February
7, 2003, 9:15 a.m. Obstacles
for Iran
Some Americans
are part of the problem.
By Mohammad
Parvin
n January 25, the Islamic Republic of Iran closed down Hamshahri,
the nation's largest-circulation daily. In just the first three weeks
of this year, the regime had already shuttered five other reformist dailies.
Robert Ménard, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders,
commented, "At this rate, the non-conservative press will simply
disappear in Iran." Over five years into President Khatami's reign,
not only has he yet to implement a single reform, but Iranians are less
free than they've ever been since the cultural revolution, purges, and
prison massacres of the 1980s.
The Iranian people's
struggle for freedom and democracy faces two primary obstacles. Inside Iran,
the vast majority of students, workers, women, and, increasingly, even the
clergy are confronting a brutal regime that has no respect for human rights
and dignity. And outside the Republic, Iranians must face interest-driven
governments, lobby groups with shady funding, and an American journalistic
and academic community far more interested in access than in honest reporting
and scholarship. Taken together, these groups help to legitimize the Iranians'
oppressors.
The Iranian people have been experiencing the terror of the Islamic regime
since its inception in 1979. Attempts to reform Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's
dictatorial reign have been about as effective as attempts to reform Pol
Pot or Saddam Hussein. Under Khomeini and Khamenei, Iranians have not been
allowed to dress, speak, write, vote, pray, dance, love, laugh, or live
as they want, and they've paid with their lives — hundreds and thousands
of lives — for refusing to give up these basic rights.
Iranians have been
imprisoned, tortured, executed, and stoned to death. Ironically, public
executions have risen proportionately with European trade. Nevertheless,
just as disenfranchised Polish shipyard workers once arose to challenge
a brutal dictatorship, today we are seeing ever more frequent protests
by tens of thousands of Iranians who are using every opportunity to show
their hatred for the Islamic regime. Just as Hungarians, Czechs, and Poles
were willing to stare down their dictators' guns for freedom, Iranians
are coming out to say — with an almost unanimous voice — that
they no longer have any faith in the Islamic regime's so-called reformist
movement. They want a secular democratic system, not a watered-down theocracy.
For over two decades
— including in recent weeks — Khatami himself has asserted that
he will only accept "an Islamic democracy." Nice-sounding words
to English-speakers, perhaps, but the Iranians themselves know better.
In the pages of the official newspaper Keyhan, Khatami explained
that in an Islamic democracy, only those with a seminary education should
be allowed to participate fully. If only Vatican-approved priests with
a long seminary education were allowed to run for the U.S. presidency,
would anyone in their right mind call the United States a democracy?
The Gary Sicks, Robin Wrights, and Hooshang Amirahmadis of the world —
proponents of engagement, dialogue, and the so-called "Track II"
process — are actively undermining democracy. The Islamic regime
uses the statement of lobby groups such as the American Iranian Council
to convince democrats and political prisoners in Iran that even the Americans
are against them. White House pronouncements promising to side with the
Iranian people are few and far between. Zalmay Khalilzad, the president's
National Security Council point man on Iran, hardly has time to address
the Iranian situation, overburdened as he is with the Afghanistan and
Iraq portfolios. Meanwhile, the Islamic regime's lobby seeks to fill the
policy vacuum with calls to normalize relations.
Right now, the battle is moving to the U.S. Congress. The House is currently
considering Resolution 505, a bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Ney, which urges
the United States to support a Muslim society in Iran with "greater
freedom and tolerance." The resolution does not acknowledge that
the Iranian people deserve anything more than the Islamic Republic. The
resolution mentions not one word about the horrific human-rights abuses
perpetrated by the current regime.
Ney may have the well-financed American Iranian Council on his side —
as well as oil companies like Exxon and Shell — but the vast majority
of Iranians want democracy, without compromise on human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
House Resolution 504, introduced by Rep. Tom Lantos, and Senate Resolution
306, introduced by Sen. Sam Brownback, are genuine efforts to support
democracy and human rights in Iran. These resolutions recognize that legitimizing
the Islamic regime stifles, rather than supports, democracy and human
rights. They recognize that holding the Islamic regime accountable for
its actions and those of its proxy groups will enhance American national
security. Lantos and Brownback believe the U.S. should direct its positive
gestures to the Iranian people — not to the politicians exploiting
their offices for personal gain.
Freedom for Iran is not the sole responsibility of the U.S. government,
however. Iranian-Americans themselves have heretofore failed to make their
voice heard in Washington. They must show their brethren in Iran the power
of real democracy to affect change. They need to form a strong, nonpartisan
voting bloc to support those who take a firm stance for human rights,
and to oust those seeking to appease dictators for short-term financial
gain. With more than 500,000 Iranians in California alone — and more
than double that in the rest of the United States — free Iranians
have a lot to say.
<% dim printurl
printurl = Request.ServerVariables("URL")%>
n January 25, the Islamic Republic of Iran closed down Hamshahri,
the nation's largest-circulation daily. In just the first three weeks
of this year, the regime had already shuttered five other reformist dailies.
Robert Ménard, secretary-general of Reporters Without Borders,
commented, "At this rate, the non-conservative press will simply
disappear in Iran." Over five years into President Khatami's reign,
not only has he yet to implement a single reform, but Iranians are less
free than they've ever been since the cultural revolution, purges, and
prison massacres of the 1980s.
