Iran is Not the Enemy
Washington Post / Ellen Francis
29-Apr-2008 (4 comments)

The “axis of evil” has no relevance for me when I think of Iran, a country I’ve found to have a human, loving, hospitable face throughout 40 years of encounters. I lived in Iran between 1968 and 1978, and started returning again, this time with peace delegations, in 2005. It is one of the great joys of my life to see the layers of misunderstanding and fear gradually fall away from those who visit Iran today for the first time.

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Jahanshah Javid

"no to military itervention, sanctions"

by Jahanshah Javid on

Besides Ellen Francis's message in this piece, I wish someone would find her and invite her to write about her experiences in Iran during the 1960s. I'm sure she has lots of photos to share to. It's little personal things that build real ties.


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Mr Javid sansor mikonad?!!!

by Anonym (not verified) on

Aghaye Javid, khabri keh dar mowrede ehtemale hamleye mushaki beh Iran ru site bud ro bardashti?


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Iran is not in a positive state

by Anonymousssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss (not verified) on

Theres nothing wrong with the Iranian people or the country itself, but the direction its headed with the current rulers is completely negative for irans future.

Iranians need to be able to voice their opinions freely and enjoy a free market.

The deteriorating situation in iran has caused hundreds of thousands of irans most intelligent workforce to abandon the country altogetherl. This isnt the type of trend that country needs to go toward!

The mollahs regime must go!


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"no to military intervention, sanctions"

by Anonymous500 (not verified) on

Dear Mr. Javid,

There is no doubt that any sane person, going to Iran, will find Iran a charming country with a humane and complex culture and with a smart people who are capable of playing a significant role in human civilization--as they did in the past millenia; it is not the Iranian people who are the enemy of any one, including the Western culture, but it is this damned regime that has now reached to a status that most civilized countries find it inherently incapable of living among civilized regimes of the world.

It is time for the democratic governments of the world and especially the EU, Japan, China, Russia and North American states to recognize once and for all that the Iranian people deserve a better and a more representative government, one that is not in permanent enmity with its own people nor is it a constant threat to world peace and stability, be it in the Middle East or elsewhere around the world; this regime is a threat to world peace and stability thus it has to be replaced.

We don't want war, invasion, bombing, clandestine operations nor do we want any secret negotiation with this or that faction of this criminal regime, but we want the world over to come to this relaization that there is a vaiable opposition to the IRI and it has to be recognized as such.

At the moment some may argue that the opposition groups are not organized, but this has a lot to do with the EU and its comardes's three deacdes of appeasment policies. It is this shameful policy that has allowed Tehran to transform itself into what it is today as the main threatening force to all Europen capitals from Helsinki to London, to Paris, Athens to Istanbul.

Those who travel to Iran and come back and report to us that Iranian people are good and decent should be encouraged to also start a fruitful dialogue with the Iranian oppositional groups to get the other side of the coin as well. This dialogue will enlighten them as to what is it that is happening under these mullahs; these good men and women should not beguiled into believing that a charming mullah in power is not capable of turning into an criminal psychopath when he is dealing with Iranian political prisoners in Evin or Gohar Dasht prisons.

The problem with these nice guys and gals who go to Iran is that they don't know who is it that they are dealing with in the persona of a state-mullah, the likes of Khalkhali, Lajevardi, and others a bunch of demons who appeared among us in the garb of human beings.

These "Deevano Dadan" whom I don't want to name considering that they may sue this site for slander and defemation of character, do not represent Iranian culture, but for some historical paradox, they have assumed the state power and are raping and killing and mayming Iranian people. These good Priests and/or Rabbies should turn their faces to us and talk to our people instead of looking for a charming mullah in Iran.

Indeed, no war, no invasion, no bombing, of Iranian people and no secret negotiations with these mullahs and their supporters, but help Iranian people and the opposition to get rid of the IRI in order to institutionalize Democarcy and Rule of Law in Iran, a country that could rightly be proud of hers past grlorious history and culture.