Huffington Post:

Sina Toossi in an analyst focusing on the Middle East and Iran. He holds an MA degree in international affairs from American University’s School of International Service, with a regional concentration in the Middle East. His writings have appeared on ThinkProgress, Foreign Policy in Focus, and LobeLog, among other publications. He tweets @SinaToossi.

For the Iranian-American community, Donald Trump’s inauguration bodes the end of an era where a U.S. president commemorated their new year, paid attention to their concerns and desired to engage, not spur conflict, with their homeland.

Though heavily affected by U.S.-Iran tensions, Iranian-Americans have struggled to translate their impressive education and financial power into political influence in Washington. While many within the community have long called for a counterbalance to the unbridled influence of groups stoking perennial U.S.-Iran conflict ― often in line with hard-line pro-Israel, Saudi and MEK-aligned Iranian opposition goals ― reticence to engage the policy-making process is still prevalent. However, the successful fight for the Iran nuclear deal demonstrated that Iranian-Americans finally have a voice in Washington. The question is: How can this voice be maximized? 

The impending Trump administration threatens many long-fought-for Iranian-American gains, particularly but not limited to the nuclear deal. The specter of Trump ― who on separate occasions has promised to “dismantle” or “renegotiate” the nuclear deal and has thus far assembled a cabinet and national security council dominated by vociferous anti-Iran hard-liners ― has some worried he may even provoke a war with Iran. If the deal is to be preserved, a catastrophic war averted and potential institutionalized discrimination from the demagogic Trump prevented, it is imperative for the Iranian-American community to further empower itself...

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