Amir Emadi feels betrayed by the Obama administration, which he accuses of abandoning his father and thousands of other unarmed Iranian exiles in Iraq.
“This is not the America I grew up reading about,” he said at a Washington tribute Saturday to his father and 51 other dissidents killed Sept. 1 by Iraqi gunmen who attacked with impunity, cheered on by Iran’s theocratic regime.
Mr. Emadi, a naturalized U.S. citizen, blames President Obama for reneging on U.S. promises to safeguard the dissidents, who surrendered their weapons in 2003.
U.S. troops defended the dissidents until 2009, when Mr. Obama turned over responsibility for the disarmed rebels to an Iraqi regime that was growing close to Iran, which wants the dissidents returned for execution.
All of the 52 dissidents killed two weeks ago held U.S. identity cards showing they were supposed to have been under U.S. protection.
“Mr. President, as a U.S. citizen who lost his father, I have one question for you,” Mr. Emadi said. “When would America’s written commitments mean something? Keep your damn promise. Keep your promise.”
The State Department and the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad have denounced the massacre and urged Iraq’s government to track down the killers and work with the United Nations to relocate the Iranians to other countries.
Mr. Emadi’s mother and other relatives are among more than 3,000 dissidents at the Camp Liberty refugee compound in Baghdad.
At the tribute, Mr. Emadi was joined by many former top U.S. officials who support the dissidents.
