In just 12 days (July 9th) the people of Iran are planning massive demonstrations events and strikes. On this date, 4 years ago, the regime brutally attacked peaceful student demonstrators while in their dorms. The result was the loss of life and liberty of hundreds of students, many of which are still unaccounted for.
Iran is a country ready for a regime change. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a country. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary.
Please continue to post your news stories and comments to this thread.
Thanks for all the help.
Popular US Scholar and analyst renews pledge for defense of Iranians
SMCCDI (Information Service)
June 26, 2003
Michael ledeen, the most popular of US scholars and analysts, renewed his pledge for the defense of Iranians seeking Freedom and Democracy.
Speaking, this evening, as the special guest of the Dallas World Council Affair (Texas), this ardent and famous defensor of Iranian Secularit Forces and Student Movement slammed, once again, the Islamic republic regime for its dictatorial rule in Iran and terrorist activities around the globe.
Paying a tribute to those brave Iranians who have been killed, injured or jailed during the last days of riots, Dr. Ledeen stated: "We must aknowledge their courage and bravery by supporting them in their aspiration. They need just materials, such as, Satellite phones and money to gain freedom and we must provide them."
He reminded to the US administration its role and duty toward those Iranians who are defying one of the worst regime's mankind has ever witnessed and requested a firm and moral support for the Iranians.
Ledeen added that no real democracy and peace will be established in the Middle East and nor in the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan till the Islamic republic remains in power. "Democracy and peace are what threaten the life of the current Iranian regime" he emphasized.
He continued his pledge by stating: " We must seek Regime Change. Be sure that no US soldier nor a US bullet is needed. We must just support the Iranians and they will gain themselves their freedom".
Analysing the past and current situation of Iran, Dr. Ledeen stated: "All conditions are ready in Iran for a Democratic Revolution. It's not a secrete and everybody can see it as all conditions are gathered. The young and intelligent layer of the Iranian society which composes 70% of the population is tired of the old tyrans in power who are seeking to stop them for gaining their right and access modern life."
He slammed France and Germany for their role in supporting the regime and stated: "France is now out of Iraq for the support that it had for Saddam and will most likely be outsted for years from Iran. It will be hard for Iranians to accept countries which backed their oppressors as their future partners".
On the British policy toward Iran, he stated: "Mr. Blair has made a good declaration in support of Iranians just it's that Mr. Straw who's a very clever man still is not able to see where's the final interest of his country."
It's to note that the British consul was present at the meeting when the statement was made.
Dr. Ledeen has become very popular among many Iranians for his books and articles, published in famous newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and the London Telegraph, on the plight of the Iranian nation and the repressive nature of the Islamic regime. Most of his works are getting translated and then broadcasted by commentators of Iranian opposition radio and satellite TV networks for Iran.
It's to note that, in May 2002, during a live Internet Voice Q&A, organized by SMCCDI on the Patalk Network, Michael Ledeen reached the hearts and minds of many Iranians and especially those living inside who had defied all dangers by participating and listening to his comments.
The till then unprecedented event was then higly mediatised by the impartial, repsonsible and famous NITV and many believe that it contributed in big part to giving trust to Iranians on the goals of the Bush administration. The program took place at a time that the Islamic regime was waging an anti-US campaign intending to wage fear among Iranians by making them beleive about the hostile views of the US administration against their country.
http://www.iran-daneshjoo.org/cgi-bin/smccdinews/viewnews.cgi?category=5&id=1056693853
Uniting for a Free, Democratic and Secular IranAmerican Daily
06-27-2003
The Iranian People Deserve the Free World's Support
By Owen Rathbone on 06/27/03
Iran is back in the spotlight again following a recent series of student revolts and mass gatherings calling for greater freedoms and an end to Muslim clerics’ twenty-four year stranglehold on the Iranian people. According to observers and participants, the demonstrations and displays of defiance are the most intense in five years of sporadic protests.
Whereas earlier protests were mainly against the mullahs (the Iranian word for clerics), today “moderate” President Mohammad Khatami is also being denounced for failing to implement meaningful reforms. Although many Western leaders and commentators still pin their hopes on Khatami and the possibility of reform from within, most Iranians have accepted that true change is impossible without a radical transformation of the entire political system.
The desire for democracy is not restricted to students or fringe elements in Iranian society. Disenchanted people from all backgrounds and regions have taken to the streets over the past two weeks to demand an end to the Islamic Republic and the establishment of a secular government based on democratic principles. A Christian Science Monitor poll reveals that "90 percent of Iranians want change" and "70 percent want dramatic change."
Psuedo-Liberal pundits would have us believe that the increased displays of public defiance against the Iranian clerics and government are U.S.-orchestrated and part of a wider plot to destabilize Iran and increase American influence in the region. Such characterizations not only parrot the mullah’s party line, but also do a great disservice to the Iranian people, who must endure great hardships on a daily basis.
In the late 1970s, Iran’s per capita income stood roughly equivalent to Spain’s, but since the time of the Islamic Revolution the country has experienced steady economic decline. Inflation sits at 20 percent, while unemployment has soared to 30 percent. Although Iran is rich with petroleum and natural gas, nearly 60 per cent of the population lives under the poverty line.
Far more disturbing than the dismal economic conditions in Iran is the political repression of the Iranian people. Up to 700,000 Iranians are imprisoned in secret jails, claim dissidents. Floggings, torture, mutilations, public hangings and executions are just a few of the means the conservative mullahs use to terrorize the populace.
In the past several weeks, pro-mullah vigilante paramilitary forces, many of them foreign thugs recruited from Afghanistan and other terrorist hotbeds, have scoured the country intimidating pro-democracy activists. Wielding chains, clubs, knives and guns, the vigilantes have attacked and threatened demonstrators in a brutal bid to quell dissent. According to human rights organizations, the vigilantes have even resorted to driving motorcycles into crowds to break up demonstrations and injure protesters.
In such a repressive political climate, freedom of the press is non-existent. Nearly 100 pro-reform journals and newspapers have been shut down since 1997, leaving the Internet and foreign radio and television broadcasts as the only means to spread democratic ideals. To the chagrin of the mullah authorities, hundreds of tech-savvy Iranians have become expert Internet “bloggers,” skilled at providing up-to-the-minute commentary on local developments and disseminating information from outside news sources. U.S.-based Iranian satellite TV shows have also become a favorite of viewers ranging from students to housewives.
As Iranians clamor for freedom it is worth noting the outside world’s reactions.
The U.S. government, steadfast in its principles, has expressed strong support for the demonstrators. President George W. Bush recently went on record saying that he viewed Iranians’ protests as “the beginning of people expressing themselves toward a free Iran.” U.S. National
Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice echoed the President’s sentiments in a June 20 Fox News interview, stating how important it is to recognize the “rightness” of the peoples’ cause and to “let them know that there are those in the international community who care.”
In contrast to the U.S.’s highly principled response, the United Nations (UN) has been noticeably reticent. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who should be expected to side with the Iranian people, has kept tight-lipped over the pro-democracy demonstrations. Rather than expressing any overt support for greater freedoms and improved human
rights in Iran, Annan has only managed to say that "Any change in regime is a matter which only the Iranian people can decide," indirectly chiding the U.S. for rallying behind pro-democratic forces.
For good reason, Iranian political activists have lost complete faith in the UN. For more than two decades, Iranian civic groups have made repeated appeals to the UN’s Human Rights Commission only to be rebuffed. In fact, to the great anger of the Iranian pro-democracy movement, Kofi Annan has actually praised President Khatami’s “accomplishments” and the “freedoms” he has bestowed upon the Iranian > population.
The flourishing democratic nations of Western Europe have similarly displayed a marked indifference to Iranians’ pleas for democracy. While the U.S. maintains a near total ban on trade with Iran, the European Union (EU) profits handsomely from being Iran’s largest trading partner, which means that European support for true reform has been tepid at best.
The EU, through representatives such as External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patton, maintains that engagement with Khatami’s “moderate” government is the most effective means to induce positive changes in Iran. However, seeing that it is business as usual with Europe, the mullahs have unsurprisingly been reluctant to alter their oppressive
ways. The bloody clampdowns on dissidents over the past two weeks only confirm that conservative hardliners have no intention of acquiescing to the public’s demands for greater freedoms and reveal the EU position as a complete sham.
Russia is another interesting case. Eager to earn cash and curtail American power, the former communist nation has been working closely with Tehran to construct a nuclear plant in Bushehr. As Moscow stands to net some $1 billion dollars from the deal, it has remained aloof and refrained from commenting on Iranian politics. That Iran is using
Russian experts and technology to establish a clandestine nuclear weapons program seems to be of little concern to Russia. For Putin and other Russian leaders, profits take precedence over justice and regional stability in the Middle East.
It is indeed a topsy-turvy world we live in. European leaders and UN representatives were quick to vilify the U.S. government for overthrowing Saddam Hussein, one of the greatest human rights violators of modern times. These same objectors to U.S. “aggression” in Iraq are now turning a blind eye to the Iranian people. As European and other supporters of the status quo donned a false cloak of
> anti-war “morality” to further their economic or political gain in Iraq, so do they profit from the misery of the Iranian people by supporting “engagement” and “dialogue” with the mullah theocracy in Iran.
Ironically, the country Ayatollah Khomeini once called “The Great Satan” is now seen as a beacon of hope by millions of Iranians. In view of Iranians’ experiences with Europe and the UN, the United States is esteemed nationwide for its firm commitment to democratic ideals and reluctance to trade with a repressive regime. Formerly denounced for being evil, America is heralded as the only world power
that supports the change Iranians desire.
Now that the Iranian people have taken their lives into their own hands and are striving to throw off the yoke of their Islamo-fascist oppressors, they deserve the free world’s support. America, at least, has stood behind the Iranian people. It is high time other privileged nations and the UN did the same.
Owen Rathbone is a political commentator based in Seoul, South Korea.
He can be contacted at:
owenrathbone@yahoo.com. > _______________________________________________