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US Under Pressure to Talk to Tehran    [

    Middle East Experts Against Military Option in Iran
    By Sari Gelzer
    t r u t h o u t | Report

    Friday 12 May 2006

    On May 9th, 200 American Middle East experts sent a letter to the White House warning President Bush against threatening US military action against Iran.

    "We started the letter out of a sense of frustration that the experts in the field were not being consulted as the US develops policy toward Iran," explained Professor Ahmad Sadri, the coordinator of the project. "This is the same mistake the US government made before going to Iraq. We're saying don't do that again."

    This group of scholars, academics, commentators, and former US government officials called on the Bush administration to enter into face-to-face negotiations with the government in Tehran.

    "As the International Atomic Energy Agency has found no evidence of research or diversion of materials toward atomic weapons in Iran, concerns about future dual use of nuclear technology ought to be addressed in face to face negotiations," said the letter.

    Their letter arrived one day after Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had written to George W. Bush proposing "new solutions" to their differences. This letter was the first written communication between the leadership of Iran and the leadership of the United States since the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

    Bush's response was to direct all diplomacy efforts toward the United Nations Security Council, which is currently drafting a resolution to present to Iran.

    The UN Security Council meeting in New York this week did not come to a conclusion on a resolution. The US, along with the British and French, is encouraging a resolution that would make it mandatory for Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment activities. Russia and China oppose this approach that could provoke Iran to abandon cooperation with international nuclear inspections, the New York Times reported .

    Ahmadinejad says that Iran's nuclear program is only for the generation of electricity, and he believes that it is Iran's right to have access to this for purposes of technological advancement. He further stated that he will reject any security council decision that would restrict the country's nuclear activities.

    In a press conference on Wednesday following the delivery of the letter from Middle East experts to the president, Professor Sadri, one of the coordinators of the letter, stated:

    "We don't intend to apologize for lapses of democratic structures or of the abuses of human rights in Iran. But we do contend that none of those problems will improve by coercive diplomacy or military attacks. We warn that threats of invasion and draconian ultimatums will serve the interests of the Iranian right wing that has wrapped itself in the national flag." The press conference was held by the Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), a non-partisan Quaker lobby in the public interest that has worked for more than 60 years to support peaceful alternatives to war and for nuclear disarmament.

    On May 18th, Cindy Sheehan will deliver a separate petition to the White House opposing an attack on Iran. The petition, which can be found at www.dontattackiran.org, has already been signed by over 40,000 people and is supported by a broad coalition of organizations including Gold Star Families for Peace, CODE PINK, Progressive Democrats of America, the Campus Anti-War Network, and United For Peace and Justice.

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     Links:

    Full text of the letter sent by Middle East experts

    Petition Opposing Attack on Iran

    More information on FCNL

    Letter sent by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to President George W. Bush