The United States’ attitude and recent French declarations are enabling Ahmadinejad to appeal to extreme forms of nationalism and thereby to divert the Iranian population’s attention away from real internal problems and the unparalleled repression of Iranian civil society.
Policies based on double standards must always be avoided: we know what they have produced in the Middle East. A comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, supported by the international community and involving a non-nuclear Middle East and Israel, will be the final guarantee of security in the region. This is the real way to counter Iran’s strategy of regional destabilisation.
At the present time, the Iranian question is in the hands of the IAEA and the UN Security Council. I believe that only multilateral action, properly coordinated by the entire international community and fully respecting the United Nations Charter, can guarantee stability in the region and a peaceful resolution of this crisis.
The country’s future is in the hands of Iranian civil society, which is demonstrating extraordinary dynamism and is actively committed to countering President Ahmadinejad’s radical statements. It should be resolutely supported, both to avoid war and to promote the emergence of the rule of law in Iran.
The best approach to the nuclear question calls for strict adherence to international standards : the United Nations Charter, the treaties relating to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and, last but not least, the instruments protecting human rights.
In accordance with the UN Charter, military intervention is only possible if it is authorised by the Security Council, and subject to there being a threat to international peace and security. At this stage, the IAEA has not demonstrated that Iran is carrying out uranium enrichment activities for military purposes.
Let’s recall the Iraq scenario, where the IAEA never demonstrated that Saddam’s regime possessed nuclear weapons. The United States declared that they had irrefutable evidence to this effect and they plunged the country and the region into a bloody war. It subsequently became clear that these nuclear weapons did not exist… The Iraq experience showed the limits of military intervention and its catastrophic consequences for the civilian population - who are the first victims of any conflict.
Karim Lahidji,
– President of the Iranian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LDDHI)
– Vice-President of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)