GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, mclarty@greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene@greens.org
Greens call for a diplomatic U.S.-led global response to Iran's nuclear ambitions
First rule: maintain the good will of the Iranian people, say Greens responding to threats against Iran from the U.S. and Israel; the Middle East, including Iran and Israel, must become a nuclear-free zone.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called for a concerted global diplomatic effort to end the standoff over Iran's
alleged attempts to gain nuclear arms capability, in the wake of reports that the U.S. and Israel are considering bombing
raids.
"If President Bush tries to provoke a military confrontration with Iran, the result will be similar to the Iraq disaster, perhaps
worse," said Julia Willebrand, co-chair of the Green Party's International Committee. "Worst of all, he will have squandered a
valuable resource -- the pro-American sentiments of many Iranians, especially those who wish to see a secular democratic
government replace Iran's ruling theocratic regime."
Responding to European media reports that the U.S. is considering a bomb attack on Iran (launched either by the U.S. itself
or by Israel as a U.S. surrogate), Greens called on President Bush to avoid preemptive military action, which would violate
international law and would likely result in numerous civilian deaths and turn the Iranian people against the U.S.
Instead, the President should work with other nations, restoring alliances and global treaties damaged by the U.S. invasion
of Iraq, and begin to apply united international pressure on Iran to abandon its nuclear goals.
"The only way Mr. Bush can prove a U.S. commitment to peace in the region is by ending the occupation of Iraq with quick
withdrawl of U.S. troops, and pressuring Israel to dismantle its own nuclear weapons capability," said Richard J. Walton,
author of several books on U.S. foreign policy and a member of the International Committee. "The existence of any weapons
of mass destruction in the area, whether in Israel or in Muslim nations, remains a threat to global security. The Middle East
must become a nuclear-free zone."
Greens have no illusions about the current government in Iran, which under the rule of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
and Ayatollah Khameini has suppressed the rights of women, tortured and murdered gay people, and brutally crushed
student demonstrations and political dissent.
Greens also condemned President Ahmadinejad's belligerent call for the destruction of Israel and statements denying the
Jewish Holocaust.
"The international community needs to steer Iran away from a nuclear future, press Teheran to observe human rights and
civil liberties, and support Iranians working for democracy in their country. But these efforts will only be successful if
they're part of a global campaign to eliminate nuclear weaponry, protect rights and freedoms, and end the fossil fuel
dependence which Iran and other regimes have exploited for destructive political purposes," said Steve Kramer, co-chair of
the Green Party of the United States. "Most of all, we need to convince the Iranian people of our good will, which is not
possible while the Iraq occupation continues and while they keep hearing about U.S. and Israeli bomb threats."
For global diplomatic efforts to succeed, Greens emphasized, they must include Russia and China, which have their own
interests (especially oil) in Iran, and without whose participation recent European diplomacy has failed. This is especially
important, say Greens, because the U.S.'s powers of persuasion are limited as a result of the Iraq venture, which is widely
perceived to be motivated by U.S. political and oil interests.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
"Israel could launch air strikes if talks fail"
Chris McGreal, The Guardian, January 13, 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1685363,00.html
"Let's make sure we do better with Iran than we did with Iraq: The west's next step on Tehran's nuclear plans should be to understand the regime and society, not to start bombing"
By Timothy Garton Ash, The Guardian, January 12, 2006
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1684548,00.html
"U.S. Reportedly Planning 2006 Attack on Iran"
By Jurgen Gottschlich, Der Spiegel, December 23, 2005
http://www.watchingamerica.com/derspiegel000006.shtml
"Are we going to war with Iran?"
By Dan Plesch, The Guardian, October 18, 2005
http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,12858,1594977,00.html
"The Coming Wars: What the Pentagon can now do in secret"
by Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker, January 24 and 31, 2005
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?050124fa_fact
"Getting Ready for a Nuclear-Ready Iran"
Testimony by Henry Sokolski, Executive Director, The Nonproliferation Policy Education Center
Before The House International Relations Committee: "United States Policy Toward Iran: Next Steps"
February 16, 2004
http://wwwc.house.gov/international_relations/109/sok021605.pdf
http://www.npec-web.org
"Defusing the nuclear Middle East"
By Bennett Ramberg, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, May/June 2004
http://www.thebulletin.org/article.php?art_ofn=mj04ramberg
"UN asks Israel to go nuclear-free"
BBC News, June 27, 2004
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3844145.stm
Persecution, torture, and murder of gay Iranians: coverage by journalist Doug Ireland
http://direland.typepad.com/direland/