Thursday's Daily Briefing on Iran

DoctorZin reports, 6.16.2005:

Statement by the President Bush on Iranian Elections [Excerpts]

President Bush, The White House:

In recent months, the cause of freedom has made enormous gains in the broader Middle East. ... And as a tide of freedom sweeps this region, it will also come eventually to Iran. ...

Today, Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home and spread terror across the world. Power is in the hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy.

The June 17th presidential elections are sadly consistent with this oppressive record. ...

• The Iranian people deserve a genuinely democratic system in which elections are honest - and in which their leaders answer to them instead of the other way around.
• The Iranian people deserve a truly free and democratic society with a vibrant free press that informs the public and ensures transparency.
• They deserve freedom of assembly, so Iranians can gather and press for reform and a peaceful, loyal opposition can keep the government in check.
• They deserve a free economy that delivers opportunity and prosperity and economic independence from the state.
• They deserve an independent judiciary that will guarantee the rule of law and ensure equal justice for all Iranians. And they deserve a system that guarantees religious freedom, so that they can build a society in which compassion and tolerance prevail.

Today, the Iranian regime denies all these rights. ... READ MORE

Here are a few other news items you may have missed.

• Ayatollah Medhi Haeri, WSJ says the election in Iran is a betrayal of Islam.
• The Jerusalem Post is calling Iran's election a sham.
• The major Iranian opposition broadcasters in a unique display of unity in broadcasting the same feed into Iran calling for a boycott of the elections tomorrow.
• Shirin Ebadi Muhammad Sahimi, WSJ said, Turning a blind eye to human rights abuses, when the vast majority of Iranians desire mutually respectful relations with the West, would only increase their suspicion of the West's underlying motives.
• The New York Times had an analysis why Rafsanjani is not our man in Iran.
• Kenneth R. Timmerman reported that the election turnout tomorrow is excepted to be around 27%. This would be disastrous to the regime if accurate.
• Michael Ledeen says the Iranian election tomorrow is a farce.
• The Financial Times reported that exiled Iranian opposition activists say they are studying and training in the techniques of "non-violent conflict."
• Defense & Foreign Affairs provides a special analysis of the 2005 elections in Iran, June 17th.
• And finally, we have just received a list of locations in the U.S. where Iranians can go to vote in the June 17th election. Opposition groups are asking for help in shutting them down.