Leaders representing millions of Evangelicals and Roman Catholics Call on Congress to Stand with Iranian Protesters

Contact: Dave Mohel, 703-548-1160

WASHINGTON, Feb. 11 /Christian Newswire/ -- As thousands of Iranian opposition activists take to the streets, Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran are calling on Congress to reconcile the two versions of the Iranian sanctions bills they have passed and get a single version to President Obama's desk.

On December 15, the House passed the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act by a vote of 412 to 12. The Senate passed its version on January 28 on a unanimous voice vote.

"The House and Senate votes were an overwhelming display of American unity against a nuclear-armed Iran," according to Dr. Richard Land of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. "They demonstrate that President Obama has the firm, bipartisan support he needs to show the Iranian regime that we are serious. As opposition leaders risk their lives on the streets of Iran to demonstrate against Ahmadinejad's rogue regime, the House and Senate must finish what they started. They must quickly reconcile their respective versions of Iran sanctions legislation and get a bill to the President's desk for his signature."

Christian Leaders for a Nuclear-Free Iran is an ad hoc coalition of Evangelical, Roman Catholic and other faith leaders who have come together as a united, ecumenical voice to call on policy makers and opinion leaders to take urgent action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. The coalition argues that Iran's nuclear weapons program will destabilize the Middle East, lead to an arms race in a volatile part of the world, and threaten the United States and its allies in Europe.