Demands on Iran are a step in the right direction
The European Union is finally taking necessary steps to stand up to rogue nations that continue to flout international law and show little respect for basic human rights.
The EU has demanded the immediate release of staff arrested from Britain’s embassy in Tehran and warned that any intimidation or abuse they receive will be met with a “strong and collective” response. Following this announcement, more than 2,000 Iranians have been arrested and hundreds more have disappeared after they participated in a protest.
The June 12th Presidential elections that handed President Ahmadinejad a massive victory has left the country in upheaval after accusations of electoral fraud. Iran, instead of dealing with the allegations and investigating them, chose to continually accuse Britain and the US of interfering with the election as well as bringing the full force of the, admittedly erratic, rule of law down on the protesters. On Saturday, 3,000 protestors attempted to gather outside a mosque in Tehran where Mir Hossein Mousavi, the defeated presidential candidate was going to speak. Most were arrested.
The newly elected President has accused the UK of fear-mongering and encouraging the post-election protests in an attempt to suppress allegations over the Iranian government’s mishandling of the ballot. However, the fervour of the protests as well as the reasonably convincing evidence against the impartiality of the elections suggests that this issue will continue.
Iran must cease alienating those who could be potential allies and Britain and the EU must stand strong against the intimidation of British diplomacy workers. Iran has expelled two British diplomats from Tehran and, although Britain’s response was proportional, they should consider withdrawing their embassy altogether (a technique used by the Americans).
Although there is no actual proof that the elections were tampered with, the results do seem decidedly suspicious. Candidates usually receive some sort of ‘home advantage’ from the place they grew up or spent most of their adult lives but this did not occur for the three losing candidates. The results were announced as percentages instead of by constituency. The Iranian government owe their people as well as the world some sort of explanation if they are going to keep up their democratic façade.
In a pathetic attempt at reconciliation with the opposition, the Guardian Council is “looking into the matter.” There is some evidence of support for a committee that will be responsible for overseeing a recount of around 10% of the votes. However, even these limited attempts appear to be relatively superficial and Mir Hossein Mousavi quite rightly continues to demand a full re-run of the vote. This may change after the announcement that anyone who dares to challenge the election will be considered an enemy of the state and treated as such.
Ahmadinejad made an ominous speech last week promising that his new government would have a more “decisive and powerful approach” towards the West suggesting that there is limited hope of improved relations.
The imprisonment of British diplomatic workers and the use of volunteer Islamic militiamen for intimidation is completely unreasonable. Iran is gearing up for a fight and Britain as well as the European Union must start by standing firm if we are to have any effect on the country’s abysmal human rights record.
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“Although there is no actual proof that the elections were tampered with, the results do seem decidedly suspicious.”
This is the line touted by the mainstream media. However, I found a refreshing article on the subject here: http://www.counterpunch.org/amin06222009.html
Also see: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061401757.html
“The election results in Iran may reflect the will of the Iranian people. Many experts are claiming that the margin of victory of incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the result of fraud or manipulation, but our nationwide public opinion survey of Iranians three weeks before the vote showed Ahmadinejad leading by a more than 2 to 1 margin — greater than his actual apparent margin of victory in Friday’s election.”
“The Iranian government owe their people as well as the world some sort of explanation if they are going to keep up their democratic façade.”
In all seriousness, I don’t think Iran is any less democratic than the US. Their Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (the term Supreme Leader does not exist in Iran, he is the Supreme Guide), is a Muslim Cleric and so he is a spiritual leader. In the US, Ben Bernanke is the head of the Federal Reserve and is Newsweeks 4th most powerful person (see Wikipedia, Obama is the 1st).
Ahmadinejad has a very large amount of support amongst the poor in Iran. He wants to keep the Iranian oil industry nationalised, and in this way he acts against western interests. Mr Mousavi comes from the Iranian pro-western ilete.
A brief look at Iranian history shows that the Iranians take their democratic elections vary seriously. Iranian democracy was forcibly removed from Iran in 1953 by the US and Britain over the then fledgeling democracy’s nationalisation of Iran’s oil. This certainly had a bad effect on the stability and peace in the country, and it took a violent revolution in order to reinstate democracy (from the Shah, aka King who was given control). With this revolution still in living memory for many Iranians, it is no surprising that their turnout to vote is so large, and that their voting does not show regional allegiance, but rather they vote for whoever they think is going to be best (much like we do).
For further reading see: http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=14185