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

Steven Weisman, The NY Times:

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. READ MORE

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.