Your Excellency Barack Obama, the US President-Elect
We, the members and supporters of the Iranian National Front (INF) in U.S.A., are presenting our warmest congratulations on your historical victory in the US presidential elections. A stunning victory made possible by the slogan of “The change we believe”. Seizing this occasion, we wish to draw your attention to some of our grave concerns regarding our homeland Iran.
The INF is Iran’s oldest democratic political formation, founded in 1948 by the late Dr. Mohammad Mossdegh, the country’s Prime Minister in early 1950s.
Iran, a country with a 7000-year old culture and civilization is unfortunately ruled today by an unpopular and dictatorial theocracy. This is a Machiavellian regime, which in three decades of its existence has deceived the entire world by holding sham presidential, parliamentary and municipal election, as if it believes in democracy and respects the will of the people.
The sheer truth is that with the discretionary supervision of the Guardian Council, An appointed body, which bars any candidate not fully committed to the tenets of the regime, there have been no free elections whatsoever, under the Islamic Republic regime in Iran. A regime, in which a single person in the guise of Supreme Leader has the last say in each and every business of the country and the conduct of government, has no compatibility with democracy and rule of law. In this regime the human rights and particularly the rights of women are flagrantly and constantly violated. Political dissidents are arrested, mistreated and thrown in jail without charges or after arbitrary and summary trials. Independent newspapers are banned or muzzled and websites and personal blogs are filtered. Notwithstanding, Mr. Ahmadi Nejad has had the nerve to brag everywhere about the absolute liberty the Iranians are enjoying under his watch.
We whole-heartedly approve of your position of wanting to hold talks with the Teheran regime. However, we regretfully have to remind that the previous US administrations have paid many lip services to the Iranian people, but none of them in their dealings with the Iranian government has genuinely focused on human rights, freedom of expression and the nation’s sovereign right of freely shaping its destiny, which are the main and real concerns of the Iranian people. It is our earnest hope that your administration, which has inspired so much hope in many oppressed nations around the world, will act differently and will give priority to those concerns in any future negotiations with the Islamic government.
The observance of human rights and respect of national sovereignty in Iran not only can lead to the resolution of many problems created by Iran’s ruling theocracy, including the nuclear issue, but can also ease tensions in the entire region and is also capable of ushering us toward a lasting peace in the region and the entire world, as it was mentioned by Mr. Abbsas Amir Entezm, one of INF’s leaders, in his recent letter to the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon.
We sincerely wish you great success in the enhancement of freedom and peace in the world as the first priorities of your administration, and we also on our side are resolutely hopeful to bring about soon the democratic changes we deserve in our beloved country, by mobilizing and inspiring the great people of Iran.
INF_U.S. Executive committee,
Yosef Abdolahzadeh,Sekhavat Alizadeh,Hormoz Chamanara,Mohamad Fatemi,Manoucher Ghanbari,Reza Ghassemian,Ali Ghazanfari,Bijan Mehr
Advisers to executive committee,
Admiral Amir.H.Aryanpour(RET),Dr.Ardeshir Lotfalian
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Abbas Amir_Entezam's letter to Secretary-General of the United Nations
SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Your Excellency Ban Ki-moon
The Esteemed Secretary-General of the United Nations
I am writing to you as the longest-held political prisoner in the Islamic Republic of Iran, and as a prisoner of conscious who has spent more than 29 years of his life in the regime’s dungeons for the crime of defending popular sovereignty and establishing democracy in Iran. I am currently on medical furlough in order to receive necessary treatment for medical conditions, the origins of which are the long imprisonment, as well as the maltreatment, malnutrition, and lack of medical care during my imprisonment. I am writing to you at a time of high tensions between Iran and the world community, the nuclear crisis, and the danger of another war.
Although cognizant of the regime’s extreme sensitivity about my activities, nevertheless I feel responsibility for the welfare of my compatriots. For the sake of defending the Iranian people’s rights to life and liberties, as well as for the sake of guarding peace in Iran and the crisis-ridden Middle East region, I am appealing to you. Through you and with your interjection, I appeal to the global community, humanity’s conscious, civil society institutions engaged in peace-building, and human rights supporters around the world.
Your Excellency,
The danger of war is so acute that only with mobilizing all the possible capabilities of the global community in support of the non-violent civil rights movement of the Iranian people, could we prevent this looming war.
The options that are on the table for the permanent members of the Security Council and the political leaders around the world, could not have any results other than increased harm to the material and ethical existence of the Iranian people. Increased sanctions, even smart sanctions, will increase the pain and suffering of the Iranian people with increased restrictions in the economic realm. These sanctions will only strengthen the regime-related smuggling groups as well as increase corruption, inflation, and unemployment. These sanctions will create shortages of various commodities and public necessities, which will gradually bury the Iranian people in mass graves.
On the other hand, the ruling regime will use the pretext of confronting foreign pressures to increase pressures on political, civil rights, and human rights activists in Iran. Under the excuse of confronting the enemy, the ruling regime will declare movements of the Iranian people for their freedoms and rights as unacceptable. The ruling regime will use the security environment in order to crush all movements of the civil society and bring absolute repression. Under such eerie conditions the regime will be taking the entire population of Iran as hostages.
For these reasons, it appears that the officials of this regime not only do not regard the kind of sanctions that have been imposed so far as any threat to their survival, but also welcome such sanctions. These sanctions will provide the regime the opportunity to declare war conditions, so that they could retaliate against the dissidents. In the same vein, threatening violence, in addition to creating irreparable costs for the Iranian people, will provide the officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran the opportunity to increase repression at home, and continue the irresponsible and adventurist policies in all realms that will endanger the security of the Iranian people and those of the global community.
Neither war nor sanctions could change the behavior of the Islamic Republic regime in pursuing adventurism and accepting the necessities of international peace and security. Therefore, the only possible option is assisting the Iranian people to take leadership in managing their affairs and find an exit from the current impasse. In my opinion, the officials of the Islamic Republic will not accept freeze for freeze, nor will they accept the package of incentives offered by 5+1, because this regime needs crisis for its survival like one needs oxygen. For this reason, the nuclear dossier has provided the officials of the regime an opportunity to increase tensions, the necessary oxygen for regime survival.
If we think about and analyze the root causes of the nuclear crisis, we will easily discover that this crisis has its roots in the policies and strategic plans of the system of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Islamic Republic’s system has been so structured that producing crisis for the Iranian people as well as for the region and the global community have been its routine behaviors. This regime does not believe in freedom, democracy, peace, and the right of the people to choose their own destiny. That is why this regime is not concerned and worried about economic difficulties, psychological security, and financial security of the Iranian people. And this regime does not hesitate to sacrifice the entire population of Iran for its adventurism. For a regime which has such behavior towards its own population, naturally this regime will not hesitate to engage in any kind of violence towards others and threaten the right of existence of other peoples around the world.
Your Excellency,
The Iranian people, who are the primary victims of this regime’s adventurist, arrogant, selfish, violent, bellicose, and inhumane policies, are at the forefront of the struggles to change the behavior of this regime. Therefore, it would be auspicious, if your excellency would utilize all the capabilities and abilities of the United Nations to help the Iranian people in the struggle to determine their own destiny and to establish freedom and democracy. Your responsibility in defending peace, international security, and the rights to lives and liberties of the Iranian people and the people of the world is a grave responsibility.
If you take brave and responsible actions, history will honor you. And conversely, if you do not take brave and responsible actions, history will judge you harshly. When you look at the history and civilization of the honorable people of Iran, you would judge that the Iranian people have the capabilities and abilities of the free people around the world to choose their own destiny and utilize their cultural and material capabilities to advance peace and democracy.
Perhaps the costs of helping the Iranian people under these conditions is very hard. But such costs are far less than the costs of war and increased crisis and insecurities in the region and the world.
Your Excellency,
The people of Iran extend their hands in solidarity to you, and through you to leaders around the world, as well as to freedom-loving and peace-loving people around the world. Helping the Iranian people is helping the future of human kind.
Your Excellency,
My plea to you is very simple and at the same time is extremely significant. Demand the Islamic Republic to accept and implement all the primary conventions on human rights, conventions against torture, conventions against all forms of discrimination against women, and international criminal court’s treaty and laws as part of the confidence-building in the nuclear dossier and in order to have real control and monitoring of the nuclear activities. And the global community should utilize all its capabilities to monitor the regime’s respecting human rights, including charter of civil and political rights, and its voluntary protocols. Complete abiding of all human rights rules, norms, standards, and obligations in Iran is the key to solving the nuclear crisis as well as other crises in the region.
Your Excellency,
For the treatment of my medical conditions, I need to have access to my physicians at a moment’s notice. Returning me to prison again, may cause me to die. I am prepared to accept this heavy price with ease of mind in order to save the Iranian people from war, poverty, repression, starvation, catastrophe, mass killings, brain drain, and cultural destruction. By mentioning the possibility of my death, I wish to increase your moral responsibility so that you will go beyond traditional norms and activities of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and utilize all of the resources of the global community and use new and creative policies for the implementation of human rights rules and norms in Iran.
I am prepared to discuss the details of my plans and suggestions with your representatives and the experts whom you trust.
You can be certain that the great nation of Iran will be eternally grateful to you.
Sincerely yours,
Abbas Amir-Entezam
The Longest-Held Political Prisoner of Conscience
Serving the 29th Year of Imprisonment
July 18, 2008