July 20-30, 2007: Tehran - Shiraz - Yazd - Esfahan - Qom
Co-sponsored by the Virginia Anti-War Network & The Richmond Defender newspaper

TAKE THE JOURNEY BY USING THE FOLLOWING LINKS:

Photos from the journey.
The initial call for a People's Peace Delegation to Iran.
Four reports from the delegation.
Media coverage of the delegation, including on Iranian TV.
National Press Conference in D.C. on return from Iran.
Letter from delegation organizer to the president of Iran.
Letter from an Iranian Navy captain to the U.S. Navy captain who ordered the shooting down of an Iranian commercial airplane in 1988.
Background stories from The Richmond Defender.

VAWN is a statewide alliance of 22 anti-war, community, and labor organizations, plus many individual activists. Founded on Jan. 8, 2005, VAWN is dedicated to supporting the right of all oppressed peoples to self-determination, as well as uniting the movement against U.S. wars and interventions with the struggles for justice here at home. If you agree with our Principles of Unity (The Green Sheet) and would like to work to make them a reality, we invite you to join us. Together, we can make this a better world for all its peoples.

CLICK FOR:
Organizations that have formally affiliated with VAWN.
VAWN Steering Committee Members.

Contact VAWN.

Organizations that have formally affiliated with VAWN are:

Augusta Coalition for Peace and Justice
Black Campus Progressives (Hampton University)
Campaign Against Sanctions and Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)
Charlottesville Center for Peace & Justice
Coalition for Justice (Blacksburg)
Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality (Richmond)
Green Party of Virginia
Hampton Roads Indy Media Coalition
Hampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition
Little Flower Catholic Worker (Louisa County)
New River Independent Business Association (Blacksburg)
Pax Christi - Richmond
The People United
Plowshare Peace Center (Roanoke)
Prosser-Truth Division #456 UNIA-ACL (Richmond)
Resource Information Help for the Disadvantaged (R.I.H.D.) (Richmond)
Richmond Food Not Bombs
Richmond Independent Media Center
Richmond Reproductive Freedom Project
Tidewater Peace Alliance
United Electrical Workers Union Local 160 (statewide)
United Parents Against Lead National, Inc. (Richmond based)

VAWN Steering Committee Members are:

Junaid Ahmad, Hampton Roads Amnesty International, Yorktown *
Seamus Allman, Twin Oaks Community, Louisa *
Margaret Breslau, Blacksburg Indy Business Association, Blacksburg
Rain Burroughs, Richmond Green Party, Code Pink *
Gary Sandman, Plowshare Peace Center, Roanoke
Thomas Cleary, Pax Christi Richmond, Chesterfield County
Ana Edwards, Chair, Sacred Ground Historical Reclamation Project, Defenders for Freedom, Justice & Equality, Richmond
Muna Hijazi, Richmond Independent Media Center, Richmond
Jonathan Hutto, Appeal For Redress, Norfolk
Ruth Kaufman, Augusta Coalition for Peace and Justice, Staunton
Jen Lawhorne, Richmond Independent Media Center, Richmond
Allen Layman, President, UE Local 160 and Western State Hospital Chapter, Staunton
Linda Lisanti, Code Pink: Women for Peace *; Charlottesville Center for Peace & Justice
Tyla Matteson, Board Member, Richmond Peace Education Center *; Conservation Chair, Virginia Chapter of the Sierra Club, Richmond *
Marian Mollin, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg *
Tom Palumbo, Veterans for Peace *, WildGrassroots Collective/RegimeChanger.com, Norfolk *
Rostam Pourzal, U.S President, Campaign Against Sanctions & Military Intervention in Iran (CASMII)
Jerry Tenney, Representative, Prosser-Truth Division #456 UNIA-ACL, Richmond
Garrie Rouse, Unitarians for Peace and Justice, Aylett *
George Waksmunski, Organizer, UE Local 160, Waynesboro
Phil Wilayto, Editor, The Richmond Defender
Ann Williams, Hampton Roads Indy Media Coalition, Hampton Roads Peace & Justice Coalition, Virginia Beach

* Organization listed for identification purposes only

Adopted Jan. 8, 2005

We stand in solidarity with the peoples of the world in their struggles for freedom, justice and independence. We recognize that oppressed and formerly colonized peoples have the right to self-determination and must be free to pursue their own paths to liberation as they see fit.

For this reason, we are opposed to all attempts by the U.S. government to control the world’s countries, peoples and resources for the benefit of multinational banks and corporations. We oppose all invasions, occupations and "pre-emptive attacks," as well the imposition of sanctions or blockades, whether by the United States alone, by U.S.-led coalitions, or by the United Nations at the behest of the U.S. We reject the politics of fear that would have us support war under the pretext of national security and so prevent us from understanding and addressing the root causes of conflict in the world today - poverty, oppression and exploitation.