Two weekends ago  I attended and spoke at The Iran Democratic Transition Conference in George Washington University. The conference was organized by The Institute of World Politics and The Confederation of Iranian Students.

I attended as an independent activist and with an open mind; because I believe that if we want to promote democracy we have to start practicing it today! Although this was a very controversial conference, and I had received numerous calls from various political activists urging me not to attend, I decided to attend and judge for myself.

While this conference had the potential of accomplishing something very useful and positive, unfortunately it fell very short of that goal. Overall the goal of the conference seemed to be the self promotion of “The Confederation of Iranian Students” as well as an undertone of reformist propaganda.

There was a  Panel entitled "New Generation: Demands, Abilities and Political Vision." One of the speakers on this panel was Mr. Amir Golparipour, a former secretary general of Islamic Student Association in Tehran University, and a member of Mousavi’s central campaign. While Mr. Golparipour did not openly support Mousavi, he stated that “the people in Iran are leading and Mousavi is following.” He also stated that young people were interested mostly in their own individual rights such as the right to dress the way they want, or be able to see their boyfriend/girlfriend without the fear of repercussions." He minimized the political demands of the younger generation and tried to reduce it to simple individual demands.

 Another panel was entitled "Oppositions Leadership: In Exile or from Within?" The speakers on this panel included Amir Shajareh from Pars International Television, was one of the few speakers at this conference who took a clear stand against the Islamic Regime.  However,  well known reformist Alireza Nourizadeh, who was also on the panel, spent most of his speech trying to convince the audience “not to bring up Mousavi’s past, not to say that thousands of political prisoners were executed during Mousavi’s time as the prime minister, because this would prevent unity and would not allow the movement to move forward." He also attacked the term “secularism” by stating that 60% of the Iranians were afraid of the term, and perceived it to mean “someone would come and rip of their daughter’s skirt.” Mr. Nourizadeh did not indicate where he had gotten his statistics from.

I was one of the speakers on the panel entitled "New Constitution- Reform or Regime Change.[the text of my speech follows at the end of this article] the] Another speaker was Amir Fakhravar, who discussed the necessity of a new constitution (which he along with his colleagues have conveniently written.)

Day 2

Panel 5-Secularism: Alternative Meanings

One of the speakers on this panel was Mr. Afshin Ellian, a professor of law and philosophy from Netherlands. Mr. Ellian was another speaker who stated that it did not matter what Mousavi had done in the past, that he was currently doing a good job and that people had “chosen” him as a leader, therefore we should not create division and we should stand together.

Mr. Ellians speech was difficult to swallow and I asked him the following question during the question/answer period:

“As a law professor you know that in Western countries even if someone slaps someone in the face they are criminally charged, have a trial and if found guilty, thay are punished. How can you suggest that we should forget about Mousavi’s past and the execution of thousands of political prisoners while he was the prime minister? How do you answer to the families of those political prisoners, and aren’t you giving a free pass to those who are currently involved in the oppression of people, like the Basij, Revolutionary Guards and Government officials, by saying it doesn’t matter what they have done?”

Mr. Ellian did not answer my questions directly, instead he talked about how difficult it would be to prosecute these people, how most likely they would destroy all the evidence and how it would cost millions of dollars. Mr. Ellian also denied having said that we should forget about Mousavi’s past.

I was forced to get up once again and remind Mr. Ellian that in fact he had said that very thing, and that he had not in any way answered my questions.

Panel 7-Sanctions: Behaviour Change or Regime Change?

One of the speakers on this panel was Abolfazl Eslami a “former” Counsellor of the Islamic Regime in Tokyo Japan. Mr. Eslami who had worked for the Regime for many years “resigned” after the protests and uprising of people after the June 2009 presidential [s]elections. Mr. Eslami claims that it was the violence used by the Regime that caused him to resign. The question that comes to mind is “was Mr. Eslami not aware of the violence and brutality used by the Regime prior to June 2009?”

The reality is that millions of Iranians were pouring into the streets and protesting, the movement was becoming more and more radical and the end of the Islamic Regime was and still is in sight. What better way or time for an Islamic Regime diplomat to “resign” in order to guarantee his safety, and to protect himself from any possible future prosecution after the Regime is overthrown? These types of resignations are at best self serving and opportunist, however it seemed like I was the only one at this conference who felt this way. Mr. Fakhravar was busy praising Mr. Eslami at every opportunity and the audience was clapping for him at every opportunity, treating him like a hero, rather than a self serving opportunist who had quit his post, at a very convenient time.

Another person who attended the conference, but did not speak was Mousavi Khoeini, a former reformist member of parliament who currently lives in Washington DC. Mr. Fakhravar was also quick to praise Mr. Khoeini for following up with the demands of the students, while he was the Member of Parliament, and once again applause followed.

For me the most alarming part of this conference was not only the presence of these former Islamic Regime officials, but the way they were constantly praised and treated like heroes. The fact that some Islamic Regime officials are resigning is no doubt something useful and positive for the people's movement, but let us not have any illusions. If people, who have been working for the Regime for so many years, without any cause for concern for the rights of people, are resigning today, it is because it benefits them first and foremost. It takes their future into guarantee and allows them to live in a safe third country, which they would not be allowed to do, if they were still working for the Regime when the Regime is overthrown. These individuals are not heroes and should not be treated as such; at best they are opportunists who should help the people’s movement and beg for forgiveness, rather then being treated like heroes.

Overall, the focus of the conference was more on the Confederation of Iranian Students with a reformist undertone. I for one was not able to stomach a third day with individuals such as Mr. Eslami or Mr. Khoeini and did not participate in the last day of the conference.

I hope in the future we can have conferences with a focus on Regime Change without a reformist agenda.

Please find below the text of my speech at the Iran Democratic Transition Conference in Washington DC as well as the video of my speech.

The Islamic Regime Constitution: Reform v. Regime Change

Hello Everyone. It is a great pleasure to be here today and to speak to you about a topic that is very important to me, Regime Change in Iran.

The theme of this conference is a democratic transition in Iran and a hot topic, not only in this conference, but generally in the Iranian Diaspora is the question of reform versus Regime change.

I have been major advocate of complete and total Regime change in Iran, because I don’t believe a dictatorship regime that has been involved in the systematic oppression of its people for the past 31 years is worthy or capable of reform.

When discussing the issue of reform versus Regime change the most important piece of law we have to look at is the Islamic Regime’s constitution. Is there any possibility of reforming the current constitution in order to make it compatible with fundamental concepts such as human rights, democracy and secularism?

The permeable of the Islamic Regime Constitution states: “The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Iran sets forth the cultural, social, political and economic institutions of the people of Iran, based on Islamic principles and rules and reflecting the fundamental desires of the Islamic people.” 

From the onset the Constitution defines itself as “Islamic” as it relates to the “Islamic People.” When the very basic root of the constitution is based on Islam it leaves no room for the concept of secularism, and the separation of religion from state. An Islamic constitution, even with reforms can never become secular, because the root of it is based in religion. The constitution also does not take into consideration the “non-Islamic” people, the Jews, Christians, Zorostarians, Bahai’s, Agnostic and Atheists who also live in the Iranian society and must be given the same rights and consideration regardless of their religious beliefs.

Women in the Constitution:

Women who make up about 50% of the Iranian population are given one dominant role in the constitution: Motherhood. The goal of the Islamic Regime for the past 31 years has been segregating women in the work force, schools and universities, public transportation, sports arenas and even at the beach, trying very hard to remove them from the society and put them back in the home as mothers and homemakers.

Fortunately the Regime has not been successful because Iranian women have fought back, tooth and nail, often risking their freedom and even their lives in order to claim the rights which are rightfully theirs. More than 50% of university students in Iran are women; women are active in the work force, sports, cinema, literature, art and even politics.

Today women are in the front lines of the protests against the Regime, fighting side by side with men, fighting with everything they have for a society where they can enjoy the same rights, freedoms and responsibilities as men in the society. In order for that to happen we need a constitution that is based on rule of law rather than on religion.

There is also the judiciary and the mass communication which are also based in Islam, which I will not get into today.

Leaving the constitution aside for a moment the past 13 years in Iran has been a clear indicator that the Islamic Regime is not capable of reform. This became especially clear during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami, the so called reformist president whose biggest accomplishment was adding another 8 years to the life of the Islamic Regime, which had weakened significantly in the mid to late 90’s. Iran has experienced a reformist president for two terms, two bloody terms where student dissidents were arrested, tortured, executed or murdered in prisons. The presidency of the so called reformist Khatami also marks some of the worst human rights violations committed by the Islamic Regime in the past 31 years.

Fast forwarding to the 2009 [s]elections (I call it a selection not because Ahmadinejad won, but because of the selection process of the candidates and the way they are handpicked by the Supreme Leader and the Guardian Council). Mousavi and Karoubi the so called reformist candidates were handpicked by the “Supreme Leader” and the guardian council from among 400+ candidates. They were picked not because they were in anyway a threat, but because they were an integrated part of the Islamic Regime, and still are.

Most recently when brave Iranians took to the streets with the slogan of “independence, freedom, Iranian Republic” Mr. Mousavi came out and said the peoples slogan must be “Islamic Republic, not one word more and not one word less”. Mousavi is a supporter of the Islamic Regime and all the atrocities committed by the Regime. He has shown over and over in the past year and a half that he stands with the Regime and against the people.

The important question now is how do we achieve Regime Change in Iran? One thing is for certain, human rights is not enough. Human rights work can only take us so far, while we may be able to save one person from execution the Regime will go ahead and kill two more just to make a point. There are thousands of nameless and faceless political prisoners in Iran whom we will never be able to help, because we don’t know who they are. If we want to create real change and help protect the rights of all political prisoners, all ethnic and religious minorities and the Iranian people as a whole we must also focus on Regime change.

It is not a secret that even the Regime itself has created human rights activists and organizations for the sole purpose of instilling terror and fear in the heart of the Iranian people. These organizations receive very detailed information about torture, rape and execution of political prisoners from mysterious sources, they “smuggle out” videos of torture and rape from prisons for the sole purpose of making people afraid, to show them what will happen if they dare oppose the Regime.

These groups make contacts with activists in Iran and expose these activists to the Regime, so that they are arrested, tortured and thought a lesson not to oppose the Regime.

While it is important to be the voice of the voiceless the best and the most effective way to do it is by focusing on Regime change rather than solely on human rights.

We also need the help of the international community, not by way of military intervention, but by open support for the pro-democracy movement and by pushing for smart sanctions, in particular oil sanctions against the Islamic Regime.
Being an Iranian/Canadian I need to point out that the current Canadian Government has been extremely supportive of the Iranian people’s pro-democracy movement in Iran, by condemning human rights violations committed by the Islamic Regime on a regular basis, and by being one of the only governments that is pushing and supporting smart sanctions, especially oil and gas sanctions against the Regime.

I urge other governments to follow in the same path.

The video of my speech. Unfortunately the quality is not very good.