Washington,DC - Key United States Senators, including Majority Leader Trent Lott and Democrat Carl Levin, have called on President Clinton to intensify pressure on the Tehran regime, and to support freedom and multi-party democracy in Iran.
The letter to the President was dated Feb. 10 and signed by ten Senators, following the lead of Alfonse D'Amato (R,NY). It was released publicly on Friday, Feb. 14
The Senators urged the President to craft new measures aimed at ending the Islamic Republic's support for international terrorism, its massive human rights abuses, and its pursuit of nuclear weapons, while drawing " a very clear distinction between the regime and the people of Iran." The President should also "make it very clear in your public comments about Iran that U.S. policy is aimed at changing the behavior of the regime, not at penalizing the Iranian people," the Senators wrote.
"We strongly believe that the United States can encourage democrats inside Iran by extending a hand of friendship to the Iranian people. We urge you to put support for democracy and human rights at the very center of your Iran policy. A strong, free, and democratic Iran is in America's long-term strategic interest."
The letter was the first time prominent U.S. politicians have openly called on the U.S. government to support to democratic opposition forces inside Iran. Until now, the administration has insisted that the U.S. accepted the Islamic Republic as "a permanent feature" of the political landscape of the Middle East. Now the Senate leadership is calling on the President to use public diplomacy to promote a secular, democratic and pluralistic alternative to the current regime.
Asked about the Senators' letter at an oil conference yesterday in Washington, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle urged business leaders to support such a shift in policy. "There is a role for the business community to urge policies that work instead of just criticizing policies that don't work," Perle said. "We need to be thinking more creatively."
FDI fully supports the Senators' approach, and has been advocating just such a shift in U.S. policy since its inception. The Senators' letter should provide encouragement to democrats in Iran from all political and ethnic backgrounds.
The full text of the Senators' letter follows and can also be accessed electronically from our Internet site.
The Foundation for Democracy in Iran is a private, non-profit corporation registered in the State of Maryland. Contact: Kenneth R. Timmerman, Executive Director. Tel: (301) 946-2918. Fax: (301) 942-5341. FDI materials, including the FDI Newswire, are available free-of-charge via the Internet at http://www.iran.org