Bush raises stakes in Iran turmoil
PRESIDENT BUSH has dramatically raised the pressure on the troubled, divided leadership of Iran. He and other world leaders would "not tolerate construction of a nuclear weapon" by Iran, he said Wednesday. Bush's rise in rhetoric coincided with efforts at a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency to get Iran to sign an additional protocol under the Non- Proliferation Treaty to permit more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities. Tehran, which says it needs more nuclear plants to generate electricity, has bridled at accusations by Washington and others that it has concealed a nuclear weapons program.
The president also further praised pro-democracy protesters in Iran, and urged the Islamic government there to treat the embattled students and other dissenters with "the utmost of respect."
It is a tense time for the nation immediately east of Iraq, where American military forces remain on alert. Iran is very conscious of being tagged by Bush, along with Iraq and North Korea, as part of an "axis of evil."
Whether the flexing of American power next door has much to do with the growth of unrest, especially among younger Iranians, is hard to gauge. There is, however, little doubt that most people in Iran, who vote when they have the chance for reformist politicians, would like to loosen the tight control maintained by the conservative clergy since the Islamic revolution of 1979.
Few Iranians want to bring back the discredited monarchy of the shah, but millions also don't want their lifestyle choices, and decisions of their president and legislative majority, negated by the heirs of the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and bands of thuggish "vigilantes" who show up to punish dissent.
The popular desire for more personal freedom, however, has no chance while Ayatollah Ali Khamenei functions as supreme leader, controlling the judiciary and trumping the administration of twice-elected President Mohammed Khatami in such important matters as who stays out of prison and who does hard time.
Dissent is disorganized and its effect on the power structure minimal. Scattered protesters, without muscular protection, are easily picked off or intimidated by Khamenei's enforcers. And Bush's vocal backing of restive Iranians may not be helpful, given wariness about past U.S. support of the shah.
Yet, with America at the forefront of efforts to police suspicious aspects of Iran's nuclear program, Iran has to treat Bush's warning on the issue with deadly seriousness. Tehran could ease the crisis by signing the additional protocol.
The real world -- in the form of both internal pressure for democracy and international demand for nuclear safety and eradication of terrorism -- is knocking loudly on the Iranian mullahs' doors. They should open up before the world comes crashing through.
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