[Mb-civic] Shah's Son Urges Aid to Resistance

[Reeeees at aol.com]

Shah's Son Urges Aid to Resistance
Reza Pahlavi says Iran won't  yield in talks and military action could 
strengthen Tehran's hand. He pushes  unity of opposition groups.
 
By Nick Timiraos, Times Staff Writer
March 2, 2006   |  Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — The son of the late shah of  Iran warned Wednesday that 
diplomatic efforts over the country's nuclear  ambitions were unlikely to succeed, but 
said he opposed military action against  his estranged nation.

Instead, the former crown prince of the U.S.-backed  monarchy that was 
deposed in 1979 urged the international community to help  support and unify 
opposition groups inside and outside Iran to increase pressure  on the nation's 
ruling Islamic clerics.

Reza Pahlavi, 45, said military  strikes would only rally support for Iran's 
hard-line rulers and that continued  diplomacy and negotiations would give 
Tehran time to pursue nuclear weapons.  

"The problem with these negotiations all along was the false assumption  that 
the other side wants a solution to avert a crisis. Quite the contrary,"  
Pahlavi said in a speech at the National Press Club. "Increasingly unpopular,  the 
Islamic Republic needs an atmosphere of crisis to justify its increased  
militarization."

Pahlavi also opposes punitive measures such as economic  sanctions, instead 
urging steps such as freezing assets and restricting travel  for the ruling 
clerics.

Pahlavi is the son of the late Mohammed Reza  Pahlavi. In 1953, a CIA-backed 
coup toppled the democratically elected  government of Prime Minister Mohammed 
Mossadegh. The shah, who had fled the  country, was returned to power within 
days and ruled until the 1979 Islamic  Revolution, in which Ayatollah Ruhollah 
Khomeini set up the theocracy that runs  Iran today. 

Unpopular in much of the West, the shah accepted former  President Carter's 
offer to come to the United States for medical treatment,  prompting the 
seizure of U.S. diplomats in Tehran. The shah died in Egypt in  1980.

The younger Pahlavi, a father of three who lives in suburban  Washington, 
said his chief objective was a secular, democratic government in  Iran. 

Asked about his role in such a government, Pahlavi said, "That's  for my 
compatriots to decide." But he expressed a preference for constitutional  monarchy 
and pointed to Japan, Sweden and Spain as successful examples.  

Pahlavi spoke at the invitation of the National Press Club as  international 
pressure mounts on Tehran to clarify its nuclear ambitions.  

Iran says its atomic research is intended for peaceful purposes, but the  
Bush administration contends that Tehran is seeking to develop a nuclear bomb.  
The governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency is scheduled to  
hold another session on the issue Monday in Vienna.

U.S. officials have  touted steps toward democracy across the Middle East as 
a way to contain the  influence of Iran. But Pahlavi said Iran's growing clout 
is in part a  consequence of the spread of democracy. "In Lebanon, if 
Hezbollah can spend more  money than the government building schools, mosques and 
hospitals — thanks to  generous Iranian contributions — don't be surprised if 
they win elections," he  said.

Pahlavi's call for international support of resistance groups  followed last 
month's State Department pledge of $85 million for anti-Tehran  propaganda and 
aid to Iranian opposition groups, up from $10 million last year.  He said 
more must be done to unite the "thousand circles of localized dissent  and 
opposition" inside and outside the country. 

Pahlavi said he had  "very strong" political capital within Iran, but 
analysts offered mixed  assessments of that claim. 

"There's a lot of nostalgia … in Iran," said  Patrick Clawson, an analyst at 
the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.  "

Other analysts said that prominent exiles such as Pahlavi might have  less 
clout with the White House because of the widespread belief that U.S.  officials 
relied too heavily on Iraqi exiles to make their case for military  action 
against Saddam Hussein. 
 
_http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-shah2mar02,1,4285460.stor
y_ 
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-shah2mar02,1,4285460.story) 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.islandlists.com/pipermail/mb-civic/attachments/20060302/f8b7c3b6/attachment.htm