Message of peace and friendship to the people of United States of America
Request for the Congress and President of USA
We are a group of independent Iranian civil society representatives engaged in scientific and humanitarian work in our country. Some of us are also engaged in social service activities beyond our borders. While working for common causes, we often hold hands with civil society partners from other parts of the world, including members of the US scientific and civil society community. Because of the many compatriots we have in your country, we feel a special human bond linking us together. We are non-partisan and have no political agenda
We extend our warm greetings to the people of America and wish peace, friendship and prosperity for all. We hope logic, reason and justice will prevail and remove the dark clouds casting a shadow and constraining communications and collaboration between us.
We want to look beyond troubling issues such as the US intervention, that toppled the democratically elected popular government of Mossadeq and the drama of hostage taking of US diplomats by Iranian students. We want to look at the positive responses and deep empathy shown by people of the two countries, when Iran faced the aftermath of the Bam earthquake tragedy and US faced the consequences of the man made disaster of September 11.
We are confident that our message will be heeded. Our request to the US Congress and to the US President is to scrap the fund for promoting democracy in Iran. This will pave the way for us to strengthen our bonds for people to people cooperation between America and Iran, WITHOUT INTERFERENCE OF GOVERNMENTS OF BOTH SIDES. Yes, we are confident that we can achieve what both governments have declared as intentions, but have failed to achieve in practice.
How Iranians look at the fund:
(a) Iran has had a sad history of external interference. Iranians have deep suspicion of any foreign inspired initiative. No credible civil society member would want to be associated with such a fund. Even opposition figures and prominent democracy and human rights activists in Iran have called for the termination of the democracy promotion program.
(b) The fund has undermined Iran’s home grown civil society initiatives. It has fueled paranoia of US and Israel conspiracies to undermine political stability bring about regime change and install a pro-American government. Thus, the fund has provided a pretext for distrust and suspicion, leading to narrowing of space for independent civil society.
(c) Contrary to US laws and international norms of transparency, the recipients of the US funding are secret. Thus, those in contact with western partners are placed at risk of being treated as potential conspirators and become the target for crack down by the Iranian government.
(d) If governments of both sides are sincere about supporting people to people collaboration, the best way is for both of them to step aside and let the scholars and civil society members work without restrictions that are based on unsubstantiated suspicion, and remove legal obstacles of the sanctions, issuing of visas, etc. Terminating the democracy promotion fund is the first step for the US and releasing all people, who have been imprisoned on suspicion of connection with the US Government, is the first step for the Iranian Government. These steps will provide incentives for action by independent scholars and civil society activities. Obviously, the cooperation of the two sides must adhere to the principles of transparency, accountability and being free from any political agenda.
Here is the gist of our message:
1. To the great people of America, which has drawn on the best of talents from all over the world, including Iranians: We extend our hands in love, friendship and cooperation, transcending differences of governments. There is much to gain from our collaboration, including infusing rationality, compassion, peace and tolerance into policies and practices of our Governments. Through our on-going dialogue, we hope together to identify people-based programs and mechanisms for collaboration. Through the wonderful centers of science and technology, and through your universities and centers of higher learning and your civil societies, we hope to give concrete shape to our mutual aspirations, which will serve not only the people of our two countries, but citizens of the whole world.
2. To the members of Congress: As representatives of the people of America, including the large number of Iranian Americans, we look to you to support us through the power of the people you represent. We request you to encourage the Government to abolish the fund, which has caused so much pain and stress to a significant part of Iranian civil society. Without interference or funding from the two governments, we can together develop and expand our cooperation. Governments must be facilitators and not caretakers. We also need to see easing of the severe restrictions the sanctions have placed on our mutual cooperation.
3. To the American President:. You have declared your deep respect and affection for the Iranian people. We want to take you at your word. So, here is a group of independent Iranians asking you::
(a) to dismantle the fund for democracy, which has had an outcome completely opposite to your declared goals
(b) to set up a non-partisan panel of scholars to study ways and means of easing sanctions so that independent and genuine Iranian civil society and scholars can cooperate with their US counterparts, observing universally accepted code of ethics, including transparency, accountability and partnerships based on equality and equity. We will respect international law, and the laws of both countries. What we do not like about the laws, we will try and change through non-confrontational dialogue and committed advocacy.
4. We have used various channels to communicate with our own government: Some of us have already engaged various state authorities in a dialogue designed to foster trust and confidence. We will hold the Government to the promises made, and accountable to the laws of Iran, including rights of citizens.
We hope our peaceful, non-confrontational discourse, free from any political motivation, will be taken seriously and we can, through strengthening of genuine and independent people to people cooperation serve the real interests of both countries.
Please address your queries to:
persia111@hotmail.com
So far signed by:
Elham Ahmadnejad
Bijan Khajehpour
Pari Namazi
Soraya Bahmanpour
Hesam Aldin Naragi
Heliya Faezi Pour
Robabeh Sheikholeslam
Jabiz Sharifian
Setareh Forozan
Samira Farahani
Simin Hanachi
Simin Naseri
Shirin Niyazmand
Ali Ardalan
Alireza Rabiei
Fatemeh Farhang Khah
Forozan Salehi
Lili Farhadpour
Mohammad Baquer Namazi
Mohamad Ali Barzegar
Mojgan Tavakoli
Mostafa Tourabi Zadeh
Masomeh Torabi
Molouk Aziz zade
Mona Moghadaci
Naser Yousefi
Nasrin Jazani
Naghmeh Yazdanpanah
Shadi Azimi
Giti Shambayati
Yasaman Aghajani
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"Iran is for Iranians"!
by Andy (not verified) on Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:43 PM PDTGreat letter, very intelligent. More power to them!
To: Mola Nasredeen
by Mehdi on Tue Jul 15, 2008 07:57 PM PDTRolling on the floor laughing. Perfect reply. What do these guys want now? How many more countries do they need to bomb before their Superior Race, I mean Chosen People will be defended properly?
mola mana khe-ja-lat midin
by Mehdi Mazloom on Tue Jul 15, 2008 06:08 PM PDTNa baba, bandeh mazloom im.(my mom always told me "to ba-che-e-khoob-e)
As who pays me. No one does. I write from personal experience (I kid you not).
It is time to lay the truth to our good and honest Iranians. We have reached the stage which I call "The Arab fatigue". enough with the mayhem. enough with provoking others with violence, then when they get held in the collar and shaken - then Arab plead the innocent , the victim.No one believe that diatribe anymore.
enough with the Islamists intolerance towards other no-Muslims. Otherwise, what the hell these Mullahs have any reason to hate the Israelis, other then barbaric religious dogma.
We need to bring there garbage into the public eyes. expose their real agenda behind their bogus "heart bled" for the Pals).
We the Israelis (zion, fred & others) objective here is not spread hatred or propaganda. Rather present the Israeli pov, so you Iranians will be able to see how we see the conflict, in an afford to promote more understanding between us the Israelis and the Iranians.
Since most of us, also speak your language and familiar with Iran well, our job is much easier to understand you then the other way.
I wish to make it abundantly clear. despite my occasional harsh language, I hold no ill will, and certainly no hatred toward those who disagree with me, or my country.
we are just very proud of what we have accomplished in mere 60 year and proud to be member of the Israeli community.
Do we want to live in peace and harmony with our neighbors in the region - who the hell does not want. Nothing would make the Israeli more happy to invade your countries armed with our passports and camera. enjoy your world class hospitality and kindness to your guests. enjoy the food and magnificent heritage. Far more then with our gans and tanks.
Mehdi, You are not mazloom, you are Majnoon...
by Mola Nasredeen on Tue Jul 15, 2008 05:14 PM PDTOr maybe you are not Majnoon either. You are probably on the payroll for writing all these "arajeef" all day long. How is the pay? Do they still accept new applications for services rendered? I have a "mashang" nephew looking for a job, any job. He is not well versed in English or Farsi but he is very "porrow and pachevarmalideh". He is the right candidate for the job. You know what I mean.
Allah the compassionate, the merciful
by Mehdi Mazloom on Tue Jul 15, 2008 01:31 PM PDTAgha e- ishan
Let me take a deep breath before i get down to respond to you post.
You wrote:
We extend our warm greetings to the people of America and wish peace,
friendship and prosperity for all. We hope logic, reason and justice
will prevail and remove the dark clouds casting a shadow and
constraining communications and collaboration between us.
Which hand, the thousand hands raised in the streets of Tehran calling "marg marg Emrika"?. or"marg marg Esrail". Or the one who delivers 40,000 missiles to hazbollah to kill Israelis. Or, the thousands IEDs to the Iraqi insurgence to kill the same Americans. These are hardly calls for peace
What type of Justice. The one which American try to promote freedom of expression, democracy and open mindedness. Or the one which is promoted by the Mullahs, imposing sharia laws, oppression of people's spirit and creativity to think for themselves.
We want to look beyond troubling issues such as the US intervention,
that toppled the democratically elected popular government of Mossadeq
and the drama of hostage taking of US diplomats by Iranian students.
Isn't Iran's regime is doing exactly that throughout the ME & Gulf region. Subverting other "democratically elected governments" of Lebanon, Israel, as well as other Arab states. Funding more then $300M of your money on Hizbollah's terror in Lebanon and Hamas and other radical Islamic groups.
and attempt to destabilize Israel, as well as otehr moderate Sunni Arab states.
Finally, here is the most glaring of them all.
4. We have used various channels to communicate with our own
government: Some of us have already engaged various state authorities
in a dialogue designed to foster trust and confidence. We will hold the
Government to the promises made, and accountable to the laws of Iran,
including rights of citizens.
This regime doesn't give a rat ass to anyone around the world - leading all of us down the path of Armageddon. What makes good and well meaning group of people like you more important then the rest of the world, such that they will listen to you.
I command you for the INTENT. However, you will do good if you go to Tehran and grab this Akh-mag-e-nejat by the color and shake the midget hard, to wake up to the ominous realty on the ground
Suggestion
by Mehdi on Tue Jul 15, 2008 01:19 PM PDTI think the main probem with the whole nuclear issue is that the world does not trust Iran - whether justly or unjustly or for whatever reasons. But Iran should publicly announce how it proposes to reassure the world that it will not engage in developing nuclear weapons and truly abide by the IAEA rules. Iran should make an effort to resolve this issue and not shrug it off as unnecessary. Iran should go that extra mile. It doesn't cost Iran anything, really, and it does not prove that Iran is weak. It is simple to do and it will be considered a courtesy by the world. Just set up a website and in detail explain why the world has no reason to worry about this issue. Put in specific safeguards, not just explaining that, for example, developing nuclear weapons would be un-Islamic - that won't work. Maybe they could have live webcams that people around the world could monitor how much Uranium has been produced each day. They can get very creative and totally take the warmonger excuses out of their hands.
Makes sense to me...
by American Wife (not verified) on Tue Jul 15, 2008 01:15 PM PDTcan someone tell me a little bit more about this funding in general? What is it supposed to have done for Iranians... the people, not the regime. In addition to what is is SUPPOSED to have done, what has it actually done?
It is realistic to think that Iran can achieve a successful revolution against the Islamic regime without some outside/monetary aid?
Is it pride in accepting a helping hand or a distrust that a helping hand comes with a "taking" hand? If so, do you think that ANYONE... ANYWHERE... does something for nothing. Forget on a personal level... I mean, let's be real... is any government going to do something without something in return... and is it even remotely realistic to expect that?
You're the best of the best here... learn me!
we don't hear enough from Iroonis in Iran anymore
by Jalili (not verified) on Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:06 PM PDTthank you for writing this and we wish you the best of luck.
Great Letter
by farokh2000 on Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:35 AM PDTThis is a very intelligent and logical letter.
Hopefully, there will be ears here to listen and get it.
The United States doesnot have a very good record of positive results when interfering in other Countries business. But the reality is that they don't interfere for no reason. There is always the issue of what they will reap as profit when they invest in these kinds of actions.
If there isn't anyting in it for them, they could care less.
They have been butting in Iranians' business since the time of Mossadegh and they have not stopped and now want more. Resources and Geography are things they have in mind, not the people and their welfare. Just look at what they have done to Iraq and Afghanistan in their latest efforts to bring "freedom" to their people there. Really!?
Shame, shame.
"U.S. democracy funding"--what a joke
by AnonymousBoy (not verified) on Tue Jul 15, 2008 10:24 AM PDTThe U.S. "democracy" fund is the same "democracy fund" that bankrolled the overthrowing of Mosaddeq, Allende, Arbenz, Lumumba, Sukarno, Qassem of Iraq, et al (and brought to power an array of torture-and-murder regimes which killed millions of people). As Allen Weinstein, a historian who helped draft the legislation establishing the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), said in 1991: "A lot of what we do today was done covertly 25 years ago by the CIA." Sure, let's "drastically increase" the strike funds to another generation of "Shaban bi Mokhs". Are the Shabans coming out of the woodwork on Iranian.com?
Beautiful
by Abarmard on Tue Jul 15, 2008 09:38 AM PDTWe must keep pushing to the Western bullies that Iran is for Iranians and we don't need any handout. Except a few, Iranians are not generally vatanforush.
Thanks
Please Help Us!!!
by Anonymous500 (not verified) on Tue Jul 15, 2008 09:21 AM PDTTranslation:
Mr. President and US Congress, please don't support any one or group who wants to destabilize/overthrow this rgime of CRIME-TERRORISM that "we" support, the Islamic Republic. Instead, help us to "strenghthen" our relationship with American people (MY LEFT FOOT) on behalf of this regime of CRIME-TERRORISM that we we hope to be able to reform, Inshallah, about 50 years from now.
Well said Fred
by Free Thinker (not verified) on Tue Jul 15, 2008 06:46 AM PDTWell said Fred
To avoid war increase the funding
by Fred on Tue Jul 15, 2008 04:45 AM PDTNow CASMII lobby is representing “a group of independent Iranian civil society representatives engaged in scientific and humanitarian work”? If so, those groups have to come out of closet and publicly announce to the world their association with CASMII lobby. The U.S. democracy funding is a pittance, to avoid war it needs to be drastically increased and include strike funds for factory workers and particularly the oil workers.