At the very least, Iran's election results are under a cloud.
But evidence certainly seems to be mounting that there was considerable
intimidation, systematic efforts to quash the ability of the opposition
campaign to spread its message in the days prior to the election, and likely
voter fraud. Further, President
Ahmadinejad certainly didn't do anything to help his already shredded
credibility with his nonsensical Sunday news conference in which among other
things he asserted Iranians weren't divided by the election while violent
clashes took place in the streets.
These circumstances raise an important question. Given the
apparent disregard for the rights of its own citizens exhibited by the Iranian
regime, will the Obama administration rethink its stance vis á vis the
Iranians?
The prevailing U.S. view, articulated by Senate Foreign
Relations Committee Chair John Kerry last week, is that the Iranians have a
"right" to uranium enrichment. Will we continue to honor such a supposed right
now? The hopes of many reasonable Americans has long been that it would be
possible to establish a dialogue with Iran given the country's diversity of
opinions and its cosmopolitan traditions. But when democracy is seemingly
crushed or at the very least undermined, the government defines itself by the
degree to which it does not reflect the views of its citizens. Since
governments rather than general populations control nuclear programs, shouldn't
the recent events give us reason to reconsider our recent drift toward
acceptance of Iran's nuclear aspirations?
That's a rhetorical question. Of course it should. We should
not acknowledge international "rights" of countries that deny fundamental
rights to their people. I would think that would be at the core of any Obama
foreign policy (in fact, it seems to be with regard to Cuba, for example). Nor,
as a practical matter, should the U.S. base critical proliferation decisions on
the promises of countries that so callously break their fundamental promises to
their citizens and then lie about it to the world. In fact, how about amending the
Non-Proliferation Treaty to limit the right to the pursuit of peaceful nuclear
programs only to democracies?
This election should lead
us to meet with our allies and reconsider our approach to the Iranian nuclear
question -- especially because through a major multilateral rebuff of the
regime we might further weaken them in their own country, a place where the opposition seems so vital and
poised to make such a promising change.
Photo: BEHROUZ MEHRI/AFP/Getty Images
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