AN OPEN LETTER TO US & EUROPEAN LEADERS ON THE IRI

Cyrus News Agency:

July 8, 2005

AN OPEN LETTER TO US & EUROPEAN LEADERS ON THE DANGERS POSED BY PRESENT POLITICAL CONDITIONS IN IRAN:

Iran has reached another crossroads, and on behalf of freedom-loving Iranians, we feel the need to focus your attention on the country's present political conditions. We seek to prevent another historical travesty, discouraging European leaders from making further political miscalculations in their dealings with Iran's fundamentalist rulers. Please reflect on the following facts for a few brief moments:

• Iran's rulers have a 26-year track record on which we may evaluate them. An apologist would contend the atrocities committed in the first 10 years of the Islamic Republic were the result of revolutionary turmoil and then the war with "Iraq. Yet in the ensuing 16 years, oppression and corruption reached such proportions that some regime stalwarts turned against the Islamic Republic.

• During this decade and a half, the ruling clerics orchestrated the election of two presidents from their midst—first, the strong "moderate" Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani whose two terms in office lasted during 1989-97, and then, the weaker "reformist" Mohammad Khatami, elected in 1997 and now in the final days of his second term.

• Members of Iran's ruling elite have been connected to murders and assassinations. Rafsanjani was directly implicated in the murders of several Iranian opposition leaders in Europe. He is also said to have ordered the assassination of numerous journalists, writers and dissidents—what became known as "the serial murders" among the Iranian public. During Khatami's tenure, political violence continued, albeit on a diminished scale. Imprisonment without trial, torture, summary execution of juvenile offenders and other violations of human rights have remained common practices to this day. And the "reformist" president who has advocated a "dialogue between civilizations" seemed to have different notion in mind when his government expanded clandestine uranium enrichment.

• This June's election should give every enlightened human being a reason for pause. The world has witnessed the actions of Iran's "moderate" and "reformist" presidents, and now Iranians and citizens of the world have to prepare themselves for the actions and policies of the President-elect Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Running on ultra-conservative campaign, he has admitted to taking part in killing at least 30 political prisoners and said he intends to impose more socio-political restrictions on the people. Apparently, Iran is not "Islamic" or conservative enough for the President-elect who thinks the mosque must be the center of Iran's political life. If Ahmadinejad implements half of what he has in mind, Iranian society will be set back by another hundred years with dire consequences for the Middle East as a whole.

In short, for more than two decades, Iran's ruling clerics have consistently and brutally imposed their will on the disaffected majority of Iranians, trampled on people's basic human rights, promoted terrorism at home and abroad, and abrogated international treaties and conventions. Consequently, Iran's government poses a greater danger to world peace today than it did at its inception. Rulers in this theocracy follow their own rules, claiming divine sovereignty based on celestial revelations. These facts about the Islamic Republic will not change, regardless of who is chosen to lead from among the small ruling class.

European leaders throughout these years have dealt with the fundamentalist regime in Iran with velvet gloves. Political ties have improved in general and trade in particular has expanded every year, but few Iranians have been beneficiaries of improved relations with Europe. On the contrary, economic suffering and political repression have increased. The time has long since come for European governments to reconsider their policies and, in the least, attach explicit conditions to all their commercial deals and political agreements with the Islamic Republic.

Here, we must emphasize we oppose foreign military aggression of any kind against Iran. We do not want the Iranian people's miseries and woes to worsen as a result of another war. However, we believe any relationship with the Islamic Republic must be conditional on the strict implementation of all the tenets of the United Nations Declaration of Universal Human Rights. Iran's government cannot survive without foreign imports; European governments' use of trade as leverage on the ruling clerics will compel them at least to loosen their stranglehold on the Iranian people.

Iranians will in turn be empowered to regain control of their lives, having lost their initiative in the belief the world has accepted their fate and has given its support to the Islamic Republic. Indeed, if Iranians come to believe they have the meaningful support of the free world, we firmly believe democratic forces will rally and put an end to Iran's dark ages.

A number of truly heroic figures in Iran today deserve recognition and support. Despite primitive and inaccurate interpretations of Islam limiting their rights and relegating them to second-class status, Iranian women are increasingly active and defiant. European leaders should listen to the likes of Simin Behbahani, a renowned writer living in Iran and constantly challenging the system despite constant personal threats. They should listen to the journalists, student leaders and writers languishing in jails. The real tragedy is that fully 50% of Iran's population is under the age of 22, and they have few economic or political prospects to look forward to. A large group of Iranians with no real hopes for the future is social time bomb.

Geo-politically and economically, Iran is very important to the world. Its stability is crucial to regional peace. A free, progressive, secure and stable Iran is in the vital interests of the free world which must help the Iranian people achieve their cherished dream of a peaceful progressive country. Such a positive and forward-looking Iran will in turn act as an anchor of calm and a beacon of hope in the Middle East.

With Best Regards,

Dr. Hassan Massali