Project on Middle East Democracy

Project on Middle East Democracy
The POMED Wire


How to Help the Iranian Opposition

September 30th, 2009 by Jason

Protests at Iran’s universities continue as students react to an unwelcome visit by Science Minister Kamran Daneshjou. The chief of the UN IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, has announced Iran is on “the wrong side of the law” for failing to inform the agency about the Qum facility sooner. Meanwhile, the U.S. delegation led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, William Burns, has arrived in Geneva ahead of tomorrow’s negotiations with Iran. The chief nuclear negotiator for Iran, Saeed Jalili has promised Iran will enter the talks with “good intentions.”

But pundits and analysts in the U.S. are not optimistic. Bruno Pellaud predicts the negotiations will fail and argues the U.S. should look for other diplomatic frameworks to address Iran. Others argue for forgetting negotiations all together. Michael Rubin calls for immediate sanctions and The Washington Times editorial staff urges President Obama to reconsider “his aversion to the use of American force.”

Many analysts, however, are concerned that nuclear negotiations will cast aside issues of democratic reform and regime change. According to Hooman Majd, the Iranian regime let out a “collective sigh of relief” when the nuclear issue began to once again eclipse questions of human rights abuses. Rosemary Righter agrees, arguing that only regime change will solve the nuclear question. For Sateh Sabety of the Tehran Bureau, “The only way to make Iran safe for the world is to make her safe for her citizens.”

The question remains how to best support the democratic movement. Robert Kagan argues the Iranian regime is trying to buy time in order to reassert its control over internal affairs. President Obama should therefore implement sanctions as soon as possible so that “the opposition will press its case that the regime is leading Iran to ruin.” Yet Vivienne Walt casts doubt about the efficacy of gasoline sanctions in Time Magazine. In addition, Michael Ledeen reminds us that over thirty years of talking and sanctioning the regime has not yet produced any results. We should instead “support the courageous opposition movement.”

While also skeptical of broad sanctions, POMED’s Executive Director Andrew Albertson and Ali G. Scotten disagree with Ledeen that negotiations are not worth the effort in an op-ed for the Washington Post. According to Albertson and Scotten, extensive sanctions and threats of force will only strengthen the Iranian regime against the “perceived bullying of the United States.” Instead, the U.S. must “broaden the agenda to include a focus on human rights.” Using the Helsinki Process as a model, the U.S. can “tilt the balance of power in its favor” for the upcoming negotiations. After all, “taking a public stance that is respectful of Iranian nationalism while strongly supportive of human rights would further empower and embolden the Iranian people.”


Posted in Democracy Promotion, Human Rights, Iran, Oil, US foreign policy, United Nations, sanctions |

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