POLITICO – The world received two reminders last week that Iran remains a serious threat to regional and global stability.
Tehran denounced and defied the latest round of U.N. Security Council sanctions in response to its continuing aggressive nuclear enrichment program.
POLITICO – The world received two reminders last week that Iran remains a serious threat to regional and global stability.
Tehran denounced and defied the latest round of U.N. Security Council sanctions in response to its continuing aggressive nuclear enrichment program.
The regime also made clear that it sided with extremists who challenged the Israeli blockade of Hamas-controlled Gaza. Likewise, it continues to support Hezbollah and other terrorist groups across the globe.
Indeed, Congress must recognize that Iran’s rulers represent the greatest threat to its own people. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and I have introduced legislation to address that very issue.
June 12 marked the first anniversary of Iran’s disputed presidential election. Millions of Iranians voted for new leadership, demanded greater freedom and called for an end to the policies that have isolated them from much of the world.
This Green Revolution was a response to decades of oppression and human rights abuses. It raised hopes around the world that the Iranian people would win their liberty.
The regime’s response was brutal, and remains so. Its initial crackdown on peaceful protesters took many innocent lives — including a young woman named Neda Agha Soltan.
In January, two men accused of participating in post-election protests were hanged. Nine others have been sentenced to death on the same charges. Dozens of journalists, writers and bloggers remain imprisoned — among an estimated 4,000 members of the opposition, who have been detained.
Over the past year, the Obama administration has met Iran’s repression with vacillation and indifference. Despite widespread reports of election fraud last June, the White House quickly credited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as being the “elected leader” of Iran.
President Barack Obama remained silent about Iran’s violent crackdown for days before struggling to find the right tone in a series of public statements. Then, last week, as the president trumpeted the latest attempt to influence Iran through U.N. sanctions, he made clear that the regime’s human rights record remains an afterthought.
Iranians seeking freedom may place little faith in this president’s words. But Congress can make clear that the American people stand with them by enacting the Iran Democratic Transition Act of 2010.
Our bill states that it is U.S. policy to support the Iranian people’s efforts to establish a truly democratic and accountable government and free themselves from the regime headed by Ahmadinejad and Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Our bill authorizes the president to provide assistance for broadcasting and other communications directly to Iranian democratic opposition organizations, as well as to offer humanitarian aid to victims of repression by the current regime.
Our bill reflects the reality that the millions of Iranians who want democratic change still deserve it and that the United States must stand with those who stand for their liberty.
As we do so, we will give hope to millions in other lands that America has not turned its back on its principles.
And we will help the Iranian people take charge of their own future, rid themselves of one of the world’s most despicable and destabilizing regimes and become an anchor of stability and peace in the Middle East.
Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, is a member of the Senate Finance Committee.