult for Americans to believe that a constructive dialogue is possible."

Joe Volk explained that FCNL will also strongly engage on our view that we must include the dispossessed and disenfranchised in a new framework of regional peace and security, and not deny the right of any state in the region to exist.

The trip is being organized by MCC and the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) in Philadelphia. FCNL has worked with MCC to organize visits with members of Congress both before and after the trip.

The delegation will spend most of its time with religious leaders in Tehran, Qom and Isfahan. They will meet with Iranian Evangelical Protestant leaders, the Archbishop of the Armenian Orthodox Church in Iran and Muslim religious leaders in the religious city of Qom.

After the visit the group will meet with members of the U.S. Congress, informing them of what the delegation heard from leaders in Iran and suggesting ways to move toward lessening current tensions.

When several members of the delegation met with members of Congress in October 2006 after the New York meeting with Ahmadinejad, congressional staff members encouraged them to continue their efforts and visit Iran if possible.

"We are hopeful," Flaming said. "As Christians we are called to talk with those we are in conflict with and move toward forgiveness and reconciliation. We pray this will open doors to diplomacy."

For more information on FCNL's Initiatives on Iran go to http://www.fcnl.org/iran .

For more information on the delegation go to http://irandelegation.org/ .

The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is a non-partisan Quaker lobby in the public interest. FCNL works with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people from every state in the U.S. to advocate for social and economic justice, peace, and good government. For more information: http://www.fcnl.org/ .

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