Choose Diplomacy, Not War

Since the end of February, the United States, together with Israel, has been at war with the Islamic Republic of Iran. Other nations in the Middle East have also suffered violent attacks directed at military and civilian targets. In this armed conflict, there are no winners, only losers. Human lives are being lost, and families shattered, on all sides. The life-threatening ripple effects of the conflict extend far beyond the Middle East, with vital supply lines for oil, natural gas, and fertilizer severely crippled.

We are a group of religious leaders from the United States and Iran, joined by our shared faith commitments and our belief in the sacred worth of every human life. Some of us have built warm and meaningful relationships with colleagues and institutions in one another’s countries. Together we prayerfully urge our governmental leaders to bring an immediate end this destructive war and seek a diplomatic path to genuine, just and lasting peace.

Authentic peace means more than the cessation of hostilities. Rooted in our faith traditions, we believe peace requires a sacred commitment to respectful, trust-based dialogue, so that we may overcome our differences and work together as one human family to confront injustice, poverty, hunger, environmental degradation, and threats to public health.

A key requirement for forging constructive partnerships is mutual trust, an emotional and spiritual currency lacking in wartime. Our interpersonal ties across borders demonstrate that building trustworthy relationships, based on shared values, is worth the investment of time, concern, and commitment. 

People everywhere deserve to live and raise their children without fear or dread. We appeal to other religious leaders to join us in calling for an end to war and for the enactment of life-affirming policies that ensure the shared blessings of peace and security.

Now is the time for religious leaders everywhere to join forces in the service of lasting peace. We pray that such a concerted effort across national and communal borders will bear sacred fruit, so that our children and grandchildren can share an increasingly interdependent world in which everyone can flourish.