Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE= 08/1/2002

TYPE=ON THE LINE

NUMBER=1-01159

TITLE= IRANIANS' CALL FOR FREEDOM

INTERNET=Yes

EDITOR=OFFICE OF POLICY 619-0037

CONTENT=INSERTS IN AUDIO SERVICES AND DALET

THEME: UP, HOLD UNDER AND FADE

Host: This is On the Line and I'm -------.

Just weeks after students were beaten for staging demonstrations for democracy in Iran, the Freedom Movement opposition party was banned and its thirty-three leaders ordered to prison. Established in 1961, the party opposes Islamic clerical rule and seeks democratic change. These latest developments highlight the deepening antagonism between the people and radical Islamic rulers of Iran.

Host: Geneive Abdo is former Tehran correspondent for Britian's Guardian newspaper. She says Iranian students feel betrayed by the government's failure to follow through with promised reforms.

Abdo: These particular protesters don't believe that President [Mohammad] Khatami and the reform movement have made the kind of changes that the students hoped for when they supported him in two elections. And these are the kinds of grievances that they have always expressed. And this is why they went out into the streets even though they are intimidated by the security forces when they do this and take enormous risks to go and protest.

Patrick Clawson is deputy director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He says the arrests could backfire on the regime and offer hope to those who want reform.

Clawson: The regime has been throwing a lot of intellectual figures and a lot of technocrats, a lot of cultural figures, [and] journalists in jail -- and then trying them. And [the regime is] making these people into heroes by making them into martyrs. And many of those people can well emerge as part of this leadership group to overthrow this current system.

Rob Sobhani is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. He says it is important for the American people to support Iran.

Sobhani: We in America have freedom, economic opportunity, and the rule of law. And that is why the President's [George W. Bush] message resonates every time he goes to the Iranian people and says, "I am with you, and I'm against the regime." I think that message has given hope to the people of Iran. And that's the message that we need to continue talking about.

Host: Patrick Clawson says he thinks one of the main reasons President Bush has spoken on the issue is that he wants to emphasize his respect for the courageous efforts of the Iranian people. For On the Line, I'm --------.