Welcome to Peace Corps Iran Association!

PCIA will officially unincorporate and no longer be an active organization as of June 30th.  We are no longer accepting donations.

During April, May, and June we will hold the last Dooreh Book Club and publish the last KhabarNameh.  In addition, Iran RPCVs are encouraged to join NPCA’s Peace Corps Connect and then join the Iran RPCV group.

This War Must End

Special March 15 Advocacy Bulletin

  Contents

*     This War Must End, Note from the Editor, Paul Barker-

*     The Bombing of ‘Half the World’, by Paul Barker-

*     UNESCO’s Nightmare, and Mine: Losing Our World Heritage, by Carolyn Yale

*     No Funding for Trump’s Unconstitutional War on Iran, letter

*     PCIA Board Statement on US-Israel-Iran War

*     John Limbert Interviews

*     War Damage

*     Why This War?

*     How Can This War End?

*     Nuclear Concerns

*     History

*     This War Must End

Note from the Editor, Paul Barker

We are now entering the third week of the US-Israel war against Iran. If you consider the current fighting to be a continuation of the war which was launched in June 2025, we are now in the 9th month of the war. We cannot remain silent and still claim allegiance to our roots as volunteers who worked for global peace and understanding. This second Special Edition of the PCIA Advocacy Bulletin calls out and condemns the damage being inflicted on UNESCO world heritage sites in Iran, but is also mindful of the human suffering and economic and security losses being inflicted in countries between Iran and Israel. It suggests actions that peace activists can take to counter this disastrous war.

Read the complete issue by clicking HERE.

Statement on the US-Israel-Iran War

Board of Directors Peace Corps Iran Association

 March 4, 2026

Fifty years ago (between 1962 and 1976) we served as Peace Corps Volunteers in Iran.  We worked in Iranian schools and offices.  We lived in Iranian communities.  We earned salaries comparable to those of our Iranian counterparts.  We learned to speak Farsi and to appreciate the depths of Iranian friendship and hospitality.  Some of us even married Iranians.  Our love and appreciation of many things Iranian has endured over the decades.

We know enough history to know that our country has sometimes been a strong ally and sometimes a foolish enemy of Iranian national aspirations for a better life with dignity, freedom and prosperity.  We are pained to witness now some of the worst strands of that history repeated and amplified.  Our country has become the major party to a war of choice against Iran, launched in defiance of American laws and the US Constitution as well as international laws and structures.  The war is highly destabilizing to regional and likely global economic and political security.

We are deeply sympathetic to the aspirations of the Iranian people for a government that reflects the values animating recent anti-government demonstrations: Women’s rights, life and freedom (zan, zendigi, azadi).  We are also deeply aware of the limitations of American military power when it comes to affecting positive change in foreign societies.  We are mindful of the costs to international order when laws and conventions are willfully violated.  We know that it is easy to blow things up, and ever so complicated to create and build on solid foundations for a better future.

You can download a PDF version by  clicking HERE.

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Christopher Wurst, Producer & Host of SoftPower/FulStories,  recently interviewed Paul Barker about his experiences in Iran as a Peace Corps Volunteer and tourist. You can listen to this interesting interview at one of the following links.

Last PCIA Reunion and Conference

“Past Reflection and Future Vision”

To view conference videos , click HERE.

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2026 DOOREH KETAB BOOK CLUB SCHEDULE

May 13

Iran’s Grand Strategy:  A Political History by Vali Nasr.  Nasr will join us at 5 PM Pacific.

This will be the last Dooreh Book Club discussion scheduled by the Peace Corps Iran Association.

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PRESERVING PEACE CORPS LEGACIES

The Museum of the Peace Corps Experience collects and preserves stories and objects of material culture donated by volunteers who serve in communities around the globe. It fosters cultural understanding through education and promotes research on the impact of Peace Corps, encouraging visitors to serve—wherever they live, however they can.

Contact:  (1-503-381-4206) [email protected]

The Peace Corps Community Archive at American University collects diaries, letters, or photographs, plus journals, reports, lesson plans, scrapbooks, photographs, and film, video, and audio recordings.

Contact: (1-202-885-3256) [email protected]

The Peace Corps Commemorative Foundation manages the development of Peace Corps Park (a commemorative work in Washington, DC honoring the American ideals that were fundamental in creating the Peace Corps and that are expressed in Peace Corps service.)

Contact: (1-202-251-6216) 5636 Connecticut Ave., NW Suite 42143 Washington, DC

The Peace Corps Connect: NPCA Peace Corps Advocacy supports needed legislative changes that affect returned and future Volunteers, and helps retool Peace Corps for a changed world.

Contact: (1-202-293-7728)  [email protected]