[Mb-civic] FW: Letter in the Int. Herald Tribune

[Golsorkhi]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "Farhad Sepahbody" <sepa at sedona.net>
Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2005 19:05:10 -0700
To: <grgolsorkhi at earthlink.net>
Subject: Fw: Letter in the Int. Herald Tribune

 
----- Original Message -----
From: Mehrdad Khonsari <mailto:mehrdadkhonsari at btinternet.com>
To: khonsari at btinternet.com
Sent: Wednesday, August 31, 2005 4:06 PM
Subject: Letter in the Int. Herald Tribune


Iran's nuclear program
Letter printed in the International Herald Tribune (1st September 2005)
While your two Aug. 27 opinion articles on Iran both make absolute sense in
their conclusions, they are nonetheless somewhat oblivious of the overall
tactical game being played by the Islamic regime ("It's not Israel that's
driving Tehran to nukes" by Ray Takeyh and "America's disastrous 'military
option"' by Amin Saikal).

So far the "nuclear card" has admirably served Tehran's short-term
interests. The new administration of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been able to
buy extra time and redirect domestic public opinion from pressing internal
issues, perfectly in keeping with a leadership that has consistently bluffed
and deceived its way out of numerous crises in the past 26 years. Also, in
the process of holding out for even more political and economic concessions,
the regime has successfully managed to sustain the rift between the United
States on the one hand and France, Britain and Germany on the other on even
contemplating the use of force. Finally, by provoking this mini-crisis, they
have helped to destabilize the world oil market, which increases their
income. 

In the absence of calling Iran's bluff and forcing a different agenda that
can inspire active resistance for fundamental changes inside Iran, given the
obvious reality that Ahmadinejad is no Khomeini nor is the legacy of the
Islamic Revolution any longer a motivating factor for the majority of
Iranians, there is a sense of déjB vu to all these tactics, whose main aim
is to keep America and its friends barking up the wrong tree.

Mehrdad Khonsari 
London 


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