Obama’s Iran Dilemma: Human Rights or Nuclear Negotiations?
HuffPost- It took more than six months for the White House to “strongly condemn” the excessive use of force against the protesters in Tehran, and God knows how long it will take President Obama to conclude that compromising universal values, including human rights, at the expense of erratic negotiations with the Iranian government. It will not change the behavior of the Iranian government although it will undermine America’s moral authority. Read more
December 29, 2009 Leave a Comment
How to Help the Three American “Hikers” Come Home Soon
HuffPo-The Iranian government has announced that they will try the three American citizens who strayed across an unmarked border into Iran in late July. But the question remains how can the U.S. government help free them? And what should the families do to make this perplexing story be over?
Considering similar patterns in the past, it’s almost clear that the three young adventurists are not spies. In fact, if the Iranian authorities had any evidence in this regards, they would have presented it months ago in a public trial to embarrass the U.S. government; something they thrive on.
At this time the families are facing two scenarios. Read more
December 16, 2009 1 Comment
“A Death in Tehran” And the Most Influential Video of the Year
HuffPo- After watching Frontline World’s “A Death in Tehran” documentary, I can say, undoubtedly, that if we want to pick one picture or short video of 2009, in terms of impact and influence, it’s the video that documented the moment Neda, a 27-year-old Iranian, was shot during the post elections unrest on the streets of Tehran last June; a video that penetrated layers of censorship and unmasked a government. The documentary beautifully exposes the Iranian government’s fierce but failed endeavors to manipulate the truth. Read more
November 26, 2009 2 Comments
A coup Manual: What We should Know About Iran’s Election?
HuffPo- The foreign media and western states are confused and puzzled as to how to interpret the Iranian election on June 12th. Over the past few days I’ve been speaking with many journalists in Tehran who normally go there for one or two weeks on assignment. Many of them, initially, believed that Ahmadinejad’s declared re-election was similar in nature to his first term election in 2005. Meaning that he had successfully mobilized his base of poor people and conservatives and that the reformists and Iranian middle class had, once again, lost the election. But recent development tells us that this is not the real story.
So, what are the sources of confusion? What went wrong and why are people angry and un-accepting of the results? Here are some essential questions that one might ask in order to fully understand the issues at hand: Read more
June 16, 2009 2 Comments
What Should President Obama Tell the Muslim World in Cairo?
President Obama’s decision to give a speech in Egypt on June 4th, one of the most authoritarian regimes and unpopular governments in the Middle East, was surprising, no doubt. Many thought he would choose Indonesia, the biggest moderate Muslim country. But what should the President say, and do, in Cairo to make the best of his trip?
First of all, President Obama has to show that Egypt is the right choice. Many say it’s not. On May 8, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, called Egypt “the heart of the Arab world”. That’s right. But Arabs constitute approximately 10 percent of the Muslims worldwide. Also, as Olivier Roy, the prominent French scholar of Islam told me, “Muslims belong to different nationalities and have different interests. From Indonesia, as the biggest Muslim country, to Lebanon, Afghanistan, Somalia and Muslims in the United States and Europe, they have different interests and concerns.” Plus, all Arabs are not Muslim. Obama should clarify whether he meant to address the issues of the Arab World, which Egypt is rightly the biggest and certainly the most influential country amongst them, or the Muslim world?
June 1, 2009 17 Comments
Foreign Policy 101: What President Obama Could Learn…
For President Obama, who already has shown his desire to talk to Iranian leaders, there is no foreign policy lesson more helpful than that of Roxana Saberi’s case of arrest and release. It shows how the Iranian government functions and could teach the United States how to speak to hard-liners in Tehran. These lessons are:
1- Everything in Iran is impossible, and at the same time, anything is possible. One day you can be accused of espionage for no apparent reason, go to prison and three months later you could walk free, simple as that. On the contrary, you can go to prison under the same conditions and reason (like the case of Silva Harotonian who has been jailed since June 2008, simply, for working for an American NGO) and stay in prison for years. It all depends on many different factors. Uncertainty rules! Read more
May 31, 2009 1 Comment
Hostage Diplomacy: Roxana Saberi and the Three Jailed Iranian Diplomats
In response to a piece in which I thoroughly criticized the Iranian Intelligence regarding the arrest of American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, I was contacted by an Iranian diplomat who asked, me; if it’s all about human rights, why isn’t anybody talking about the three Iranian diplomats who have been taken hostage by the U.S. forces in Iraq since 2007?
What was he implying? What is the connection with the arrest of a journalist in Tehran and those three Iranian diplomats in Iraq? And is that the reason why the United States has been tragically unsuccessful in helping to release Saberi or other American-Iranians in prison? Read more
April 30, 2009 Leave a Comment
Roxana Saberi and the Iranian Fast Spy-Making Machine!
HuffPost-The Iranian intelligence services are constantly announcing the capture and arrest of spies that gather classified information for the Western countries. Roxana Saberi, an American-Iranian journalist is the latest person to be facing such a charge.
Most people who have been accused of spying are detained without access to a lawyer or any other fair and free judicial process including a just trial. Usually they are released from prison after a few months. Surprisingly, most of these people then leave Iran within a few more months. This has made the government in Tehran the only government on the earth that catches and releases its spies.
The authorities have announced that Roxana has accepted all of the charges. No surprise! Many prisoners do accept all the charges after spending a few months in solitary confinement under huge psychological and physical pressure. To understand why, here is a joke that masterfully tells the story of how Iran’s intelligence service operates: Read more
April 13, 2009 2 Comments
Is Dennis Ross Iran’s Real Envoy?
HuffPost-As expected among the foreign policy community, Dennis Ross was appointed Iran’s “special advisor” and curiously not the “special envoy”– which begs the question of whether or not he will be the major voice in Washington on US-Iran relations.
Appointing an envoy or advisor to Iran has posed a challenge to the U.S. administration, considering the complex involvement of this country with most of the U.S. conflicts in the Middle East. The main concern has been to appoint a diplomat who can talk to Tehran, a regime that Washington loves to hate despite its significant influence on most of the U.S. foreign policy priorities in the region. Read more
March 7, 2009 1 Comment
Obama Is Ready To Lead, But How?
(HP-Feb 11, 2009)-President Barack Obama said in his inauguration speech that “America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more.” But the question remains; what are the characteristics of this new leadership and how will it take itself out of the ditches inherited from his successor in post George Bush era? Read more
February 13, 2009 1 Comment
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. Read more
January 26, 2009 3 Comments
Why Laura Bush should refuse to speak at CFR on Human Rights?
Laura Bush will address the Council on Foreign Relations in New York on December 10th, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
At the time, some individuals in the Bush administration might face prosecution for a series of events that resulted in serious human rights violations, including the use of advanced interrogation techniques and destroying the life of hundreds of people in Guantanamo, Abu Ghoreib and other similar prisons, her speech not only reflects her image of “human rights” in the past eight years, but also tell us what she see of human rights in the years to come. Read more
December 9, 2008 Leave a Comment
Selecting Hilary Clinton as Sec. of State and Obama’s Premise of Change
For all the people who have followed the primary presidential elections, and the nasty fight between the two rivals, choosing Hillary Clinton as the Secretary of the State is not only scary, but it also seems to be Obama’s first move to give up the values and ideals he advocated during the campaign. Yet it could also be interpreted as one of the smartest decision that president-elect has made in regards to his cabinet. How can this be explained?
December 7, 2008 1 Comment
Why This Election is All About Character, Not Real Issues
Sen. McCain’s risky decision to run his presidential campaign based on character assassination, spreading fear and hatred and even questioning the patriotism of members of Congress, is the best indication that, come November, the Americans’ decisions will be based more on the candidates’ characters rather than real issues.
For some reason, whether it is because he is losing control over his campaign, has weak stance in the Republican Party or has an obsessive desire to go the While House, McCain’s behavior over the past few months has displayed an alarming inconsistency in his character, which is at odds with his previous alleged values and principles. Read more
November 26, 2008 1 Comment
Ahmadinejad’s Letter To Obama, His Response, and Its Impact on the Islamic World
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the first leader from the “axis of evil club”, and its affiliates, to congratulate Barack Hussein Obama on his November 4th victory. Ahmadinejad’s unprecedented congratulation letter might be interpreted as an olive branch from Tehran.
But, in essence, it is the recognition of this new image of the United States, which has strong potential to restore the American reputation that was injured in Muslim countries during the two wars against Afghanistan and Iraq, the forefront of war against terrorism. It is a significant symbolic step that, in a long run, can turn to a dramatic shift in the U.S. foreign policy toward its major issues in the region. Read more
November 26, 2008 Leave a Comment
