Iran Dissident Plots Escape to Freedom From the Mullahs

Eli Lake, The NY Sun:

A leading Iranian dissident is planning his escape from the Islamic Republic after learning this weekend that the country's secret police have reissued a warrant for his arrest.

"Until now, the idea of leaving the country has never crossed my mind. But we think at this time it is better to leave and live in a neighboring country for a little while. Our hands would be more open to organize others inside the country. The same thing happened for some of the student leaders in Serbia, and that's what we need here," Amir Abbas Fakhravar said yesterday in a telephone interview from Tehran. In the interview, he also made a plea for American financial aid to be given to the Iranian student movement to help "get rid" of the regime in Tehran.

Last week, Mr. Fakhravar's sister, Mahlagha Heidarpool, was summoned to the supreme revolutionary guard tribunal, where she was told that Iranian anti-riot police have an order to shoot Mr. Fakhravar on sight, Mr. Fakhravar told The New York Sun yesterday.

Mr. Fakhravar was first sentenced in November 2002 for writing a book, "This Place Is Not a Ditch," which included a brutal assessment of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and urged Iranians to reject the current regime. He was temporarily released from prison this spring to complete his university degree, but has not returned to prison, an increasingly common practice for Iranian political prisoners released on medical or academic leave.

The new warrant for Mr. Fakhravar's arrest coincides with a new crackdown this fall on other political dissidents in Iran. A leader of Tahkim Vahdat, the oldest and largest student organization in the country, Ali Afshari, was sentenced a week ago for organizing against the regime. And a dissident hero, Akbar Ganji, was sent back to Evin prison last month.

Iran's theocratic regime has prompted popular resistance. President Bush has voiced support for democracy in Iran, along with concern about the current regime's support for terrorism and its efforts to build nuclear weapons.

Mr. Fakhravar yesterday told The New York Sun that he has been meeting with leaders of Tahkim Vahdat, which has supported the campaign inside the country to boycott national elections and pressure the regime to release Mr. Ganji from Evin prison. "I have open arms to Tahkim Vahdat when the constitution changes. They all are Iranian, and they will get bigger and bigger," he said. But Mr. Fakhravar was skeptical as well. "Today their charter supports the Islamic Republic. Some of them are trying to change this. We have skepticism that some of them want to infiltrate us and know our plan and our locations. By all means, we have open arms when they change this written law."

Mr. Fakhravar believes that he and other student leaders, such as Ahmad Batebi - who is also wanted for arrest by the Iranian authorities - represent the true leadership of the country's student movement. "Only people like us are in a position to lead and a few others who are still alive and in the prisons. The regime knows how much we bring to the table and that we are popular with students and how much we have power, and they want to eliminate us physically," he said.

Mr. Fakhravar then said that he felt close to President Bush and other American leaders who share his opinion regarding regime change for Iran."We feel in our heart and our mind that we are close to the leaders of the great countries like America, those who think this regime can no longer possibly remain and should be removed. We think as the leaders of the student movement are bonded with these leaders in the West that these leaders should help us financially to cover our expenses. It is the least expensive way get rid of this regime." READ MORE

The interview was translated simultaneously by a woman in Los Angeles.

Mr. Fakhravar's open appeal from inside Iran for outside assistance may go a long way in solving a dilemma in Washington for policy makers who have debated whether such direct assistance for the Iranian student movement would be rejected or would hinder the prospects for regime change. For three years between 2003 and 2005, Senator Brownback, a Republican from Kansas, has attached amendments freeing up some money to go directly to pro-democracy organizations inside Iran. But this money has, so far, not gone for any such projects, in part because few popular opposition figures inside Iran have asked for it. In interviews with the Sun over the past year, leaders from Tahkim Vahdat and a former industry minister, Mohsen Sazegara, and others have never openly asked for American funding for opposition activities.

But Mr. Fakhravar believes the time is ripe for America to support a regime change policy openly. In the interview yesterday, he said that he hoped the United Nations National Security quickly takes up Iranian violations of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and then imposes economic sanctions.

"People are so fed up and so disgusted that whatever it takes from this regime, they will tolerate whatever it takes for the regime to go," he said. But today, many Iran hawks in Washington have opposed broad economic sanctions against the mullahs after learning the disastrous impact such an embargo had on Iraq through the oil-for-food investigations. Last year, for example, a paper from the Committee on the Present Danger recommended targeted sanctions that focused on the private wealth of Iran's leaders with an eye on restricting their travel and seizing their bank accounts abroad.

That's not how this dissident sees it from the inside. "Everyone I talk to, everyone is saying they know how the oil revenue goes up and up as they get poorer and goods get more expensive. We might as well have sanctions," Mr. Fakhravar said. "It's like we are living under them already. If it leads to the regime being overthrown, then so be it."