Former prominent US civilian and military officials and governors are urging President Barack Obama to adopt a new policy on Iran which would include dialogue with the Iranian opposition and support for the “10-point plan” of Mrs. Maryam Rajavi, President-elect of the Iranian Resistance, for a future free Iran.
Read Policy Initiative on Iran here
The new “Policy Initiative on Iran” by nearly forty prominent Americans was announced on Saturday in Paris at the annual Iran Freedom rally organized by the Iranian opposition.
General Hugh Shelton, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Gov. Tom Ridge, former Secretary of Homeland Security; Louis Freeh, former Director of the FBI; Ed Rendell, former Governor of Pennsylvania and Chairman of the US Democratic National Committee; and Frances Townsend, former Homeland Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, read out parts of new declaration.
On the nuclear issue, the statement says that a peaceful solution “cannot be achieved by making concessions to Iran but rather by making clear that Iran will be denied any potential opportunity to obtain a nuclear bomb.”
They underscore the necessity of clarifying “Possible Military Dimension (PMD) activities of Iran before a comprehensive deal can be signed.”
On the crisis in the region, the US dignitaries state that “Iran’s destructive role throughout the region must be curbed and deterred. Far from being part of the solution, Iran is a major part of the problem.”
Former New York City mayor and Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani said at the rally: “The ayatollah must go. He and Rouhani and Ahmadinejad and all of the rest of them should be put on trial for crimes against humanity.”
The authors of the four-page statement add: “Engaging with the democratic opposition has been the missing piece of US policy for many years under both Republican and Democratic leadership.”
“We call on our government to break the stalemate and engage in respectful dialogue with the Iranian opposition, consistent with our country’s policy of dialogue with all political groups. Whatever the outcome of nuclear negotiations and in virtually any possible scenario, the wishes of the Iranian people and their desire for change must be taken into consideration.”
They support the 10-point plan for the future of Iran advocated by Maryam Rajavi, the President-elect of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, which will, they state, “restore political legitimacy through universal suffrage, guarantee rights for all citizens and particularly women and minorities, end the cruel excesses of the judiciary and establish the rule of law, end the nightmare of fundamentalist Islamic dictatorship by once again separating church and state, protect property rights, promote equal opportunity and environmental protections, and – last but certainly not least – seek a non-nuclear Iran, free of weapons of mass destruction.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6vRPCa2uRI