July 31, 2010

Released: December 10, 2008

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PAAIA/ZOGBY SURVEY: 84% OF IRANIAN AMERICANS SUPPORT ESTABLISING U.S. INTEREST SECTION IN IRAN


WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 10, 2008) - The Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans (PAAIA) today released the findings of a national public opinion survey of Iranian Americans, showing overwhelming support for the establishment of a U.S. Interest Section in Iran.

"We commissioned Zogby International to conduct this survey to enable PAAIA to better represent the Iranian American community and to further inform the American public as well as U.S. policy makers and opinion makers about Iranian Americans,"  said Babak Hoghooghi, PAAIA's Executive Director.

According to the survey, 84% of Iranian Americans favor the establishment of a U.S. Interest Section in Iran, which would provide consular services for Americans traveling to Iran and facilitate issuance of visas for Iranians wishing to visit the United States.  Currently, Iranians must travel to third countries to apply for U.S. visas.  Plans for a U.S. Interest Section have been under serious consideration by the U.S. State Department under the Bush Administration without a final decision having been made.

This data, together with the finding that 85% of Iranian Americans believe it is important to facilitate greater understanding between Americans and Iranians, strongly suggest a broad mandate among Iranian Americans for increased contact and understanding between the peoples of the two countries.

"Because of the political problems that have challenged U.S.-Iran relations over the past three decades, we urgently need to foster the broadest understanding of what Iranian Americans have worked so hard to accomplish and contribute to American society," said Rudi Bakhtiar, former CNN anchor and current PAAIA official.  "This survey is important because it shows just how keenly Iranian Americans appreciate that task ahead."

In fact, 75% of Iranian Americans believe it is important to ensure that their image in the U.S. accurately reflects their values, accomplishments and contributions to America.  "Iranian Americans are leaders in the fields of science and technology, senior executives at Fortune 500 companies and among major philanthropic contributors in the U.S.," Ms. Bakhtiar said.

The gravity of this task is underscored by survey findings indicating that 47% of Iranian Americans have experienced discrimination because of their ethnicity or national origin, or personally know another Iranian American who has.  The most common types of discrimination reported related to airport security, social discrimination, employment or business discrimination and racial profiling.

The survey results also include telling data on the relatively high level of civic engagement of Iranian Americans.  79% of Iranian Americans are registered to vote, and close to one-third have either met or communicated with public officials in the U.S., or have donated money to a political candidate or campaign.

Publicly launched in 2008, PAAIA is a national grassroots organization that profiles the achievements of Iranian Americans; provides a powerful public and political voice for Iranian Americans; and aspires to imbue future generations of Iranian Americans with a permanent sense of their heritage and identity. 

Please visit PAAIA's website at http://paaia.org for a copy of the full report on the survey (http://paaia.org/cs/survey_of_iranian_americans), to learn more about PAAIA and to meet Iranian Americans from all walks of life who have played a major role in building America and keeping it strong.

Zogby International was commissioned by PAAIA to conduct a telephone survey of Iranian American adults.  The sample is 401 interviews with approximately 48 questions asked. Samples are randomly drawn from purchased telephone Iranian surname lists.   The margin of error is +/- 5.0 percentage points. Margins of error are higher in sub-groups.  The survey was conducted between July 30th and August 12th, 2008.

Full report available Here

 

Contact:

Ms. Rudi Bakhtiar

Director of Public Relations, PAAIA

survey@paaia.org

202.828.8370 

(12/10/2008)


Tags: World



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