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Why Iranian opposition refuses to take responsibility?

 
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Toofaan



Joined: 10 Aug 2005
Posts: 102

PostPosted: Sun Nov 04, 2007 10:01 pm    Post subject: Why Iranian opposition refuses to take responsibility? Reply with quote

Twenty eight years after take over of the country by a group of Islamic clerics and their followers through a revolution which spilled more blood of Iranians during the months and years after their take over than any time before it, opposition forces to this "Islamic revolutionary regime" have not yet offered a serious challenge to the system which has failed in every way to accomplish anything positive for the people of Iran. During all these years we have seen waves of killings of Iranian people by the Islamic Republic at different times under different excuses in order to terrorize people and kill their spirit of resistance. Many known and unknown elements of opposing groups and individual activists departed from the country during the same period with the hope to be able to do something for progress of democracy in Iran in an atmosphere away from suppression inside the country. Many of the known figures from well recognized Iranian political groups and individuals who have been residing outside the country for many years and while keeping their opposing views and stance against Islamic regime, they have not been able to perform as they expected their departure from the country would allow them to do.

Part of this issue can be blamed on the style of living in western countries which consumes most of the time of any individual to support their own life and paying for the bills in order to avoid putting themselves under debt of any source. This greatly decreases the freedom and ability of any individual to dedicate him/herself to completely productive and consistent political activities. From the other side, Islamic Republic regime which has abandoned Iranian people inside the country in favor of its nuclear programs and Palestinian agenda and other issues unrelated to Iranians, has invested huge amounts of money to buy support from, or maybe it is best to say hire, some Iranians outside the country in order to boost their PR activities not only in direction of preserving the status quo in Iran, but also in disabling and discrediting existing opposition activities against the Islamic regime. This investment has partly gone towards so-called "cultural" and "religious" activities and institutions that have been established with direct funds from Islamic regime outside the country. Many of the elements linked with these institution who are mostly from educated Iranians, have also directed their attention to influence politics of the countries of their residence by taking advantage of democratic process in those nations and getting into their political parties and institutions.

Activities of different lobbying groups that Islamic republic has managed to form from different individuals and interested corporations for attempting to shift the policies of different western nations in their favor at any cost, have posed a serious threat against true national interests of the Iranian people.

Considering all of these, while the lack of resources for the opposition to support their full time activities against Islamic regime is understandable to certain extent, we must also understand that these crucial times call for extra ordinary sacrifices and extra ordinary decisions. Responsibility of Iranian opposition at this time is not just to point out the shortcomings of Islamic Republic regime and questioning their credibility as well as the policies on national and international issues. The biggest and most important responsibility of the opposition is to offer an alternative practical and achievable solution and taking charge of a substantial movement against Islamic Republic with a united voice, in order to pave way for establishment of a democratic system. Some people claim that this is the same as the slogan, which was used by Khomeini in Islamic revolution. Khomeini however, later showed that he did not respect any of his words and promises and discarded every one of his previous allies in the united front against Shah. While this is true, it does not mean the idea itself has no credibility. Many other elements have been present during Khomeini's era from which, incompetence of other opposition groups in holding their own political position in those days, was one of the most important factors that contributed to their own demise.

The most important difference of the current movement against Islamic regime is that almost all opposition groups/individuals are after a non-ideological democratic system in which everyone in society will have the rights that are recognized by the international charter for human rights while in those days, no one really knew what Khomeini was after. Khomeini gave all kinds of false promises and made all kinds of conflicting and confusing statements that could be interpreted in no other ways but lies. Iranian opposition and on top of all, Jebhe Melli Iran, missed a very vital opportunity by abandoning late Dr. Bakhtiar and ignoring Dr. Broumand’s report about his meeting with Khomeini in Paris in which he had clearly spoken about anti-nationalism stance of Khomeini for late Mr. Frouhar and late Dr. Sanjabi but those days are behind us now and there is no time for mourning about our mistakes. It’s time to make big decisions and Iranian opposition groups should realize that they shall be held accountable for their actions today ,in Iran of tomorrow if they fail again to come up with proper decision in these important days. Failure in formation of a united and credible front and taking practical steps in guiding Iranian people through their struggle against Islamic regime will have catastrophic impact over the future of our nation. This responsibility is on the shoulder of all individuals and groups who consider themselves of some importance and relevance in this struggle or others look up to them for a solution.

Other than lack of resources, the resentment towards the idea of a united voice which was abused by Khomeini almost 29 years ago in rallying opposition forces against the previous regime, seems to be another reason for withholding Iranians to unite against the evil of Islamic Republic for the suspicion they have about this process. Almost 29 years after the establishment of Islamic regime, the relationship between different democratic forces continue to suffer from a lack of trust. This is the irony of the current situation that the system which abused the trust of all its allies and every Iranian in general, took advantage of the idea of unity under one slogan. Our responsibility is not to allow this bitter memory to paralyze us from performing our historic duties, but to convene under the umbrella of a “united voice” in order to guide the struggle of Iranian people in these crucial times. Human rights, territorial integrity of Iran, separation of religion and state a referendum on the format of democratic system can be pillars for unity while everyone can hold on to their own agendas, for activity in a democratic society after removal of Islamic regime.

Unorganized and scattered resistance of Iranian people inside the country against Islamic regime is costing the lives of many innocent Iranians. Many Iranian people from inside have been calling for a unified leadership to organize and motivate a consistent and powerful resistance for many years. It’s time to make those big and important decisions. Anyone who considers a role for him/herself or any political group should put their words into action and do something for the nation whom they claim to be caring for. We must test our credibility with the people of Iran. If we believe that we can represent Iranian people’s interest, then it’s time to step forward and present ourselves to the people openly before others try to create representatives for us and for our people that can cause more problems for us in future.


Sohrab Ferdows
sohrab@excite.com
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Toofaan



Joined: 10 Aug 2005
Posts: 102

PostPosted: Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:16 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would like to clarify one point regarding above article on the source of some information in which some of the well known names of Iranian opposition members were used and I failed to mention that source earlier. Details of late Dr. Abdolrahman Broumand's meeting with Khomeini in Paris and his dicussions with leaders of Jebhe Melli of Iran are explained in his inteview with Zia Sedighi in Harvard Oral History project of Iran which can be viewed here:
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iohp/boroumand.html

I apologize for this failure.

Sohrab Ferdows
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blank



Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Mon Jun 30, 2008 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Last week I was watching O’Reilly Factor Program, on Fox News. He started exposing the name & salaries of the CEOs of several oil companies, starting from Exxon, to Mobile, Occidental etc, etc.
The highest paid CEO is the CEO of the Occidental Oil Company, with an annual salary of $55,000,000 a year!! And his name is Ray Irani. Then I started thinking, we have so many Iranian millionaires and some billionaires, why none of these people help to rid Iran of mullahs, by spending money on lobbying politicians to coming up with sanctions similar to what they had for South Africa, to financial aids to opposition groups within Iran.
The reason Israel has survived so far, being surrounded by terrorist countries & Arabs that want to destroy it is organizations such as JDF (Jewish Defense Fund) or AIPAC (American-Israel Political Action Committee). Why can’t Iranians do the same? Is it because we don’t care? Are we more selfish and less patriotic?… Unfortunately I have no answer for that. All I know many say that revolution has to be done by Iranians and without outside interference/help, then in that case, some of these multi-millionaires and billionaires need to think about their Motherland and start financial assistance.
Look at George Soros the leftist billionaire who is trying to buy the US election for Obama, by giving so much money to the Democratic Party, through ads and websites, he is on a roll. And, there is Ray Irani….maybe a second generation Iranian. Then I see American Jews, their only affinity with Israel is through their religion, yet from the leftist Barbara Streisand to Orthodox Rabbi is making sure Israel is protected from evils surrounding her, by their financial and political assistance. Again I ask myself why the wealthy Iranians don’t feel the same moral obligation toward their ancient land and civilization, as Jewish Americans do toward Israel??
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Joined: 26 Feb 2004
Posts: 1672

PostPosted: Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:48 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

blank wrote:
Last week I was watching O’Reilly Factor Program, on Fox News. He started exposing the name & salaries of the CEOs of several oil companies, starting from Exxon, to Mobile, Occidental etc, etc.
The highest paid CEO is the CEO of the Occidental Oil Company, with an annual salary of $55,000,000 a year!! And his name is Ray Irani. Then I started thinking, we have so many Iranian millionaires and some billionaires, why none of these people help to rid Iran of mullahs, by spending money on lobbying politicians to coming up with sanctions similar to what they had for South Africa, to financial aids to opposition groups within Iran.
The reason Israel has survived so far, being surrounded by terrorist countries & Arabs that want to destroy it is organizations such as JDF (Jewish Defense Fund) or AIPAC (American-Israel Political Action Committee). Why can’t Iranians do the same? Is it because we don’t care? Are we more selfish and less patriotic?… Unfortunately I have no answer for that. All I know many say that revolution has to be done by Iranians and without outside interference/help, then in that case, some of these multi-millionaires and billionaires need to think about their Motherland and start financial assistance.
Look at George Soros the leftist billionaire who is trying to buy the US election for Obama, by giving so much money to the Democratic Party, through ads and websites, he is on a roll. And, there is Ray Irani….maybe a second generation Iranian. Then I see American Jews, their only affinity with Israel is through their religion, yet from the leftist Barbara Streisand to Orthodox Rabbi is making sure Israel is protected from evils surrounding her, by their financial and political assistance. Again I ask myself why the wealthy Iranians don’t feel the same moral obligation toward their ancient land and civilization, as Jewish Americans do toward Israel??


I found out that Ray Irani was actually born in Lebanon! with that last name, most likely from an Iranian heritage. I have been told years ago Iranian taajer (businessmen) had houses in both countries. Those were the days that Lebanon was considered the Paris of the Middle East.
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