Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=9-3-03

TYPE=INTERVIEW

NUMBER=3-783

TITLE=IRAN

BYLINE=SETARAH SIEG (Persian Service)

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

///EDS: Mr. LORNE CRANER IS THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR DEMOCRACY,HUMAN RIGHTS AND LABOR. ///

MS. SIEG: What is the latest that you have on Iran?

MR. CRANER: Well, we issue a report every March or April that talks about the situation in over 190 countries around the world. What we found with the latest edition in Iran was that we thought the human rights situation had deteriorated. You have always had an issue about the degree to which the Iranian people can control their own destiny, and I think the space for that has been closing. I think even for people who are in their official capacities in Iran members of parliament and others, the space has been closing. And it's of concern not only to us but also to other countries, especially European countries, that had hoped to see more and more of an opening in Iran and are actually seeing less and less of an opening there.

MS. SIEG: If I may ask, I would like to talk a little bit about the students' movement in Iran. What is the analysis of the United States on the students' movement? Has the government in Iran been able to subdue and suppress the movement?

MR. CRANER: I think they have tried, but I think it's always difficult to suppress those movements. Students are often the vanguard of any change around the world. Yoy saw that in our country in some respects in the 1960's. They led opinion on some of the events here. You certainly have seen that in South Korea, for example. You saw that very much in Serbia, where students' outpour was very much in the vanguard of change within that country.

And I think that's what the rulers in Iran understand, that they have to try and get on top of this movement as much as they can. But it's very, very difficult to suppress, especially young idealistic people. And so the goals that those people want to see, that the young students want to see, are goals that we support -- a more open Iran, a democratic Iran, where people have control over their own destiny.

MS. SIEG: On the regional level, considering that the United States and Iran don't have relations, how do you feel, what do you think about this move by King Abdullah on his latest visit to Iran?

MR. CRANER: Well, I think rulers in the Middle East have to decide how to deal with each other. I think King Abdullah has an opportunity to talk about what he's doing in his own country, that he has chosen to pursue democracy in a particular way in an Islamic country, and that he is allowing not only more and more economic openness but more and more political openness. And I think he has the opportunity to talk about that in Iran.

MS. SIEG: Is this going to affect the human rights issues in the region?

MR. CRANER: Is his visit?

MS. SIEG: Is his visit, and with Iranians.

MR. CRANER: I think, like I said, he has the opportunity to be able to do that. He has the opportunity. It's one thing if the United States talks to rulers in another country about democracy. It's another thing if somebody within the region, within the Middle East, can talk to the Iranians about democracy.

And frankly, if you're an Iranian looking for democratic examples, you don't have to come to the United States or Britain. You don't have to go to Australia or Japan. You can go into the Gulf. You can go to Qatar. You can go to Bahrain. You can go, to a degree, to Oman. You can go to Jordan and you can go to Morocco -- to see how rulers in the region, Islamic rulers, are dealing in an Islamic country with these issues of democracy. It's happening all over the region, and Iran is lagging further and further behind. And the people in Iran are going to be asking for more and more.

MS. SIEG: Mr. Craner, based on your experience and what you're doing right now, what do you think can be done to improve the situation of human rights in such countries as Iran, countries in the Middle East, Arab countries, Muslim countries, and in Africa and other parts of the world too?

MR. CRANER: One thing I have learned over the years is that we cannot create democracy in a country. We do not understand enough about local customs and mores to be able to say here's what you need to do. What we can do is work with those in a country who do understand their own country's customs and mores, and say to them, the ones who want to advance democracy in their country: How can we help you? What can we do? Can we offer you examples from other countries? Would you like to meet people? Would you like to meet Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa or somebody else who helped bring democracy to their country? Would you be interested in how different constitutional systems work? What is it that you want to see? And we can help them and assist them and back them up, but we can't create it for them. They have to do it themselves.

What we need to do is stand with them, and when they ask for our advice and our thoughts, offer them. And that's what we're finally doing in the Middle East. We have begun programming, very, very practical much of it, to work with people who want to advance the institutions of democracy in their country. But also for the very, very first time we're sticking up for the people who want to see democracy in their country, who the rulers want to put down, we're starting to stick up for them. We should have been doing it for a much longer time. We're now doing it for the very first time.

MS. SIEG: Mr. Lorne Craner, thank you very much for being with us.

MR. CRANER: Thank you very much. It was very nice talking to you.

(End of interview.)

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