Unleash the Iranian Opposition, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq
Reader comment on item: Unleash the Iranian Opposition[, the Mujahedeen-e Khalq]

Submitted by Jahanshah Rashidian (Germany), Jul 28, 2007 at 08:39

Mr. Pipes,

With all respect, in your article, you ignore that there are many other secular and democratic forces and intellectuals who want a secular and democratic regime in Iran. You ignore that an increasing majority of Iranians are themselves the first victims of political Islam and are consequently fed up with any Islamic regime or solution. You ignore that the unpopular MEK is not politically trustful and ideologically not different from the current Mullah's regime. You ignore that the MEK is a dangerous sect with all symptoms of political perversity. As soon as these current facts are intentionally or unwittingly ignored, your article is just a slap in the face of Iranian people who look for democracy and secularism.

An irrefutable political trait of the Islamic regime is its human rights-dossier. The IRI because of its Islamic interpretation of politics is responsible for many thousands of executions and permanent violations of human rights in Iran. This point is unfortunately quite underestimated in your article which does not see Islam as a tool of violence of any Islamic movement, including the MEK with its controversial background (see my French comment on the same article).

In their business-like relations of the "civilised" West with the Islamic regimes in all over the world, the plague of political Islam as a potential danger to the whole world does not seem to be taken into consideration. Therefore, for the West, a Shiite government in Iraq or a faction of the current IRI or, à priori, a MEK client state in Iran can be interesting.

Like Bush administration and many irresponsible media, you attach the Islam to Iranian people's fate. In fact, you attach Iranian fate with that of an anti-Iranian belief system which is now consciously rejected by an increasing majority of Iranians.

In your intellectual sentiments, is Iran a doomed "dar-al-Islam" (house of Islam)? Are we Iranians condemned to bow to an Islamic regime? Do not we, Iranians, deserve of having a secular and democratic regime?

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Daniel Pipes replies:

I am happy to support Iranian individuals and organizations other than the MEK, but I see it as a critical factor, given its size and the regime's horror of it.