AIC Statement on the Orlando Terrorist Attack

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The American Iranian Council joins all peace-loving and anti-violence people of the United States and the world in condemning, in strongest possible terms, the horrifying and cowardly terrorist attack on the LGBT night club in Orlando, Florida. The AIC also sends its deepest condolences and sympathies to the families and friends of those who lost their lives or were injured.  

We also express our deepest regret that the Orlando murderer was a radical and hateful Muslim and that his religious affiliation is used by certain politicians and members of the media  to tarnish Islam, the religion of well over 1.4 billion people around the world, by prefixing it with the word “radical.” The truth is, Islam is neither radical nor moderate; it is just a religion, with one Prophet and one Holy book!  

However, as Professor Amirahmadi, our President, explains in this article, Muslims may be identified as radical, moderate or with another adjectives. Thus, let us call the murderous Omar Mateen a radical Muslim but refrain from labeling his religion as radical Islam. We call on the people of all faiths to unite against hate, bigotry, racism, and violence in any form or shape.

Sincerely 

The American Iranian Council 

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Kayvon Afshari

Kayvon Afshari managed the campaign to elect Hooshang Amirahmadi as President of Iran. In this role, he directed the campaign’s event planning, publicity, online social media, web analytics, and delivered speeches. Mr. Afshari has also been working at the CBS News foreign desk for over five years. He has coordinated coverage of Iran’s 2009 post-election demonstrations, the Arab Spring, the earthquake in Haiti, and many other stories of international significance. He holds a Master in International Relations from New York University’s Department of Politics, and graduated with distinction from McGill University in 2007 with a double major in political science and Middle Eastern studies. At NYU, his research focused on quantitative analysis and the Middle East with an emphasis on US-Iran relations. In his 2012 Master’s thesis, he devised a formula to predict whether Israel would launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, concluding that an overt strike would not materialize.