Document
Statement: Call for De-escalation of Tensions Between the United States of America and Iran
The executive committee of the World Council of Churches, meeting in Bossey, Switzerland, on 22-28 May 2019, expresses its concern and alarm at the recent escalation of tensions between the United States of America and the Islamic Republic of Iran, following the US withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the “Iran Nuclear Deal”.
The WCC executive committee joins the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA (NCCCUSA) in urging de-escalation of tensions, suspension of militaristic posturing and confrontation, and a return to the path of diplomacy and negotiations, in order to avoid unnecessary conflict and the death and destruction that it would inevitably entail.
We urge all original parties to the Iran Nuclear Deal, including the United States, to fully comply with the terms of the JCPOA, and to refrain from policies and actions predicated on armed force and military confrontation as the primary means of resolving international disputes and tensions.
The lessons of history should speak for themselves. Further conflict in this fragile region will have tragic and unpredictable consequences for all involved, for the region and the world. We appeal for a return to dialogue, and to the path of peace
I cannot keep silent;
for I hear the sound of the trumpet,
the alarm of war.
Disaster overtakes disaster,
the whole land is laid waste.
Suddenly my tents are destroyed,
my curtains in a moment.
Jeremiah 4:19-20 (NRSV)