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30-Sep-2009
Tomorrow, the five members of the UN Security Council plus Germany (known as the P5+1), will sit down with Iran in the latest attempt to ease increasing global anxiety over the country's nuclear programme. The threat of new sanctions hangs in the air. We have been here before: deadline after deadline, sanction after sanction, we return to the same old dance, the only real difference being that the Islamic Republic is inching ever closer to the Bomb. So perhaps now is the time to try something new. In anticipation of the October 1 meeting, the P5+1 must embrace their greatest ally in the war on nuclear proliferation: the people of Iran.
Until now, the Islamic Republic has not responded to external pressure from the international community. No amount of sanctions has worked. Instead, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad soaks up every opportunity to perform on the world stage, entertaining his audience of cool and collected clerics. But those clerics were not so composed on that June day when hundreds of thousands of Iranian people poured on to the streets, demanding an end to fundamentalist tyranny and the regime's oppression of their human rights.
In stark contrast to its reaction to international pressure, the regime's response to the internal uprising was immediate. Quivering with fear, it instantly detained more than 4,000 of its own people, suffocating their roaring cries for freedom and democracy. Students and journalists, sons, daughters, mothers and fathers, young and old are still being held, clubbed, raped and tortured by the Islamic clerical regime. Hundreds of others stand falsely accused, helplessly awaiting trial without rights or representation.
Human Rights Watch and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran urged the UN to appoint a special human rights envoy during last week's meeting of the General Assembly to investigate the Iranian government's egregious record of abuse. And still, suffering under a brutal regime that threatens their very right to life, the Iranian people continue to plead for their liberties, fight for their freedoms and scream for the world's support.
The clerics' fearful and nervous response to the people's uprising demonstrated that the biggest threat to their survival in power comes from within their own borders. Contrary to the state-run press and propaganda, the regime's biggest enemy is not the West; it is its own people.
By supporting the Iranian people and their struggle for human rights, by elevating the importance of their liberties, the West will find its greatest ally on the nuclear issue. Empowering the opposition movement will encourage and prolong internal dissent, and sustaining that internal unrest is the key to cracking the clerical code.
While sanctions can in fact prove to be a useful tool in the shed of diplomacy, they result in the suffering of a nation's citizens, victimising the innocent many for the sins of the stubborn few. For sanctions to truly be effective in Iran, human rights have to be put on equal footing with the nuclear concern. Many of my Iranian compatriots have indicated to me that they would be willing to add to their hardships in the short term only if they believe that sanctions will curtail the lifespan of clerical oppression and cure their want of human rights.
In 1986, the United States led a worldwide campaign for human rights and equality in South Africa when it passed the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act, banning US investment in the country. Disinvestment sanctions were about civil rights and human rights, and other world powers quickly followed suit. Most importantly, the removal of apartheid laws and the release of political prisoners were necessary preconditions to the lifting of sanctions. Those sanctions worked. The South African people suffered a deep recession in the short term, but to this day, no South African has forgotten the importance of those preconditions and the long-term liberation they brought to them as a people.
In the case of Iran, US foreign policy and international pressure are reaching their limit. External sanctions that are imposed solely to shape Iran's nuclear policy are unlikely to ever decrease the number of centrifuges that enrich uranium. Furthermore, if the issue of enrichment continues to trump the moral fight for the most basic human liberties – namely the right to free and fair elections and the freedom of speech – then the P5+1 will be seen to have abandoned the Iranian people to their plight. Alternatively, if the West enforces new sanctions that are intrinsically tied to the national outcry for freedom, they have armed their greatest ally with the powerful weapon of international solidarity in the struggle against the Islamic regime. This uprising can change the entire fabric of stability in the Middle East.
So, while the world toils over yellowcake, the people of Iran still believe in their green movement for freedom, hope and human rights. It is time for international leaders to stand behind the human rights of the Iranian people. In so doing, they will entrust the Iranian people with the power to resolve the nuclear issue.
AUTHOR
Reza Pahlavi is former Crown Prince of Iran. This commentary was first published in the London Telegraph.
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Farrah khanoom
by Cost-of-Progress on Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:36 PM PDTDid I claim immunity from our ills? Did I blame others, or simply state and acknowledge reality? Didn't I note that unless WE wise up? We is collective, you know. I am included in the collective.
Did my bit about religion upset you? It never fails.
By the way, allowing religion to rule our country (not just now, it's been doing it for a long long time) has been the pillar of our demise as a society....... My feelings and opinion, of course!
C-o-P: " if we do not wise up"!!
by Farah Rusta on Thu Oct 08, 2009 12:03 PM PDTDon't you think you should start from your own self by not blaming others and foreign forces for our ills but blaming it largely on ourselves?
FR
Bottom Line
by Cost-of-Progress on Thu Oct 08, 2009 10:20 AM PDT30 years ago, it was time to let Shah go, so the powers that control this planet removed him and installed the current oppressive regime. Now, if it serves their goals and interests, once again, they will remove these antinationalist bastards and install something else.
Does this hurt? Yes.
Have times chnages? Yes, which means things are more complicated, but in essence, the mechanics are the same.
As long we Iranaians are divided in our ideologies, do not and cannot respect each other's point of view and far up religions ass, things will not change. We will NOT be able to choose our own destiny.
If we do not wise up, when the oil runs out, Iran will be the next Afghanistan.
FYI/Crown Prince Reza and Iranian Asylum Seekers, London (2005)
by Darius Kadivar on Sun Oct 04, 2009 03:05 PM PDTCrown Prince Reza and Iranian Asylum Seekers, London (2005)
//iranian.com/main/blog/darius-kadivar/prince-persia-crown-prince-reza-and-iranian-asylum-seekers-london-2005
Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi spends NowRuz the Persian New Year with Iranian Refugees and Assylum Seekes in London. (March 21st, 2005)
F. rusta khanoom
by KouroshS on Sun Oct 04, 2009 09:05 AM PDTTrue, So true.
One fellow made a good comment and he said that one reason hat you hear people shouting slogans supporting mir hussein is to keep those in jails safe... I hope that for the sake of all iranians that is indeed the case here. Otherwise we will all be screwed. he also made a good point in giving iranians more credit in wanting to have another president following the same basic IRI style system of governance. They are in this for a LOT more.
I do understand the enormity and the significance of the concept whereby people now have found their voice and are brave enough to let the world know what they want. I think the faction that you mentioned, is a rather HUGE one and in fact there is nothing un-islamic about this whole Green movement. Absolutely nothing!!!
Dear KouroshS
by Farah Rusta on Sun Oct 04, 2009 01:29 AM PDTAllow me to add my voice to yours and say that there is a faction within the Greens who insist on keeping it Islamic. Siavash belongs to this faction. To him the leaders of the movement are Mousavi, Khatami and Karroubi. They try to belittle and ignore the right of the people to choose a secular democracy. The green movement may have started within the Mousavi's election campaign but now it is far beyond that point. It would be a waste of a movement to have it monopolized by a group of so-called moderate clerics (and their suit-wearing representatives like Mousavi) and allowing it to be hijacked in this way. By the way Sivash criterion for being a movement's leader is so funny. Khomeini could not tell a single street of Tehran from another (not even those of Qum) but was hailed as a leader!!
FR
F. rusta
by KouroshS on Sun Oct 04, 2009 01:04 AM PDTMa'am
You have taken the words right out of my mouth, Thank you! Thank you!
It is funny how Siavash 31 and those who think along the same lines as he does, want to Push the envelope and forcibly convince everyone of the success of this green movement. They even do it at the risk of calling those who disagree with them, immature and out-of-touch with the realities. That is a classic sign of a radical.
Mousavi knows what tehran looks like while RP does not. Wow. what a very great eligibility criteria to lead a movement. get over it baba,.
DK / oktaby / Farah Rusta and other Pahlavi Lovers
by Dariush on Sat Oct 03, 2009 08:31 PM PDTIt is interesting that you Pahlavi lovers don't have any answers to my question. I asked a simple question.
A king of a nation is chosen by people of that nation. Who chose Reza Shah? England Who chose Mohamad Reza? United State and England. So the whole Pahlavi dynasty has been illegally formed from the beginning to the end. That makes Clown PRINCE and your claims illegal. In addition to that, he has been pursuing the same method himself.
Now , if Iranians want such a system and have a wise honest brave nationalist who qualifies, that is just fine, but the only thing Reza Topol qualifies for is Jail as I mentioned before, and I doubt if there is any monarchy out there that is not a traitor and kisser or is honest and not after self interest.
Now, if you don't have a reasonable answer, you prove that your are not after common interest of Iranians, but self interest. That makes you a Pahlavi Lover not a monarchy.
Mr Maziar...
by Emil on Sat Oct 03, 2009 07:50 PM PDTThe mistake was not getting rid of monarchy, the mistake was saying YES to Islamic regime...
Emil khan
by maziar 58 on Sat Oct 03, 2009 04:19 PM PDTthat is the meaning of FREE and CLEAR election ,IF the majority votes for ISLAMIC REPBLIC or just Repblic or whatever else.........
But we're sitting here with (me) hineken in hand and a keybord bubbling the fate of young Iranian who is simply trying to wash off their parents mistake of 30 years ago.
cheers Maziar
Siavash: "Even Reza Pahlavi supports Mousavi "
by Farah Rusta on Sat Oct 03, 2009 03:30 PM PDTReally?
Where? when? how?
FR
Farah Rusta
by Siavash31 on Sat Oct 03, 2009 03:04 PM PDTThe supporters of President Mousavi constitute the great majority of the Iranian population. If you think that they are all "radicals" and you're the moderate, you might want to reconsider your views.
Even Reza Pahlavi supports the Mousavi and the Green movement for God's sake. You people are more catholic than the Pope.
"it separates rational people from radical lunatics" ...
by Farah Rusta on Sat Oct 03, 2009 01:57 PM PDTPlease don't get me started Sia. You have already been proven irrational on my blog, wasn't that enough? You can't answer this simple question: what have Mousavi and Co done in the last thirty years to wash their hands off the blood of thousands of people who were executed while they were the leaders of the tyrannical Islamic state?
At least Reza Pahlavi has not got any blood on his hands.
You are right. The green movement has separated the radicalists (followers of Mousavi) from the rationalists (followers of a secular state).
FR
Reza Pahlavi is definitely
by Siavash31 on Sat Oct 03, 2009 12:21 PM PDTReza Pahlavi is definitely a lot more rational and sophisticated than his supporters.
One of the greatest things about the green movement is that it separates rational people from radical lunatics, no matter where they stand on the political spectrum.
However, I think Mr Pahlavi is way too distant and alienated from the Iranian grassroots to be accepted as a political leader. He has not politcally achieved anything in the past 30 years and his only political asset (as he puts it himself) is the name he carries. He probably doesn't even know what Tehran looks like today. It takes a lot more than that to lead a social-political movement.
And you know Mousavi?!!!
by Farah Rusta on Sat Oct 03, 2009 10:53 AM PDTIt is so sad that green supporters on this site are "knowingly" supporting Mousavi and say we don't recognize Mr Pahlavi because we don't know him!! What a sad irony.
FR
dorosteh azadtehran
by abolzar on Sat Oct 03, 2009 07:46 AM PDTazadtehran you can not say it better. in iran it is exactly this. no one would attack aghaye pahlavi for these words... maybe even some like me are very happy he supports freedom in iran. i also think the more people can learn his message the more popular he is because i think he says exactly what people in iran want.
Our (Greens) Views of Pahlvi from Iran
by azadtehran on Sat Oct 03, 2009 07:07 AM PDTFor those outside Iran. Us young people inside Iran are very neutral to Mr. Pahlavi because we dont know much about him. We dont have acess to hear him, read his thoughts, see his intereviews.
I would think he can be very popular based on some of thing I have read. He seems to be very democratic.
The greens from my neighborhood feel the same. We dont have enough interaction to know but from what they know seems democratic.
Emil
by Farah Rusta on Sat Oct 03, 2009 03:56 AM PDTYou lost it dude (LOL)
FR
Well put jamshid. Thanks for the fresh air.
by oktaby on Fri Oct 02, 2009 08:59 PM PDTRP seems to have absorbed democratic principles well. He also seems passionate in his speeches and hits the right notes. I think he has a role to play in unifying Iranians and possibly an interim symbolic role. Iranians will need a referendum on the type of government they want and Monarchy is one of few alternatives that should also include rotational (vs. hereditary) Monarchy. Whether Iranians will choose Monarchy vs. other forms of government will likely fluctuate with time and I do not necesarily think form is the key consideration for Iranians at this point in history. Regardless of the form, Monarchy, a Parliamentary flavor or any other, the key is the Constitution and how it protects individual and group rights and the efficacy of the checks and balances that prevent hijacking of those protections by one group or another.
Know a man through his enemies
by jamshid on Fri Oct 02, 2009 08:21 PM PDTAlthough I support a republic, but I have a good feel about RP, and I find him to be the most democratic individual among Iran's leaders, including Jebheye Melli leaders and the likes of Mousavi.
My observation is that the youth in Iran has a neutral feeling about RP, but they have interest in learning more about him. However, the older generation either have high regards for him, or intensely hate him. The latter are mostly regime supporters or fossils who still think with hatred instead of their minds.
One look at those who are attacking RP in this blog for example, and it can be seen that they are mostly a bunch of hyprocrite arbadeh kesh and hochi gar.
I find that the more I actually learn about RP's enemies and the type of people they are, the better RP looks and the more points he scores.
My complain to RP is that so far, he has led an uncreative and lackluster opposition against the regime.
Farah...!
by Emil on Fri Oct 02, 2009 07:28 PM PDTI'm very glad that you got it....my pleasure...
Dear Nazanine
by benross on Fri Oct 02, 2009 07:27 PM PDTThank you. Dont listen to people saying bad things about him, they dont live here in Iran
Dear Nazanine, we have listened enough bad things about him that it doesn't go through our ears anymore! We all care about you and fellow Iranians inside the country. We use our freedom to help you be free. Time has come. Be strong. We are all with you.
From Iran Thank You Mr. Pahlavi
by nazanin111 on Fri Oct 02, 2009 06:20 PM PDTI becames so happy to read this information about Mr. Pahalvi and became more familiar with his thoughts.
He is standing up for us Green Movement for democracy.
Thank you. Dont listen to people saying bad things about him, they dont live here in Iran.
We will give anyone that can saves us a chance.
5am tehran and no freedom
the "freelance journalist" AristoClown (to Dariush)
by kharmagas on Fri Oct 02, 2009 03:32 PM PDTDariush says: "As for you Darius Kavidar who often posts XXX images on these sites and
often acts gay and other supporters of Reza Topol who are getting paid
by western government to run TV programs and propaganda to get Iranians
killed, I don't need to say much."
Dariush, AristoClown is trying to occupy the position for the minister of guidance and profanities (vazire ershAd) under the new government. He is just preparing himself for the job! Don't be so tough on him! :)
Darius Kavidar / oktaby
by Dariush on Fri Oct 02, 2009 03:13 PM PDTAll the links you attach are new. Of course, these days Reza will not openly support war on Iran as he used to do. He has realized that is not good politics. But he is so dumb, that he still supports sanctions publicly and sanctions are just another form of war. You can bomb and kill people or sanction and starve them to death. It is just the matter of time in both cases. That is why i recommend an oil sanction by Iran. This would give the west a taste of their own medicine and they could choose between carrot and stick. Being a large country doesn't mean much. The heavier they are, the harder they fall. I hope the new talks are not just more lies by the west and west and Israel actually get rid of their nuclear and chemical bombs and Israeli genocide and expansion will stop or they go back to where they were in 1825 BC, If I am not mistaking they were mud dancing in Egypt. This might sound like a joke to you, but it will happen, if they don't behave.
As for you Darius Kavidar who often posts XXX images on these sites and often acts gay and other supporters of Reza Topol who are getting paid by western government to run TV programs and propaganda to get Iranians killed, I don't need to say much.
The fact the Fars news
by Kaveh Parsa on Fri Oct 02, 2009 02:40 PM PDTThe fact the Fars news Agency (IRI official news agency) feels the need to comment about this article speaks volumes about the impact that he is having.
//www.irna.ir/View/FullStory/?NewsId=708732
Just watched his video with the Greens in NY
by seannewyork on Fri Oct 02, 2009 01:36 PM PDTI am starting to really like this man. I had no idea he was like this.
I was not like this before and still want a johmouri but the more I see of him the more democratic he becomes in my mind.
.
by Louie Louie on Sun Oct 18, 2009 10:06 AM PDT.
Is Emil supposed to be anti monarchy?!!!!
by Farah Rusta on Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:46 AM PDTSo what the hell is this (see his comment on this page)?:
//iranian.com/main/2009/aug/sarah-shahipage1
Is he not the same guy who wrote VIVA Qajars?
Oh, I see, he hates the constitutional monarchy in generaland the Pahlavis in particular but has no problem with the return of absolute monarchy and restoration of the decadent Qajars?
OK, I got it.
FR
your statements are contradictory (to Reza Pahlavi)
by kharmagas on Fri Oct 02, 2009 08:26 AM PDTMr. Pahlavi, your statements are contradictory. Perhaps a reflection of the advice you get from those surrounding you. As we have seen here (in iranian.com) some of your supporters advocate war against Iran, while a few are respectable patriots and are vehemently against invasion of Iran.
Mr. Pahlavi, I am not a monarchist, but I respect your father (Shah) despite his mistakes, because I believe towards the end he was trying to make Iran independent (and prosperous), and to that end he stood up to the powerful Israeli lobby and the west, as evidenced from his interview with Mike Wallace (60 min), his 1975 BBC interview ... etc. I hope knowing that about your father, helps you make the right choice .... that may make you less popular with the monarchist crowd but you will not be remembered as a puppet.