Nick Smith, June 22, 2003

We've been spending a lot of time over the last few weeks in the International Relations committee talking to experts on the Middle East. Despite the fall of Saddam Hussein’s brutal regime, prospects for a lasting and prosperous peace in the region remain threatened by a fanatical neighboring government. Two years into the War on Terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran continues to ignore and defy calls by the international community to combat terror. Iran is the "most active state sponsor of international terrorism" according to the State Department and is most deserving of membership in President Bush’s "Axis of Evil." Now that we have dispatched terrorist-sponsoring regimes in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is no surprise that Iran is obstructing efforts to replace them with stable democracies.

The list of American grievances against Iran is long. Iran provides training and support to terrorist groups like Hamas, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. These groups poison the Middle East peace process, bringing death, destruction, and insecurity to Israelis and Palestinians alike. The Iranian regime is directly responsible for the 1983 attacks on the United States Embassy and Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon that killed a combined 314 Americans. More recently, Iran was implicated in the bombing of the Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed another 19 U.S. servicemen. Most recently, we believe that Al-Qaeda operatives based in Iran were responsible for bomb attacks on American expatriates living in Riyadh. Iran is also active in fomenting resistance and revolt against American reconstruction efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially amongst Shiites. Domestically, Iran is responsible for the persecution of Iranian Jews, Baha’i, and other religious minorities. Furthermore, the theocratic Iranian regime continues to stifle the most basic democratic rights of its 65 million citizens.

Although Iran is a member of the Biological Weapons Convention, Chemical Weapons Convention, and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, it is widely known to have biochemical weapons, and is working furiously to develop nuclear-weapons capabilities. The implications for the peace process, the emergence of democracy in the region, and the War on Terror are troubling. Something must be done.

At the time of his election, there was some guarded optimism that the government of President Mohammed Khatami would bring democratic reform to his country. The continuing protests of hundreds of thousands of Iranians in the streets of Tehran show the frustration now with both Khatami and the ruling mullahs. The protestors are calling for reform, more openness, the downfall of the clerics, and increased democracy. These protests are unprecedented in their duration, enthusiasm, and extent since the 1979 revolution, and they represent the hostility of many average Iranians to their draconian oppressive government.

President Bush said that "the international community must come together to make it very clear to Iran that [it] will not tolerate" proliferation of WMD. In addition, we should encourage and support the development of democracy in Iran. There is a new willingness by Europe and other countries to work with us in this effort. The protesters, who represent a wide spectrum of Iranian society, should know that the American people wholeheartedly support their goals of reform and closer ties to the West, including the United States.

Congressman Nick Smith represents the 7th District Congressional of Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives.