Monthly Archives: January 2009

Op-Ed:”U.S. must change Iran policy”

(San Francisco Chronicle)-President Obama has promised to restore the United States’ moral authority in the world. In order to do so, the new administration should revise U.S. foreign policy that has proved a political failure and undermined respect for international human rights.

Topping the list is the U.S. policy of regime-change toward Iran. The policy has failed to bring any tangible changes in the Iranian regime’s behavior. Instead, the policy has harmed the Iranian people’s demands for the rule of law and respect for human rights. Continue reading Op-Ed:”U.S. must change Iran policy”

Obama, Islamic World and Obstacles of “Mutual Respect”

(Huffingtonpost, Jan 26, 2009)-In his inaugural address on January 20, President Barack Obama said, “to the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward based on mutual interest and mutual respect.” But, without further defining ” mutual respect”, how can the President’s remark be anything but words or a vague and indefinite platitude?

Early last December, The New York Times reported that President Obama wants to make “a major foreign policy speech from an Islamic capital during his first 100 days in office”. These signals to the Muslim world are positive. Yet, Obama faces enormous challenges in imbuing mutual respect into policy shifts, new ways of communicating, and conveying the values of this country’s great people and constitution. Continue reading Obama, Islamic World and Obstacles of “Mutual Respect”

Robert Baer: “U.S. and Iran Share an Equal Monopoly on Violence”

BERKELEY, California, Jan 23 (IPS) – “Obama is going to have continuous pressure from Israel to attack Iran and, in some way, their nuclear facilities, and this is going to be tied up with Gaza and Lebanon,” according to Robert Baer, a former top Central Intelligence Agency operative and the author of “The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower.”

In an interview with IPS, Baer discussed the regional implications of the Gaza conflict and his take on Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Hamas and Hezbollah, three major groups in the Middle East which have been called terrorist organisations. Continue reading Robert Baer: “U.S. and Iran Share an Equal Monopoly on Violence”

William Beeman: “No politician ever lost a vote by attacking Iran”

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(My interview with William Beeman)-Barack Obama’s views on the Middle East are not very different from those of the Bush administration, according to Professor William Beeman, the Chair of Anthropology and specialist in Middle East Studies at the University of Minnesota, in an interview with Rooz.

However, Barack Obama’s promise of change during the presidential campaign has led many to expect his Middle East foreign policy approach to differ from that of President Bush. Continue reading William Beeman: “No politician ever lost a vote by attacking Iran”

Shirin Ebadi:”I Feared I Could Be Killed in the Mayhem”

(My interviews Iranian Nobel Prize Laureate SHIRIN EBADI)- UNITED NATIONS, Jan 7 (IPS) – A few days after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Iranian authorities to take immediate measures to ensure the safety of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi, she told IPS in a telephone interview from Tehran that police stood by and watched as her house was attacked by a mob.

On Jan. 3, the U.N. chief expressed great concern a, accusing her of supporting the U.S. and Israel — which the government considers its two worst enemies. Continue reading Shirin Ebadi:”I Feared I Could Be Killed in the Mayhem”

Robert Baer: American politics Run on Ideology, Not information

(My interview with Robert Baer former CIA agent and the author of “The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower”)-Tehran’s foreign policy toward the United States, based on the idea that “if you mess with Iran, something bad is going to happen in some part of the world…has been a very successful policy” Iranians used it after the revolution, according to Robert Baer, the author of The Devil We Know: Dealing with the New Iranian Superpower. “This is why President Bush could not afford to take any aggressive action against Iran.”

Robert Baer, a former CIA field officer in the Middle East, during an interview with Rooz, explained the details of 1980 hostage crisis and Iran-Israel arm deal as one of the outcomes resulting in the release of hostages just 20 minutes after Ronald Regan was sworn as the President of the United States. Continue reading Robert Baer: American politics Run on Ideology, Not information