BRITISH PRIME MINISTER EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR DEMOCRACY IN IRAN
By Nazenin Ansari Moshiri
SEDGEFIELD, UK (IPS) British Prime Minister Tony Blair Tuesday voiced his
support for Iranians who want change in Iran and stated that "it is
important" for the United Kingdom "to support", the
Persian-language weekly "Keyhan of London" said in its last edition
witch appeared Thursday.
Speaking at his Sedgefield constituency, Mr. Blair said: "I feel very deeply for people who are in this situation of being deprived of their basic rights".
"UK had used the links that [it] had set up" with the Islamic regime for the past couple of years to persuade it "to encourage the elements that have been engaged in the process of change", he pointed out.
This is the first time that the British Labour Prime Minister speaks in favour of Iranian dissidents both at home and abroad while his government, like others in the European Union, continue to "flirt" with the ruling Iranian ayatollahs, urging Washington not to take any hard and harsh action against the Islamic Republic
Iranian observers note that despite such attempts the human rights situation in Iran has deteriorated. Within the past two years 85 newspapers have been shut down and scores of journalists and intellectual dissidents have been summoned to court and imprisoned. According to Amnesty International last year "at least 139 people, including one minor, were executed and 285 flogged, many in public. The true figures may have been considerably higher".
The crisis in the legitimacy of the theocratic system was highlighted by a poll conducted by the Iranian Interior Ministry, which reported that 90 percent of Iranians are dissatisfied with the system. A current poll by the popular internet magazine, "Iranmania" indicates that while 12.8% believe that the reforms initiated by President Mohammad Khatami's government will bear fruit in the long run, 32.8% believe that although the government has carried out few superficial reforms, it has been an overall failure. 49% of the respondents judge the performance of the government as a complete failure.
The Prime Minister stated: "I hope very much that the bulk of the majority of Iranians who want to live in peace and security and in democracy are able at some point to secure that".
Mr. Blair also set out the case against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. He described the character of the Iraqi regime as "appalling, brutal, dictatorial, [and] vicious". He said: "the people that would be most delighted if Saddam Hussein went would be the Iraqi people".
On Wednesday, Mr. Blair announced that he would soon disclose sensitive documents concerning Iraq’s hidden weapons of mass destruction.
"Either the regime starts to function in a completely different way -- and there's not much sign of that -- or the regime has to change", he said.
"Iraq poses a real and unique threat to the security of the region and the rest of the world", he said, adding that a dossier highlighting the danger the Iraqi leader posed would be unveiled in a few weeks.
In response to calls seeking explicit United Nations authority, Mr. Blair said: "the United Nations has to be the route to deal with this problem, not a way of people avoiding dealing with this problem".
"The policy of containment as it exists now cannot be continued effectively", he said. "It simply can't".
"We are saying clearly that the regime of Saddam Hussein is a threat because it is in breach of United Nations resolutions in relation to the development of weapons of mass destruction". He continued: "This is not just an issue for the United States. It is an issue for Britain. It is an issue for the wider world. America should not face this issue alone",
Mr. Blair stressed, "Key decisions have yet not been taken. There is constant dialogue and discussion. That we have to do it is not in doubt. We have to face up to it, we have to deal with it and we will. The issue is what is the best way of proceeding". ENDS BLAIR TO LONDON KEYHAN 5902