HRANA News Agency – On the 32nd anniversary of the day when the American embassy in Tehran was occupied by student activists in 1979, nineteen former and current student activists have written a letter to President Obama to ask him to end the US appeasement policy towards the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Bamdad Khabar Website has released the complete contents of this letter as follows:
Your Excellency, the President of the United States of America,
With greetings,
Last year on a day such as this, a group of student activists wrote a letter to you to direct your attention towards human rights violations in Iran and your moral obligation to support our oppressed nation.
On November 4, 1979, a group of Iranian student activists who called themselves “the Followers of Imam’s Line” attacked the United States embassy in Tehran and took American diplomats and workers hostage.Because according to International Law, embassies are the sovereign soil of the countries they represent, this action was a grave mistake resulting in serious damage to Iran’s national interests.
While thirty two years have passed since that event took place, revolutionaries of those days have been taken hostage by the Islamic Republic of Iran and even the same student activists are imprisoned today.
During the last few years, our nation has shown time and again that it desires to be set free from the claws of the current regime.Two years ago, while Iranians were facing bullets and batons in the streets, they asked you, “With whom do you stand? With the regime or with the people?”
People’s voices were heard shouting, “Obama, Obama, either with them or with us.”Addressing you directly, our nation asked you for help, but your advisors directed you to negotiate with the “hostage takers,” the Islamic regime that has taken our nation captive.As a result, the Islamic Republic of Iran comfortably and confidently continued to suppress peaceful demonstrations in the streets of Tehran.
What did you gain from extending a hand of friendship towards the Islamic Republic of Iran?The regime replied back by taking three American hikers hostage, sent weapons to terrorist groups in Syria, Lebanon, Afghanistan and Nigeria, plotted to assassinate the ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Washington DC and continued to pursuit developing nuclear weaponry.
Mr. President, currently, our brothers and sisters in Syria are fighting against the brutal regime of Bashar Assad.As a result, more than 4,000 Syrians have been killed and tens of thousands have been imprisoned and injured.Meanwhile, the statesmen in Tehran maliciously continue to support the dictatorship of Syria because they know that their fate is tied to that of Bashar Assad, and their turn will come soon.
Our brothers and sisters in Syria have asked for your support by declaring a no-fly zone over parts of the Syrian air space in order to prevent further killing of the dissidents by the oppressive regime.Further negligence of the US government on this matter is not acceptable.We recommend ceasing the US appeasement policy towards Damascus and not repeat the same mistake made while dealing with the Green Movement in Iran.Stand by the Syrians, and ignore the demands made by dictatorships such as Russia and China.
Your Excellency, Mr. Obama, you are not only the president of the most powerful government in the world but also the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.Hence, your moral objection towards establishing peace and protecting human lives has been doubled many times over.In our letters written in the past years, we asked you to follow up on violations of human rights especially those aimed towards students in Iran.
Three American hikers together with many Iranian students can testify about what is happening in prisons throughout our country.In recent weeks, the situation has deteriorated such that the Islamic regime has begun flogging student activists whose prison terms have ended.The annual report released by the Secretary General of the United Nations and the report written by the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations, Dr. Ahmad Shaheed, reveal only a small portion of human rights violations not only in prisons but also throughout our country.
During the last decade, passive policies and the negligence of the international community resulted in the creation of a nuclear regime in North Korea.If the Islamic Republic of Iran is allowed to develop nuclear weaponry, the same mistake will be repeated; such a debacle must be prevented.
Let us say it clearly and loudly that we don’t wish for your military intervention in Iran and warn you about its unintended and adverse consequences under the current conditions.We hereby ask you to do what the US government has announced itself.We ask you to take sanctions against the highest government officials in the Islamic Republic of Iran and their immediate relatives and partners seriously.Blocking their bank accounts and properties and banning their trips outside Iran are also equally important.
We also request to impose sanctions on all companies whose shares are owned by the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution (IRGC) and their high ranking executive officers.We ask you to help our nation to have easy access to the Internet and satellite programs and make free flow of information possible.We want you to fight against censorship, Internet filtering, and deliberate jamming of radio and TV signals with the intention to disrupt communications and the surveillance of dissidents in Iran.We ask you to severely punish all governments and companies that help to facilitate such actions in Iran.
We request from you to remain committed to the sanctions imposed on the commanders of IRGC and individuals violating human rights in Iran.We ask you to place pressure on governments, organizations and companies that violate the terms of such sanctions.We want you to pressure your alias not to assist the Islamic Republic of Iran by supporting the sanctions against the regime.We ask you to pay attention and be aware of the media funded by American tax-payers but used as a soapbox to promote an appeasement policy towards the supports of the Islamic Republic of Iran, anti-west and anti-American trends.
We call for imposing sanctions on the Central Bank of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a ban on the purchase of oil from IRI because the Islamic regime uses the funds to build and further strengthen its intelligence and military apparatus instead of providing economic resources for our nation.The Islamic Republic of Iran also utilizes the revenue from the sale of oil to support and spread terrorism and oppresses democratic movements throughout our country.
We request to end the appeasement policy towards dictators.Instead, empower our people who once bravely poured into the streets of Iran but returned home disappointed due to the lack of support from the international community and also the brutal oppression of the regime.And let Iranians know and feel that they can achieve what they set out to do.
There are many ways to reach these goals, but you must possess the will to pursuit them.
Cordially,
Signatories:
Amir Hussein Etamadi – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Ali Tarokh – Student activist, Shiraz Azad University and a senior member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s presidential campaign, student division, Fars Province.
Nima Rashedan – Researcher, political analyst and a former student activist.
Arman Rezakhani – Winner of Khwarizmi International Award in 2007 & 2008 and credited for the discovery of two theorems in trigonometry and mathematics.
Sahar Reza Zadeh – Former student activist, University of Tehran.
Pedram Rafati – A member of the Islamic Association of Students, Amirkabir University of Technology and banned from continuing his education.
Amin Riahi – A member of Tahkim-e Vadhat, General Council.
Salman Sima – Student activist, Tehran Azad University, and banned from continuing his education.
Siavash Safavi – Former student activist, University of Mazandaran.
Ahmad Eshghyar – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Liuna Isagholian – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Saeed Ghaseminejad – Former student activist, University of Tehran, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Navid Mohbei – Student activist, Azad University, and blogger.
Mashood Masjodi – Former member of the Islamic Association of Students, School of Engineering, University of Tehran.
Ali-Reza Mousavi – Former member of the Islamic Association of Students, Allameh Tabatabai University, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Behzad Mahrani – Journalist, political analyst and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Yohana Najdi – PhD graduate student of political science, USM University of Malaysia, and a member of Iranian Liberal Students & Graduates.
Ali Nazari – Former student activist, University of Mazandaran.
Rahim Hemati – Former head of the student branch, Jonbesh Moslamanan Mobarez.
Copyright © 2009-2011 All Rights Reserved
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