[FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great Forum Index [FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great
Views expressed here are not necessarily the views & opinions of ActivistChat.com. Comments are unmoderated. Abusive remarks may be deleted. ActivistChat.com retains the rights to all content/IP info in in this forum and may re-post content elsewhere.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Reza Pahlavi: Neither Military Action Nor Diplomacy ....

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    [FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great Forum Index -> Noteworthy Discussion Threads
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
cyrus
Site Admin


Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 4993

PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 2:59 pm    Post subject: Reza Pahlavi: Neither Military Action Nor Diplomacy .... Reply with quote



http://www.rezapahlavi.org/npc2006.html

Ladies and gentlemen,

It saddens me to reappear before you here today at a time when under the yoke of the clerical regime, my homeland is labeled as the greatest threat to international peace and security, and more importantly, from my vantage point, this threat comes at the cost of great pain and suffering for my fellow compatriots in Iran.

Fear of the first state-sponsor of terrorism acquiring nuclear weapons, with all of its implications for nuclear blackmail and terror, even unconventional delivery of a nuclear device to Europe or to these shores, has been widely discussed. But let me address how the strategic landscape is viewed by those in power in Iran:

Like all totalitarian systems, the Islamist regime in Tehran needs to expand in order to survive. Mr. Ahmadinejad has worked to become more popular on the Arab street than he is in Iranian homes. His instruments of oppression ? special units of the Revolutionary Guards and the Basijis ? feel intensely disliked and find their morale eroded while on patrol in major Iranian cities, but they walk ten feet tall in the souks from Mindanawa to Damascus; this is because they present themselves as champions of radical Islamism in front of the West.

As long as the Islamic Republic is in power, the project for democracy in the greater Middle East may actually pave the way for Iran?s expansionism. Witness the Islamic Republic?s ally Hamas? victory in Palestinian elections. The coalition forces have removed Saddam and placed power in Iraq?s elected parliament. But who is the king maker in that parliament today? It is the leader of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iran who for twenty years was nurtured and prepared for his present role by the leaders of the Islamic Republic. Nor is Iran limiting its bet to one option. Three weeks ago, the leader of the most radical Shiite faction in Iraq, went to Tehran to receive financial, intelligence and organizational support.

When Iran?s prot駩s have the money, information, and support from those who are masters of manipulation, intimidation and violence against their political opponents, they have a strong upper-hand against their rivals in a nascent democracy such as Iraq. In Lebanon, if Hezbollah can spend more money than the government building schools, mosques and hospitals ? thanks to generous Iranian contributions ? don?t be surprised if they win elections.

A "Bermuda Triangle" from Iraq to Lebanon to Palestine is being taken over by Iran?s allies through the ballot box. It could pull in the Moslem Brotherhood in Egypt, and when it does the same to the Shiites of the oil-rich Eastern province of Saudi Arabia, the encirclement of the Persian Gulf will be complete. Islamists will have achieved what the Soviets could not, namely complete control of the Persian Gulf oil and the jugular of Western economies. They would then have a latter day Caliphate to lead all the forces that are against the post Cold War vision of the free world.

All the Islamic Republic needs in order to achieve this goal is to be able to use low intensity violence to supplement its financial, intelligence and organizational support for its allies. That, ladies and gentlemen, is why Iran needs the bomb: to neutralize the conventional military superiority of the West, and continue to use terrorism and low intensity violence without the fear of escalation to high intensity conventional warfare. For the free world, these are unacceptable outcomes. And yet, there isn?t much time to find a solution. The resumption of enrichment by the Islamic Republic has drastically reduced the window of decision. The vast number of commentaries and reports on the subject seem to come down to this: comparing diplomatic options with punitive ones, including military strikes.

I am here to tell you that neither is an option:

The fruitless Euro-three diplomatic efforts have already given the theocrats three years. Another three years of cat-and-mouse games with the Russians under the IAEA buys enough time to make a bomb: that is the Islamic Republic?s plan and hope.

The problem with these negotiations all along was the false assumption that the other side wants a solution to avert a crisis. Quite the contrary: Increasingly unpopular, the Islamic Republic needs an atmosphere of crisis to justify its increased militarization and harsh security measures at home, and divert attention from increasing poverty and the misery index ? so long as this crisis does not result in a shooting war which they will lose. The fundamentalists? assumption is that continuing on their present course will lead to a collision with the free world. Therefore, they believe they need a nuclear umbrella to force the other side off the road before the collision.

As for a military strike, it will rally nationalistic sentiments which will work to the regime?s advantage, and consequently, give the theocracy a much longer lease on life. Make no mistake about it; the question is what comes first in Iran: Democracy or nuclear weapons? The race is on!

Let me repeat: a military strike may delay the bomb by two or three years, but it will delay democracy several times over. It is not a smart choice, and no way to win the race! If neither negotiations nor punitive measures are the answer, the inevitable question becomes: how is democracy achievable in Iran?

Let us recall that a hundred years ago, Iran?s Constitutional Revolution introduced the first genuine democracy into the East, with more than half the population of the world. Let me assure you that today, there are more than a thousand circles of dissent and opposition in Iran against the regime. Their cumulative weight is far greater than that of the clerical regime. However, the problem is that they are kept isolated from each other; and this is the regime?s highest priority.

Local networks facilitating communications within these circles are beyond the regime?s control. When it comes to connecting all of these circles at the national level, however, the regime comes down with an iron fist. The Reform Movement, the Student Movement, the printed press, web loggers, provide examples of attempts to create national networks.

The regime?s response to the Reform Movement was to corrupt it from above by installing subservient leaders who later confessed their vow to defend the regime, not the people who elected them.

They fragmented the student movement through a combination of torture, imprisonment, building a fifth column, and even a vast drug ring. Can you imagine, a year prior to the vast student protests of 1999, you could seldom find drugs in dorms; a year later heroin was cheaper than tobacco! This does not happen in authoritarian states, unless underwritten by the state itself.

Living in the free world, you would expect that the natural means of communication with these circles would be a free press. Well, there are more journalists and web loggers in Iranian jails today than in any other country in the world.

While the roots of a national communications network has to be inside Iran, the conclusion from the observations above is that the hub of this network cannot be inside the country.

This is where the free world can help. I know of hundreds of young dissidents who have done organizational activity inside Iran, in effect connecting the aforementioned small local networks. Today they are sitting scared in places from Jordan to Turkey, or in refugee camps in European cities. With a little help from the free world, they can become the building blocks of a two-way communication network that aggregates the demands of the thousand circles of opposition into a national demand for democracy and against this theocracy.

I stand here before you, appealing on behalf of the many dissidents who simply ask for the support of the free world. And I hope that I am right to being optimistic that the free world is indeed committed to invest in democracy as the solution for Iran, rather than endless negotiations or military strikes.


________________________________________________________
Reza Pahlavi: Neither Military Action Nor Diplomacy Will Resolve Iran Crisis

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/03-01-2006/0004311145&EDATE=

WASHINGTON, March 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Appearing as the "news maker" guest of
the National Press Club, Reza Pahlavi of Iran challenged the ongoing debate
between proponents of military action versus diplomacy, instead appealing to
the "free world to support the thousand circles of localized dissent and
opposition that readily exists in Iran, but which desperately need to link
with one another and the outside world." Explaining how this vast network of
homegrown dissent was being kept isolated from each other by the regime, he
said that it would readily flourish only if it could "find solidarity with
each other and an unwavering free world."
In his remarks to representatives of the international news media, the 45-
year-old opposition leader to the Islamic regime warned that just as the
"Euro-three diplomatic efforts bought Iran's theocrats three extra years,
another series of cat-and-mouse games with the Russians may buy the clerical
regime the time it needs to make the bomb."
Rejecting any talk of military strikes against his homeland, the former
jet fighter pilot said that "it would ultimately rally nationalistic
sentiments which would work to the regime's advantage; consequently, giving
the theocrats a much longer lease on life." Calling the situation in his
homeland "a race against time," he said that "it was a matter of what comes
first in Iran: Democracy or nuclear weapons?"
Offering his geo-strategic view of the region, the former Crown Prince
pointed to the regional ambitions of an increasingly adventurous clerical
regime in Tehran. Referring to a "Bermuda Triangle from Iraq to Lebanon to
Palestine," which was being taken over by Iran's allies, "through the ballot
box," he said, "as long as the Islamic Republic was in power, the project for
democracy in the greater Middle East may actually pave the way for Iran's own
very calculated expansionism."
Citing results of recent Palestinian and Iraqi elections as proof, Reza
Pahlavi explained that, "when Iran's proteges are offered the necessary money,
information, and support, along with tools of intimidation and violence, they
will always find the upper-hand against their rivals in any such nascent
democracies." As with Lebanon, he added, "if, Iranian generosity, allows
Hezbollah to spend more money than the government on schools, mosques,
hospitals and even social services, no one should be surprised if they win or
dominate elections."
"So, clearly the answer is democracy in Iran, which will be hindered by
military strikes or giving the regime more time through endless negotiations,"
said Reza Pahlavi.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
cyrus
Site Admin


Joined: 24 Jun 2003
Posts: 4993

PostPosted: Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:18 pm    Post subject: Son of last shah of Iran urges support for Iranian oppositio Reply with quote

Son of last shah of Iran urges support for Iranian opposition

Wed Mar 1, 1:47 PM ET


http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20060301/en_afp/usirannuclearpahlavi_060301184732

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The son of the last shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, urged support for Iran's internal opposition, insisting neither diplomacy nor military might would resolve the current crisis.

Pahlavi, 45, told reporters that "Euro-three diplomatic efforts bought Iran's theocrats three extra years. Another series of cat and mouse games with the Russians may buy the clerical regime the time it needs to make the bomb.

"That is the Islamic Republic's plan and hope," said Pahlavi, who fled his country during the 1979 revolution.

"The problem with these negotiations all along was the false assumption that the other side wants a solution to avert the crisis," he said. "Quite the contrary, increasingly unpopular, the Islamic Republic needs an atmosphere of crisis to justify its increased militarization and harsh security measures at home, and divert attention from increasing poverty."

A military option, he said, "would ultimately rally nationalistic sentiments which would work to the regime's advantage, consequently giving the theocrats a much longer lease on life."

So Pahlavi appealed "to the free world to support the thousand circles of localized dissent and opposition that readily exists in Iran, but which desperately need to link with one another and the outside world."
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    [FREE IRAN Project] In The Spirit Of Cyrus The Great Forum Index -> Noteworthy Discussion Threads All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group