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Harman expresses Regret
Congresswoman retracts statement on dividing Iran
Washington, DC (NIAC) – The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) welcomes Rep. Jane Harman’s retraction and clarification of her statement regarding the “separation” of Iran’s ethnic groups and regret for the concern it caused. [See video of her talk at AIPAC meeting]
“I was not and am not calling for the creation of ethnic tensions or separation in Iran – nothing would be less productive,” said Harman in a statement to NIAC. “Although my comments on Iran were taken out of context, I regret any concern they might have caused.”
“My point was that the diversity of views in Iran should be better understood in order for the United States to formulate the best strategy for persuading the Iranian government not to pursue nuclear weapons development,” Harman added.
The controversy arose from statements Harman made during the American Israel Public Affairs Committee annual conference. While answering a question about how to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, Harman said “The Persian population in Iran is not a majority, it is a plurality. There are many different, diverse, and disagreeing populations inside Iran and an obvious strategy, which I believe is a very good strategy, is to separate those populations.”
NIAC initiated a campaign Tuesday seeking a retraction from the California Congresswoman. Discussions were held yesterday between NIAC and Harman’s office.
“This is an important statement from Rep. Harman,” said NIAC Chairman Reza Firouzbakht. “It makes clear that while there are many opinions about how to address the Iranian nuclear challenge, some options are simply not acceptable.”
NIAC President Trita Parsi welcomed the retraction and the Congresswoman’s expression of regret. “Though we take exception to the idea that the statement was taken out of context, the important thing is that Congresswoman Harman responded quickly to retract it and stated clearly that she opposes creating ethnic tensions in Iran. This is a testament both to the Congresswoman’s openness and to the increasing political engagement of the Iranian-American community.”
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Obama: Willing to move forward
Obama on relations with Iran and its nuclear program
Unites States President Barack Obama gave a speech in Egypt where in a part of he talked about Iran's nuclear programme and said the world must prevent a nuclear arms race in the Middle East, and all countries should disarm their nuclear weapons.
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Ontario – The U.S. on Saturday refused to accept hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's claim of a landslide re-election victory in Iran and said it was looking into allegations of election fraud.
Any hopes by the Obama administration of gaining a result similar to Lebanon's recent election, won by a Western-backed moderate coalition, appeared to be in jeopardy.
"We are monitoring the situation as it unfolds in Iran, but we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said at a news conference with Canada's foreign affairs minister, Lawrence Cannon.
Minutes after Clinton spoke, the White House released a two-sentence statement praising "the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians," but expressing concern about "reports of irregularities."
Despite the challenge from reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi to incumbent hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, many officials and experts thought a Mousavi victory would result in only incremental shifts toward the U.S.
Because real power in Tehran is still wielded by religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, some say an Ahmadinejad re-election may make it easier to build an international consensus against Iran.
Administration officials remained silent out of concern that any comments might influence the results. But they were privately hoping for a victory by the more moderate Mousavi.
President Barack Obama's previous overtures include his recent address in Cairo to the Muslim world as well as, earlier, a televised New Year's address to the Iranian people and a series of diplomatic contacts. Officials say Obama's attempts to reach out have gone largely unanswered.
Neither Clinton nor the White House mentioned Ahmadinejad or his chief rival Mousavi, by name, or acknowledged the incumbent's victory declaration.
Iranian authorities reported that Ahmadinejad was re-elected with 62.6 percent of the vote. He called on the public to respect the vote. But Mousavi, a former prime minister who has become the hero of a youth-driven movement seeking greater liberties and a gentler face for Iran abroad, rejected the results and accused authorities of rigging Friday's vote.
Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Saturday that Ahmadinejad's claim of a victory puts the Obama administration in a tough position.
"I think it's going to make it incredibly difficult for the Obama administration to acquiesce on Iran's enrichment of uranium when there is a president in Tehran who continues to deny the Holocaust, and continues to be belligerent toward Israel," Sadjadpour said. "I don't see the probability of Ahmadinejad taking a more moderate or conciliatory approach his second time around. Similar to what President Bush said when he was re-elected in 2004, he said, 'I've earned political capital, and now I am going to use it.'"
As a result, Sadjadpour said the U.S. may have to review its diplomatic approach with Iran. "We have no other choice but to open a sustained dialogue with Tehran," Sadjadpour said.
In brief remarks in Canada, Clinton cited "the enthusiasm and the very vigorous debate and dialogue" in the run-up to the vote. "We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the Iranian people," she said.
Canada's foreign minister Cannon said his country was "deeply concerned" by reports of irregularities in the election. "We're troubled by reports of intimidation of opposition candidates' offices by security forces," he said. "Canada is calling on Iranian authorities to conduct fair and transparent counting of all ballots."
Disappointment in the results was summed up by the Anti-Defamation League, which noted Ahmadinejad's history of "extremist allegations and attacks" against Jews and Israel as well as the United States
"We are greatly disappointed by the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad," the ADL said in a statement. "We had hoped that a different outcome to this election would have sent a message to the international community that Ahmadinejads incendiary behavior is not reflective of the beliefs and views of the Iranian people. Unfortunately, the result for Iran is likely to be another four years of extremism and isolation."
The election focused on what the office of the Iranian president can influence: boosting Iran's sinking economy, pressing for greater media and political freedoms, and being Iran's main envoy to the world.
Iran does not allow international election monitors. During the 2005 election, when Ahmadinejad won the presidency, there were some allegations of vote rigging from losers, but the claims were never investigated.
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With the results of Iran's election raising serious doubts and leading to clashes in the streets between riot police and hundreds of opposition supporters, questions now loom over how the controversy will affect relations between the U.S. and Iran.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. would continue to monitor the situation closely.
"But we, like the rest of the world, are waiting and watching to see what the Iranian people decide," she said at a news conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario. "The United States has refrained from commenting on the election in Iran. We obviously hope that the outcome reflects the genuine will and desire of the Iranian people."
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the Obama administration was "impressed by the vigorous debate and enthusiasm that this election generated, particularly among young Iranians."
But U.S. officials are skeptical of the outcome, in which the government declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner Saturday.
U.S. analysts find it "not credible" that challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi would have lost the balloting in his hometown or that a third candidate, Mehdi Karoubi, would have received less than 1 percent of the total vote, a senior U.S. officials told FOX News.
Despite a reportedly record turnout of 85 percent, the senior official said given the "not credible" counts for Mousavi and Karoubi, the turnout clearly was questionable.
Another senior official said the Obama administration would not describe the outcome as legitimate or illegitimate or deem a victory by Mousavi as necessarily better.
"We're not going to characterize what would have been a better or worse scenario," the official said. "We will deal with this as it is, not as we wish it to be.
"We have very serious foreign policy and national security issues at play here," the official added. "That was the case yesterday. It is the case today."
Yet some U.S. lawmakers didn't hesitate to voice skepticism of the outcome.
"There appears to be pretty good evidence that this is a cooked election," Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., told FOX News. "And the most depressing thing for me is we were going to see whether in fact the true leaders of this country, the religious leaders, were going to allow for a real election to have an expression of the people.
"It appears now from what we see coming in is that was not the case," he said. "That gives an indication that they did not have a real intention of really have a change."
Rep. Connie Mack, R-Fla., said: "This election was neither free nor fair and the world is more dangerous with Ahmadinejad as president of Iran.
He noted that Ahmadinejad has developed a close relationship with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, "threatening the freedom, security and prosperity of the Western Hemisphere."
"Ahmadinejad's influence in the hemisphere is very troubling," said Mack, who is the top Republican on the House subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere. "The United States must act now to prevent Ahmadinejad and his cronies in Latin America from destroying the hopes and dreams of the Latin American people."
The dominant view among Obama administration officials is that the regime will look so bad as a result of whipping up Iranian hopes for democracy and then squelching them that the regime may feel compelled to show some conciliatory response to Obama's gestures of engagement.
But Trita Parsi, president of the National Iranian American Council, isn't so sure about that. He noted the Ahmadinejad team "has not been terribly eager to show the United States goodwill and I'm not sure if we would see a shift." He also said if a stalemate emerges, a paralyzed Iranian government would make it difficult for the Obama administration to engage Iran.
Parsi praised Obama for staying largely silent leading up to the election to ensure
Michael Singh, a fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and former senior director for Middle East affairs on the National Security Council, said Singh said it is widely agreed that elections in Iran are rigged -- candidates are vetted and the results are distorted. And regardless of the outcome, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei has the final say on critical issues such as Iran's nuclear program and relations with the United States, he said.
An Ahmadinejad victory, he said, means that Iran's leaders "are shaking their still clenched fists at President Obama's outstretched hand."
But he added that the results should not affect U.S. policy toward Iran.
"The United States and its allies can ill afford any delay or slackening of pressure with the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran looming ever closer," he said in an opinion article published in Foreignpolicy.com.
He added that the U.S. message to Iran's leaders should be: "We honor not the trappings of democracy but the free exercise of it, and we will judge you not by your words but by your actions."
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini apparently has released a statement calling the results "final" and hailing the election as a legitimization of the regime and its elections.
Violent s***mishes have been reported outside Mousavi's campaign headquarters and of huge demonstrations for both sides in central Tehran, with Mousavi trying to make his way to the one organized by his supporters. Even if widespread violence occurs, analysts see no prospect that this event would lead to a full-scale attempt at revolution or the toppling of the regime.
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U.S. Persian Gulf forces cautioned on Iran
U.S. military commanders in the Middle East were sent a message reminding American forces to maintain discipline and prudence if they encounter any Iranian military forces during potential unrest surrounding Iran's presidential election, CNN has learned.
This so far is the only acknowledged U.S. military reaction to the unfolding situation in Iran.
Two U.S. defense officials with direct knowledge of the highly classified message confirmed the details to CNN but said the issue is so sensitive that they could not divulge whose signature was on the message. It was distributed via secure communications in recent days. The officials talked with CNN on condition they not be identified.
Both underscored that the message is not an indication U.S. forces are at any higher state of alert. However, the U.S. military is extremely concerned, they said, that given unrest in Iran, any encounter between U.S. and Iranian units could inadvertently escalate.
The message is mainly directed at U.S. naval forces in the Persian Gulf that regularly encounter Iranian naval forces in those waters.
"We are watching, and ensuring disciplined restraint on the part of our naval forces," one official told CNN. The U.S. military's concern is that Iranian naval forces could engage in some activity in the Gulf waters that could be a "triggering event," that U.S. forces might been compelled to react to.
The second official said there is also great concern that Iran not misunderstand this message calling for restraint, and think the United States is lowering its guard.
U.S. military concerns are taking into account "heightened Iranian sensitivity and maybe even fear for potential internal and external security threats," one official said.
He said that U.S. forces "have been prudently reminded to view any Iranian actions during this time from that perspective and that we should remain diligent and disciplined in all circumstances."
One reason for the concern is what the U.S. military views as undisciplined command and control of some Iranian naval units, especially those manned by Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps.
In January 2008, several U.S. Navy warships in the Persian Gulf were harassed by small Iranian speed boats, raising maritime tensions between the two countries. The U.S. Navy acknowledged in that incident it came within seconds of firing on the Iranians.
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