December 15th, 2009 by Jason

The House is currently debating the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (H.R. 2194), and they will likely pass the legislation before the end of today. That news likely comfort Ephraim Kam, who writes in Haaretz that the West must impose “harsher sanctions” and threaten Tehran with potential violence.

Nonetheless,  niacINsight urges the U.S. to “stand with the Iranian people” by opposing the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act, which many members of the green movement have said would hurt the Iranian people and not the regime. Jamal Abdi warns such sanctions  “may isolate us from our closest allies and biggest trading partners, pose momentous new challenges for our efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq and the greater Middle East, undermine the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy, and once again place the United States on the gave path towards military confrontation.”

Instead, niacINsight hails the introduction of the Stand with the Iranian People Act (SWIPA H.R. 4303) introduced by Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) and the Iranian Digital Empowerment Act (IDEA H.R. 4301)  introduced by Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA). Both of these acts were introduced yesterday. SWIPA would enable Americans and Iranians to work together to promote human rights or for projects like building hospitals and schools, while also imposing targeted sanctions on the regime and companies that work with it. IDEA would legalize the transfer of communication and anti-censorship tools between the U.S. and Iran.

Arguing in favor of SWIPA and IDEA and against IRPSA,  Patrick Disney contends, “the yardstick for an effective Iran policy is not how much pain and suffering it will cause among innocent Iranians. Rather, changing the policies and behavior of Tehran’s repressive government should be our ultimate goal. This means that when it comes to sanctions, bigger is not always better.”

Given the room to exploit schisms within the regime, The Guardian contends  “smart engagement could have proved a lot more smarter than the sanctions that are about to be unleashed on a battered and weary nation.” But Jennifer Rubin criticizes the engagement strategy of the Obama administration, calling it a  ”fruitless effort to engage a regime bent on brutalizing its own people, supporting terror groups, and acquiring a nuclear blackmail card.” In fact, a new document reveals an Iranian design for a nuclear trigger.

Although Rubin declared Secretary Clinton’s major address on human rights yesterday hypocritical, Laura Rozen suggests the speech indicates “the Obama administration now seems less reluctant to discuss democracy and human rights issues” with Iran. Secretary Clinton also called for the freedom of the three American hikers, saying they have “absolutely no connection with any kind of action against the Iranian state or government.”

As the U.S. seeks the freedom of three American hikers, Kian Tajbakhsh and information on missing Robert Levinson, Laura Rozen reports on an Iranian citizen who was just sentenced to 5 years in prison in Delaware for illegal arms exporting after being held in secret imprisonment for two years. Meanwhile, Chris Bodenner at the Daily Dish calls the Tajbakhsh case “particularly troubling.”

The Daily Star reports that Mir Hossein Moussavi promised more protests after the regime arrested several people because they purportedly damaged images of Ayatollah Khomeini. In addition, Foreign Minister Mottakidismissed President Obama’s comments about Iran during his Nobel speech as “half-baked.” Yet, the green movement is anything but half-baked, according to Mohsen Makhmalbaf. In The Guardian, he demonstrates how the green movement has defied everyone’s expectations and calls on the West to help them now that the regime is “on the verge of collapse.”

Part of the regime’s weakness stems from internal schisms. insideIran has posted an interview with Sadegh Zibakalam, a political science professor at Tehran University.  Among other topics, Zibakalam explains how hardliners are distancing themselves from Ahmadinejad and how moderate clerics are distancing themselves from Ayatollah Khamenei.  At the same time,  Michael Ledeen relays reports that army and air force officers are threatening to side with the people if the regime does not stop its brutality.

Finally,  Arianna A.S., a student arrested in last summer’s protests, explains “the younger generation leading the opposition movement has one goal: democracy and freedom, even though different groups have different ideas of what this means and how to get there.” One unexpected means of getting there has involved men wearing head-scarves in protest of the arrest of Majid Tavakoli. The Daily Dish quotes Peter Tatchell: “it is ironic how [the] headscarf, which was traditionally seen as a symbol of women’s oppression … is now being used by men to show membership in a liberation movement.”

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