http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166443,00.html
U.S. Must Take Firm Stand on Iran
Monday, August 22, 2005
By James Phillips
For years, Iran's hard-line leaders worked behind the scenes. Everyone knew
the mullahs had all the power, but they allowed ex-President Mohammad
Khatami (search <javascript:siteSearch('Mohammad Khatami');> ), supposedly a
reformer, to be the public face of Iran. That charade is over.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's (search <javascript:siteSearch('Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad's');> ) installation as Iran's new president is a triumph for
Iran's hardliners, who now openly control all the important levers of power.
Ahmadinejad wasted little time in provoking a crisis. Two days after his
inauguration, he reactivated Iran's efforts to enrich uranium, which could
be used to fuel a nuclear reactor or, as many suspect, to build a nuclear
weapon.
A dedicated revolutionary who rose through the ranks of Iran's Revolutionary
Guards (search <javascript:siteSearch('Iran's Revolutionary Guards');> ) --
the militant spearhead of the Iranian revolution -- Ahmadinejad puts a more
assertive and uncompromising face on Iran's foreign policy.
The Bush administration has correctly aligned the U.S. with the Iranian
people in their efforts to build a true democracy. But it also has gone
along somewhat with the Khatami charade.
Washington hasn't demanded regime change in Iran. American policy is partly
in deference to the European Union's negotiations with Iran about its
nuclear program. The EU has long believed it could talk Iran into giving up
its nuclear ambitions, and the United States has been willing to allow the
EU to try.
However, it's clear that Iran is using the talks as cover while it builds
its nuclear capabilities. So the U.S. should lead an international coalition
to contain Iran and penalize it for its nuclear efforts and its continuing
support of terrorism -- while quietly assisting Iran's democratic opposition
movement.
The U.S. and its allies should call for the U.N. Security Council to impose
economic sanctions on Iran for taking steps to convert its civilian nuclear
program to weapons purposes. Granted, China and Russia will seek to dilute
or block sanctions due to their major trade and military ties to Iran. For
that reason the U.S. will need to push the EU and Japan to impose sanctions
outside the U.N. framework, including the denial of loans and foreign
investment.
The EU and Japan will be difficult to convince. They prefer a
business-as-usual policy toward Iran, especially at a time of high oil
prices. But Washington must patiently and firmly press them to support a
more robust containment policy, to counter the resurgence of Iran's
hardliners, Tehran's support for terrorism and the growing threat of a
nuclear Iran.
The United States should maintain a strong naval and air presence in the
Persian Gulf to deter Iran and strengthen military cooperation with the Gulf
States, which have been denigrated by Ahmadinejad as "filling stations."
Washington also should work with the Iraqi government to warn Iran against
supporting radicals such as Moktada Sadr, who has led two bloody uprisings
against the American presence in Iraq.
Until Iran stops supporting terrorism and halts its nuclear-weapons program,
Washington should cooperate with other countries to deny Tehran loans from
institutions such as the World Bank and deny Iran the funding for a proposed
natural gas pipeline to India, via Pakistan. Until there's a change at the
top, any foreign investment is likely to end up supporting Iran's
anti-Western government.
The U.S. should discreetly aid all Iranian groups that support democracy and
reject terrorism. That may take the form of direct grants, or indirect
payments through nongovernmental organizations. Another way to frustrate the
regime's suppression of opposition newspapers, Internet blogs and other
media is to increase Farsi broadcasts by the Voice of America, Radio Free
Europe and other information sources. The free flow of information is an
important precursor to the free flow of political ideas.
The Iranian people need to know about the activities of dissidents such as
imprisoned journalist Akbar Ganji, now on a hunger strike, and the simmering
discontent that triggered recent Kurdish riots. Such broadcasts would help
underscore to the Iranian people the heavy price their government is forcing
them to pay.
And if Iran continues to export terrorism and seeks to obtain nuclear
weapons, Washington should not rule out military strikes to destroy its
nuclear facilities.
Former President Khatami has warned about the potentially dangerous
inclinations of the incoming government: "I pray to God that our friends
would not make a mistake and misinterpret the people's choice as their
intention to return to extremism."
The United States and its allies must make Iran's hardliners understand: If
they continue to seek nuclear weapons or export terrorism and subversion to
their neighbors, they will be forced to pay a prohibitively high economic,
political, diplomatic, and possibly military cost. This will give Iranians
an additional incentive to rid themselves of a repressive regime that
threatens its neighbors as well as its own people.
James Phillips is a research fellow in Middle Eastern studies at The
<http://www.heritage.org/> Heritage Foundation.
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