IPC website, February 11, 2010

Press Release                                                    
For Immediate Release                                      
11 February 2010                                                          

Iranian Nuclear Arms Control:
Engagement and Democratic Change of the Iranian Regime
 
Washington, DC—Iranian protesters are gearing up for the next occasion to turn to the streets in opposition to the Iranian regime: February 11 commemoration of the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Unlike the situation prior to the June election, the regime now faces a permanent opposition movement willing to endure repression to bring down the regime leading Washington think tanks to have doubts about engagement and to focus on democratic change in Iran as a way to prevent the Islamic Republic from obtaining the bomb. A joint U.S.-EU statement condemning the Iranian regime’s human rights violations is a step in this direction.
 
According to IPC President and former member of the National Security Council staff in the Executive Office of the President, Professor Raymond Tanter, “The IPC studied dissident Iranian groups, including the Iranian parliament in exile—National Council of Resistance of Iran, in Paris—and the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq its largest member organization, in Iraq. The regime crackdown after the June elections has fomented a new cohesion among dissidents, as those on the Iranian Street are embracing the regime change sentiments of the NCRI and MEK. ”
 
According to Professor Tanter, “Designation of the NCRI and MEK as foreign terrorist organizations acts an obstacle to building a coalition of dissidents. The irony, however, is that members of the MEK are paying a disproportionate price by being singled out for hangings among the thousands of individuals arrested since June.”
 
General Thomas McInerney (Lt Gen, US Air Force Ret, chair of the IPC Advisory Council), said, “The Obama administration reached out to Tehran with an offer that would have required Iran to ship some of its Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) abroad for processing. Though Tehran initially agreed, the Iranian regime subsequently backtracked; hence, there was a buzz about crippling sanctions. President Ahmadinejad ordered the authorities to enrich uranium to 20% purity, a substantial increase over the 3.5% enriched LEU Iran now possesses. The United States and allies may augment and expand targeted sanctions already on the books and so far unsuccessful; and even “crippling” sanctions on Iran’s gasoline imports are a long shot.”
 
R. Bruce McColm, former Executive Director of Freedom House, IPC Board of Directors said, “Though it makes some sense intuitively, it is mistaken to assume that a policy of democratically changing the Iranian regime would cripple diplomatic efforts. The example of Reagan administration policy toward Warsaw Pact countries is instructive. Not only did President Reagan assertively pursue arms control negotiations as well as an overt and covert democratic change policy, he did both simultaneously and made progress on both fronts.”