[Mb-civic] FW: U.S. Expands Aid to Iran's Democracy Advocates Abroad

[villasudjuan]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Samii Shahla <shahla at thesamiis.com>
Date: Sun, 29 May 2005 01:19:52 -0400
Subject: U.S. Expands Aid to Iran's Democracy Advocates Abroad

NY Times
May 29, 2005

U.S. Expands Aid to Iran's Democracy Advocates Abroad

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN

WASHINGTON, May 28 - The Bush administration is expanding efforts to
influence Iran's internal politics with aid for opposition and pro-democracy
groups abroad and longer broadcasts criticizing the Iranian government,
administration officials say.

The efforts are being carried out quietly to avoid provoking Iranian
leaders, officials say, adding that they reflect the administration's
frustration over stalled diplomatic efforts to get Iran to dismantle what
the West suspects is a nuclear weapons program and to end its support for
Islamic militant groups.

So far the resources directed toward these efforts are small, including $1.5
million late last year and $3 million this year, some of which is to going
to exile groups with contacts inside Iran. No money has gone directly inside
Iran, the officials say, but they say that could change and note that the
sums could grow.

Conservatives in Congress, in parts of the administration and at some
research centers have long advocated a policy of trying to change the
government in Iran, but only recently have they secured financing. Their
discussions have been increasingly public, but only in the last few weeks
have top administration officials begun answering questions on the policy.

Earlier this month, the Voice of America increased the time it broadcasts
its government-financed satellite programs into Iran, now repeating its
one-hour news program four times a day. Voice of America said a recent
telephone survey in Iran, where satellite dishes are widespread though
banned, showed that 10 percent of respondents said they watched the program.

Broadcasts this month included interviews with a student leader and a
well-known poet and political activist who criticized Iranian clerics for
barring hundreds of candidates from the presidential election next month.

R. Nicholas Burns, under secretary of state for political affairs, called
the expanded efforts a "second track" paralleling diplomatic initiatives on
Iran's support for terrorism and its nuclear program. He said the
administration was "taking a page from the playbook" on Ukraine and Georgia.
In those countries, the United States gave money to opposition and
pro-democracy groups, some of which later supported the peaceful overthrow
of the governments in power.

Asked whether American funds may soon go to groups inside Iran, Mr. Burns
said: "We're certainly not there yet, because we don't have a platform to do
it, and the country isn't free enough to do it. It's a much more oppressive
environment than Ukraine was last autumn, during the Orange Revolution."

Administration officials, acknowledging the broad support for nuclear rights
in Iran, said they did not necessarily expect a more democratic government
in Iran would be amenable to giving up nuclear activity, but said they hoped
to change Iranian behavior by pushing for democracy.

The officials acknowledge that distributing funds to groups with contacts
inside Iran could be tricky. Various groups have conflicting agendas, from
those allied with the family of the shah of Iran, who want a restoration of
the monarchy, to others once allied with Saddam Hussein of Iraq, whose
government waged a war with Iran in the 1980's.

Iranian officials have been quoted in the country's official news media as
criticizing the United States' new efforts as an attempt to interfere in its
internal affairs, but administration officials maintain that supporting
independent groups does not constitute such a step.

And some Iran experts say the financial assistance would tend to publicly
discredit the recipients. "Anyone who wants American money in Iran is going
to be tainted in the eyes of the Iranians," said Abbas Milani, director of
the Iranian Studies program at Stanford University, who has held informal
discussions with the administration.

But others say the Iranian groups should decide for themselves.

"Many Iranians have shown they are not embarrassed to take American
assistance," said Michael Rubin, a former Iran adviser in the office of the
secretary of defense, who advocated aiding Iranian groups before leaving
office last year. "We just have to make sure they're not just pocketing the
cash and doing nothing in return."

When he was at the Pentagon, Mr. Rubin was part of a group of conservatives
there and in Vice President Dick Cheney's office who favored strong American
support for dissidents and others who might one day overthrow the government
in Tehran. The State Department tended to resist their proposals, fearing
they would disrupt diplomatic efforts to improve relations with Tehran.

The exile groups have their own focus. A grant of $1 million has gone to the
Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, a United States-based organization
that says it has connections with dissidents inside Iran. The grant is
intended to gather information on rights abuses since the Iranian Revolution
of 1979, the center says, but also to support pro-democracy groups inside
Iran.

"We have many contacts in Iran, and we have even engaged in human rights
training of people in Iran," said Payam Akhavan, a director of the project.
"We are not interested in regime change or overthrowing the government. But
we hope to build grass-roots civil society and democratic consciousness
among the Iranians."

So far, meanwhile, the State Department has channeled $500,000 through the
National Endowment for Democracy, a semi-independent group set up by
Congress, to create databases and publications on human rights, business
enterprise and women's rights. But none of that money, the officials say, is
going to groups inside Iran.

An administration official said the State Department was also studying
dozens of proposals for spending $3 million in the coming year "for the
benefit of Iranians living inside Iran." He said these included broadcast
activities, Internet programs and "working with people inside Iran" on
advancing political activities there.

"We've got some fantastic proposals," said the official, explaining that he
was authorized to speak about this subject only on the condition that he not
be identified. "We will have no problem spending the $3 million. We could
probably even spend more."

He said it might be possible to transfer funds directly into Iran, but said
the Treasury Department would have to waive federal laws barring financial
transactions with Iranians. "Treasury is fully in tune with the
administration's goals and they're working to find the best ways to do it,"
he added.


Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
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URL: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?emc=tnt&tntget=2005/05/29/interna
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