St. Paul, MN – Over 20 people held banners and signs as part of a national day of action, February 18, on the Snelling Avenue bridge over Interstate 94. The national call was issued by the United National Antiwar Coalition’s youth committee, Youth Against Empire, to show of international solidarity by demanding “No war with Iran! End the sanctions now!”

Demonstrators stood in below freezing temperatures for over an hour waving and holding banners, signs and flags on the bridge, while those passing by and below on I-94 honked their horns in solidarity with the people of Iran.

Tom Chisholm of Veterans for Peace explained the importance of why they need to continue to come out and show opposition to the endless U.S. war mongering, “All these wars are endless lies. The U.S. has been interfering with Iran since 1953, and it's all been about money and oil interests.”

Despite being in office for almost a month, President Joe Biden has not yet taken action to return to the Iran Nuclear Deal which was abandoned by President Trump in 2018. Instead, Biden kept the sanctions that include a vast economic embargo implemented while Trump was in office. U.S. relations continue to fray with Iran, putting the further risk of war on the horizon.

Sarah Martin of Women Against Military Madness said, “Today is an important action because Biden is going after Iran. He is refusing to lift the sanctions, which are illegal, and since the U.S. opted out of the Iran agreement we have no right to be dictating the terms of rejoining the agreement. So that’s why I’m here. We have to hold Biden accountable!”

The protest was organized by the MN Anti-War Committee and endorsed by Women Against Military Madness, the MN Peace Action Coalition, and the Climate Justice Committee.

#SaintPaulMN #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #UnitedNationalAntiWarCoalition

Denver, CO – On Saturday, January 20, the Denver Peace Council and Students for a Democratic Society gathered at the Colorado state capitol for a roadside protest against U.S. sanctions on Iran. The protest was called for as part of a national day of action by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)’s youth committee, Youth Against Empire.

The action was called due to continued U.S. aggression against Iran. Despite campaign promises to rejoin the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the Biden administration has opted to largely continue Trump’s policies. The Trump administration had withdrawn from the deal in 2018, stating that the agreement did not go far enough to limit Iran’s weapon production. Trump, furthermore, had placed new “maximum pressure” sanctions on Iran in 2018, which the Biden administration has only recently moved to lift.

Sanctions are a way to target the civilian population of a country, blocking food and medical supplies to countries in need. What makes this more significant is the presence of COVID-19. Since COVID first entered Iran, there have been a reported 1.54 million cases, leaving at least 60,000 dead. The sanctions against Iran have caused the country to go into an economic lockdown, worsening the effects of the pandemic. Lack of medical supplies and lab equipment continues to plague Iran, leading to the death of countless civilians. This makes it all the more important to demand that the Biden administration lift all sanctions on Iran, not just the ones implemented by the Trump administration.

#DenverCO #AntiwarMovement #PeoplesStruggles #UnitedNationalAntiWarCoalition #IranSanctions #YouthAgainstEmpire

The coalition, comprising anti-war, peace, social justice and other groups, met in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 10.

The meeting agreed to hold a series of spring anti-war actions in Washington D.C. March 18-21. The March dates will mark 12 years since the start of the ‘shock and awe’ bombing of Iraq in 2003. The actions will culminate on Saturday, March 21 with a protest and march at the White House.

The actions, called Spring Rising: An Anti-War Intervention in D.C., will include educational forums, lobbying and as well as the protest at the White House.

A call issued for the events says in part, “A series of events will be held just as the ongoing U.S. war in Iraq – recently restarted in a new form – passes the 12-year mark since the March 2003 invasion.”

The call also says, “Spring Rising will comprise a number of events inclu