What Can the Obama Administration Do About Iran?

Over the last sixty years, Iranians have demanded human rights, democracy and freedom. They have done it repeatedly, and the U.S. government has failed to craft a policy to respond to this genuine and deep-seated demand.

In his speech in Cairo, President Obama acknowledged with regret the U.S. role "in the overthrow of a democratically elected Iranian government" in 1953. This time, the Islamic Republic's ruling elite appear to have been caught in the act of distorting the democratic choice of the Iranian people. Just as the Iranian people remember with bitterness the interruption of their democratic aspirations in 1953, they are likely to remember 2009. The U.S. role in the unfolding drama on the streets of Iran's cities, and the perception of whether or not the United States stood for freedom, human dignity and independence, will have a bearing on U.S. - Iranian relations for many decades into the future.

At the same time, the administration has shown itself to be appropriately careful not to provide the Iranian leadership with a pretext to blame the unrest on the West or on U.S. policy. Ayatollah Khamenei and President Ahmadinejad have done it anyway of course, but as they have no bombastic statements to point to from President Obama or other senior administration figures, they have looked desperate and unconvincing. For example, in his speech at Friday Prayers today Khamenei dredged up the storming of the Branch Davidian Compound in Waco, Texas in1993 and the current scandal about MP's expenses in the United Kingdom. These incidents seem unlikely to move the Iranian masses. However, this cautious approach will only take the administration so far and risks being overtaken by events in Iran at any moment.

The most interesting thing about the Iranian elections is not that the results appear to have been rigged - for reasons beyond the scope of this article, the elections were never free and fair to begin with - it is the brazen and chaotic manner in which it was done that should focus the mind of the administration. Ahmadinejad could have been awarded the election after a decent interval giving the authorities a plausible amount of time to count the votes, or even after a run off against his main challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Many people in Iran and around the world would have been no happier with this result, but they would have had much less basis to challenge the credibility of the election and the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad's presidency. Ahmadinejad and his supporters, including the Supreme Leader, have given their many critics a stick to beat them with, and they have provoked unrest in Iran that can only be unwelcome to Iran's ruling elite.

Ahmadinejad's disputed victory has exposed fissures within the leadership and called into question the authority and the sure-footedness of the Supreme Leader. In the circumstances, finding a unitary authority in Iran for the U.S. government to engage with is probably impossible. Moreover, seeking to play favorites, or even more improbably kingmaker, in an opaque system where U.S. influence is virtually non-existent, is out of the question.

Nonetheless, consistency - avoiding double standards - matters in forging a credible human rights promotion policy, and Iran should not be given a pass because it is too difficult. Nor should there be a presumption in the other direction, that the Iranian system is especially or even uniquely evil and therefore it can be reviled freely with no thought to having a positive impact on the ground.

In an interview with Spencer Ackerman, published yesterday, leading Iranian dissident and former political prisoner Akbar Ganji, who was a critic of the interventionist pretensions of the Bush administration, makes a useful distinction between U.S. government support for human rights and what he views as illegitimate efforts to influence the democratic process. Ganji urges the Obama administration to stay out of the "democratic movement of the Iranian people," but to speak out against violations of human rights that take place.

This is a helpful distinction for the administration to bear in mind as it crafts an appropriately stronger response to mounting repression against non-violent demonstrators in Iran. The U.S. government did not spark the Mousavi phenomenon and can do very little to assist its cause. A frank admission of the limitations of U.S. power is probably a good place to start any U.S. message about human rights promotion in the Middle East. What the Obama administration can do is to speak out strongly and in concert with its allies around the world against violent repression of peaceful protest, the denial of free speech and of media access and the arbitrary detention of government critics, reformist politicians, student activists and human rights defenders.

The Obama administration should also remind Iran's leaders that the way they deal with this crisis of political legitimacy, and especially the way they treat their people will have an impact on the way the world interacts with the Iranian regime in the future. Ahmadinejad and Khamenei may have calculated that they would be insulated from international opprobrium by the global tide of anti-Americanism that grew in response to the policies of the Bush administration. New policies and a popular new leader in Washington change this calculation. The Obama administration, if it pitches its message in terms of universal human rights standards, and seeks to work through multilateral channels, can bring the world along in rejecting an Iranian regime that denies human rights, freedom and dignity to its people.

Comments

[S1m0n]

Maybe one soon the US will have re-established the credibility to lecture other nations about human rights, but that's not gonna happen this year, and probably not next year, either.

[humanbeing-rick]

As a fellow human being on this planet, fighting for our human rights in the USA, I wish to express my solidarity with the Iranians that are struggling for their own human rights, independence, and freedom.
The vibrant youth and visionaries of Iran are beginning to create their own free state. Good for them! More power to the People, everywhere on the planet!

However, it is not the place of America to interfere with the Iranian human rights movement.
America needs to keep it's nose in it's own business.
The people of America still have a huge struggle ahead of us in fighting for our own human rights.
Americans should be out in the streets protesting too.
The corporate and financial tycoons must be overthrown, to regain our own human rights in America.

I am sure the Iranians are fully capable fo taking care of their own, just as we must.

[incognito-ergo-sum]

This is such a masculine idea, "Do something". It has been proven in research that when a woman tells her troubles to her significant other (male) she only wants a shoulder to cry on and some conversation. Invariably what the man says is "Well how can I fix it". Thus taking the problem that was not his and making it about what he should or could do..

Iran may just want our eyes and ears, not our notoriously bad interventi­on.,

[marika]

It defies logic how anyone could expect Iranians, (or anyone else in the world) could believe that the U.S.'s agenda is to promote democracy and freedom."

Be reassured - no one does.

[jake1492]

you perspective is located in which part of the world?

[KarelS]

To get the majority of DixiePubs on his side, Obama needs to do the following:
(1) Promise Conoco and BP that they will have first dibs at securing Iran's oil as soon as the revolutionary dust settles.
(2) Preempt any Israeli preemptive attack--with nuk-u-lar weapons.
(3) Tell the present government that the US will not sit down at the negotiating table unless Iran drops all pretenses of being a Muslim nation and converts to Christianity.
(4) Talks of any kind will not begin unless President Ahmadinejad changes his name to something the average American can understand, like, say, Ahmydinnerjacket.
(5) Promise the DixiePubs that if war should break out between the US and Iran, they and their children will be safe as far as actually fighting the war--you know, as has always been the case in Iraq, Afghanistan, Viet Nam, Korea, etc.

I think Cantor, Boehner, McConnell, Gingrich, Coulter, Hannity, Limbaugh would finally stop criticising Obama in light of these promises.

[mmmtoblerone]

Now that Cheney is all over the place yapping away, you might need to add some no-bid contracts for repairing the damage done in the cities as well. It's not nearly as good an "opportunity" as rebuilding bombed out areas, but because the DixiePubs are in such a bipartisan mood lately, they might just go along with it without insisting on a full bombing.

Don't the Iranians also need health insurance? Oh, wait, there are too many of them already in the hospital to be of interest to the insurance lobby, so never mind.

[Realization]

The place to start is to move fast on Israeli-Palestinian peace. Solve this in a just manner and regaining our image in the Middle East will defuse Iran's plans for expansion which are aided by its support of Hizbollah and Hamas.

Then move to get out if Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as possible.

While we are at it, cut dependence on fossil fuels. Iran and folks like Russia have them. Benefits us and Europe to gain independence.

And solve the health care reform issue taking away the injustice it causes in America while increasing our international economic economic competitiveness. And eliminate the trade deficit and excessive foreign borrowing. Rich Country, Strong Army is the proper order of things. We have that backwards these days.

The solutions begin with us.

[motoboy]

STAY OUT OF IT.

Isn't it bad enough that the CIA replaced a democratically elected president there in 1954 with our own stooge?

[Agent420]

Still we do not learn. I cannot think of one time that we have put someone in power and not have it turn into a pile of stinking road apples.

[Fein]

One constructive thing the administration can do is silence the neocon morons who still stupidly promote their spectacularly failed doctrine of 'regime change.'

It defies logic how anyone could expect Iranians, (or anyone else in the world) could believe that the U.S.'s agenda is to promote democracy and freedom.

The Neocons and their sycophants destroyed that image for the foreseeable future, with their abominable wars for profit. And Obama isn't doing a lot to mend that disaster with his involvement in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

[Agent420]

The thing that blows me away is that in spite of all we have done to them, most of the people in the middle east like us. Let's not destroy that.

[ignorantAmerican]

Stupid Americans. Can't you learn to keep your noses out of other people's business?

[Javani]

"What the Obama administration can do is to speak out strongly and in concert with its allies around the world"

He could join Sarkozy and the EU...but did not.

1953? The deep irony of this one word argument is that the present regime would have killed Mossadegh. Apologizing for that is meaningless, the current regime only invokes it when it encounters Western fools who think they understand things. Don't bring up M, it only Americanizes the discussion.

[Steamboater]

The world do exactly the same thing we did when China had her Tianamin (sp?) Square; give Iran the Olympics and fall for their promises of more human rights etc.

[Agent420]

Your steam pressure seems to be a but low.

[escher123]

I guess on the same logic other countries could see the same thing if the Olympics are held in Chicago after Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib

[roudy]

How about, for a change, we stay out of affairs of other country's that are none of our business.

[zaz33]

I've been checking out alternative sites for the last few days. It seens to be agreed that not enough facts are coming out of Iran to determine whether the election was stolen or not.

Most judgements are based on assumptions and wishful thinking.

We may never know.

[Steamboater]

Th eguy ran against Ahmadinejad is no messiah either for Iran; he's a staunch conservative so democracy as we know it isn't something that's going take hold if and when he takes office. Do nothing. Say all you want but at least be realistic.

[Agent420]

Proof read first.

[Javani]

It's the Obama effect.

A self-policing in order to not have to think about a mistake.

Where are the people who always say follow the Europeans?

[CJWebber]

Why do you feel you should do something? You realize you are the only country in the world to meddle like this? How would you like it if Iran, or any other country, felt the need to involve themselves in your politics (which are like a soap opera)?

Hopefully some of you Americans have learned something about Iran, that it is just another country, no worse and no better than your own.

Mind your own business.

[NeilHicks]

Did you read the article? I called for a frank admission of the limitations of U.S. power. I don't agree that what is happening in Iran is no better and no worse than what happens in America. By the way, I am not American.

[CJWebber]

Sorry, I wasn't commenting about your article, which was very good, but rather to various non-traveling commenters who are ever-so knowledgable about other countries.

[Steamboater]

Look, you don't like our government or president, you can go out into the streets and and scream your head off and not get shot at by the military. Something like that hasn't happened in ages and we've learned from that. You can rant and rave on the net, call the president the worst names and still, no one's kicking in your door in the middle of the night. Our press is free too and no one's subject to the wrath from authorities if they reject a supernatural being. A little different than Iran Oh, we also have "homosexuals" here. The last time I heard from Ahmadinejad, Iran doesn't have any. Pity. Sure we have those who abuse this democracy but your assumption that Iran under this Ayatollah and Ahmadinejad is somehow equivalent to us is more than laughable; it's tragic.

As to minding our own business. American's are a very nosy people. We like to know what's going on in the world and we have a media access that affords us information freeely. We can even get the word out to other nations. So, we'll keep minding other countries' business. We wouldn't them to go out of business after all because they're run by a gangster like Ahmadinejad.

[TruthJusticeForAll]

How about root for a nice civl war?

[LindaCat]

We could try something new and different - how about blowing some air up the butts of the puppet government we have in Iraq and send their army into Iran. They will be welcomed as liberators from a benevolent and caring neighbor.

[Agent420]

How about turning on spell check.