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USADI Commentary
EU
Continues to Appease Rogue Mullahs
Iran’s theocratic regime has
an appalling human rights record. Public hangings are daily
occurrence in Iran and just a few days ago it was reported that
another Iranian woman was sentenced to death by stoning,
bringing the total number of women killed or sentenced to death
by stoning to 11 since 1997. At least 109 persons have been
either hanged or sentenced to death since January 2005.
The clerical regime has been
also appropriately named as the most active state sponsor of
terrorism. It is also actively working to spread and consolidate
its sphere of influence in Iraq and has been charged by top
Iraqi officials with providing military, ideological, financial,
and logistical support to the ongoing insurgency in that
country.
Last but not least, Tehran
had lied for 18 years about its secret nuclear weapons program.
Ever since revelations about its nuclear weapons facilities in
August 2002 by the opposition coalition, the Paris-based
National Council of Resistance of Iran, Tehran has perused a
campaign of hide and cheat, taking advantage of the diplomatic
cover its talks with the European Union has provided.
Its parallel program to
advance WMD warhead capable long-range missiles has gone on
unabated.
In the face of all the facts
to the contrary, the cunning mullahs of Tehran insist on their
benign nuclear intentions. Is any one accepting their pledges at
face value? Yes, the European Union led by its three main
powers, Germany, France and Britain.
On Wednesday, the much
anticipated “make-or-break” nuclear talks in Geneva between Iran
and the EU-3 ended with the clear acquiesces of EU to Tehran.
According to the New York Times, “much to Iran's satisfaction,
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary… underscored that
Iran's right to pursue a peaceful nuclear program remained in
place.”
Referring to a similar
statement by the French foreign minister, the Times commented
that “statement suggested the Europeans were ready to present a
concrete plan to satisfy Iran's demand that Europe help it gain
access to nuclear reactors to generate electricity and a
reliable nuclear fuel supply.”
But this was not all. Iran
also gained at least several precious months before the start of
debate on sending its case to the United Nations Security
Council.
Of course, the EU’s diplomats
did their best to put a self-congratulatory spin on the
Wednesday talks, describing it as a major success as if they had
really extracted some concessions from Tehran.
Indeed, the reported
agreement is not a concession at all. Iran was obligated to do
exactly that consistent with the last November agreement in
Paris.
Once again, Tehran with the
help of the EU-3 has averted the possibility of being referred
to Security Council. Thanks to the EU’s zeal to appease rogue
regimes, the mullahs remain comfortably in the driver seat while
the nuclear clock is dangerously ticking away.
In 1938, the Western world
turned the other way when the fascist regime of Hitler invaded
and occupied Austria. Western Europe led by Britain launched a
response: Appeasing the Nazi Germany to dissuade it from
capturing all of Czechoslovakia and beyond. That of course did
not stop Hitler from overrunning Czechoslovakia.
The 1938 Munich Pact put
forth by British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was one of
the most shameless accords signed in modern history. It plunged
Europe, the Middle East and North Africa in the inferno of a
devastating war, which left tens of millions killed.
Sixty seven years later, the
EU-3 is again at it. They have promised to reward the murderous
mullahs with a comprehensive trade, political and security
incentive package in two months time.
The pro-appeasement European
capitals and their allies on this side of Atlantic are pitching
the tread-bare and baseless notion that somehow the nuclear
crisis with Iran is going to be salvaged if Ali Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani became president. This reoccurring triumph of hope
over reality of the rogue nature of the theocratic regime in
Iran, is indeed one of the main reasons that we have a nuclear
crisis on our hand.
The bitter fruit of
appeasement of Iran rulers during Rafsanjani's two terms and
then Khatami's two terms must not be compounded by making
further concessions to Tehran. The world could ill afford
another Munich Pact.
(USADI)
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The Financial Times
May 25, 2005
World Should Not Pin its Hopes on
Rafsanjani
As they gather on Wednesday
in Geneva, foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany, the
so-called EU3 which is negotiating with Iran over its nuclear
programme, are intent on deterring an increasingly intransigent
Tehran from resuming its nuclear enrichment activities.
Shielding itself behind the nuclear non-proliferation treaty,
Iran claims it has an "inalienable" right to complete the fuel
cycle, granting it an enhanced nuclear capacity that potentially
could be exploited for military purposes.
In their frustration, the
European diplomats are looking to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, the
wily politician and recently declared Iranian presidential
candidate, as a potential saviour. Should the nuclear talks
stretch past Iran's June 17 presidential contest, they hope a
newly inaugurated Mr Rafsanjani will quickly resolve the nuclear
stalemate. However, in their euphoric embrace of Mr Rafsanjani,
the Europeans neglect both Iran's recent history and its
political peculiarities.
Contrary to the popular
images of Mr Rafsanjani as the only politician who can transcend
Iran's factionalised politics and produce results, his previous
tenure as president was far from successful. … After eight years
in office, Mr Rafsanjani had neither liberalised Iran's economy
nor resolved its inherent distortions. Government borrowing from
international markets left Iran saddled with a huge debt burden
while state subsidies curbed growth rates. High unemployment and
inflation plagued the economy. Culturally, Iran remained a
largely repressive society laden with religious impositions.
Neither did the Rafsanjani
presidency usher in a foreign policy of moderation and
pragmatism. To be sure, after the prolonged Iran-Iraq war, the
collapse of the Soviet Union and the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah
Khomeini, Iran's foreign policy was bound to change, with
national interest calculations eclipsing ideological
convictions.
Despite a modest
rapprochement with the Gulf sheikhdoms, however, Mr Rafsanjani
could not develop a consensus behind mending fences with the US
or normalising relations with the European community. On issues
of terrorism and the Arab-Israeli peace process, Iran remained
implacable and dogmatic…
Moreover, the younger
generation of conservatives, many of whom covet the presidency
themselves, resent not just Mr Rafsanjani's pragmatism but also
his opportunism in terms of seeking yet another presidential
term and thus denying them the opportunity.
In a strange twist, Mr
Rafsanjani's candidacy has generated more optimism in western
capitals than on Iran's streets. Since the failure of the
popular reform movement, Iranians have become disenchanted with
the political process, viewing the Islamic polity as incapable
of responding to its constituency…
Excerpts from an article by Ray Takeyh, a senior fellow at the
Council on Foreign Relations
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The
Guardian
May 26, 2005
Iran gains
time to strike deal with EU on nuclear plans
Iran
yesterday pulled back from the brink of confrontation with
Europe and the
US over its
nuclear programme, gaining more time to try to strike a bargain
with the European Union and delaying the chances of being
referred to the UN security council for possible sanctions.
In talks in
Geneva involving senior Iranian officials and the foreign
ministers of
Britain,
Germany, and France, a two-month breathing space was agreed,
meaning that
Tehran
would continue to keep its nuclear fuel enrichment programme
frozen, while the three EU states prepare an offer meant to
obtain a halt to its enrichment activities…
The agreement
- if it sticks, and according to western diplomats the Iranians
are notoriously tricky negotiators, regularly "reinterpreting"
what had been agreed - means that Tehran should avoid being
referred to the security council when the UN nuclear authority,
the International Atomic Energy Agency, has a board meeting in
Vienna next month…
The Iranians
appear determined to restart processing raw uranium ore into
uranium hexafluoride gas, the substance that is fed into
high-speed centrifuges to be converted into nuclear fuel for
power stations - or into fissile material for nuclear warheads.
Iran insists
that its purposes are purely peaceful, a claim that lacks
credibility in western capitals. Iran agreed with the EU trio
last November to suspend the uranium enrichment while talks
proceeded. It is now itching to resume the enrichment, and
sounds disenchanted with the incentives being offered by the
Europeans in return for a permanent suspension…
There is also
dissension within the western camp, with Britain taking a hard
line on the talks that is closer to the US stance, Germany
reluctant to go down the road of sanctions against
Iran,
and France in between. The Americans are pushing for
Iran
to be reported to the Security Council. With
Germany
suddenly plunged into an election campaign, the chances are
bleaker that a concerted European hard line will prevail before
September…
The Iranians are recognised as being astute bargainers,
exploiting every crack in the European position. As previously
in the two-year game of diplomatic brinkmanship, yesterday's
agreement suggests that a short-term truce has been reached
before the battle is rejoined.
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Iran Focus
May 26, 2005
Guard killing of
young man sparks clashes
Tehran, May 26 – A warrant officer
of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards shot to death a young man in cold
blood at an underground railway station in the city of Karaj,
west of the Iranian capital, sparking off widespread clashes
between angry protesters and security forces in several
neighbourhoods of the city.
The officer, Asgar Najafi, fatally
shot the man at a crowded Pol-e Fardis Metro station on
Wednesday at approximately 7 pm, according to eye witnesses.
Police led Najafi away, as a crowd
who gathered at the scene began shouting angry slogans against
the clerical regime and the security forces.
The crowd, infuriated by the
cold-blooded murder of a young man and the impunity of the
murderer, attacked vehicles belonging to the security forces
outside the station. The paramilitary police reacted by beating
up some of the protesters with truncheons. Clashes between young
protesters and security forces continued for several hours in
different parts of the city.
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