Washington D.C. – January 16, 2017 – On the one year anniversary of the implementation of the Iran Nuclear Agreement, Jon Rainwater, the executive director of the United States’ largest peace organization, Peace Action, released the following statement:
“One year ago today, the successful implementation of the Iran Nuclear Agreement simultaneously prevented a war and ensured all of Iran’s potential paths to obtaining nuclear weapons are blocked. Today, the agreement continues to achieve both.
“It is fitting that the first anniversary of the Iran accord’s implementation falls on a day commemorating the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man who taught that the practice of nonviolence includes relations between nations. King would say about international conflicts, ‘We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.’
“Sadly, some hardline elements in both Iran and the United States are actively working to undermine the nuclear agreement for political purposes. Congress and the incoming Trump administration should work to ensure the U.S. continues to fulfill its commitments under the agreement and avoids taking any action that would risk unraveling the agreement and putting us on a path to war.”
King supported Peace Action by endorsing its statements and signing letters in support of nonviolence and disarmament. His wife Coretta Scott King long served on its advisory board. The famous, Dr. Benjamin Spock, a Peace Action spokesperson, marched side by side with King in opposition to the Vietnam War.
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Founded in 1957, Peace Action (formerly SANE/Freeze), the United States’ largest peace and disarmament organization, with over 100,000 paid members and nearly 100 chapters in 36 states, works to abolish nuclear weapons, promote government spending priorities that support human needs, encourage real security through international cooperation and human rights and support nonmilitary solutions to international conflicts. The public may learn more and take action at http://www.PeaceAction.org.
