The American public's support can help enable meaningful democratic change in Iran in three key ways: 1) Citizens can ask their elected officials at the state and federal level to support divesting funds from Iranian businesses and interests, and to further pro-democracy policies through legislation. 2) Individuals can write to their representatives asking the US not to open dialogue with or provide funds to the oppressive Iranian regime at this time. 3) Demanding that the private sector stop business with Iran could help demoralize the regime and strengthen pro-democracy demonstrators, without being forgotten by the Iranian people. American support played a key role in democratic changes elsewhere, so it could significantly impact the

1. The American public support can make a difference:
Many in Canada and especially in the United States ask me, since I happen to be an Iranian in
exile, how they can help or support the democratic movement in Iran. And many perhaps wonder
how that support can be implemented by their respective governments towards meaningful
change in Iran. Since you are concentrating on the American foreign policy and I am going to
speak on the Iranian issues, I’d leave other countries out of this debate and focus mainly on the
possible American influence towards meaningful change in Iran. First, I’d like to remind us that
we are aware of the difficulties of policy making and execution of any set of policies within the
US government, from inter-agency rivalry and political infightings to partisan politics and
inaction.
You may ask why the United States should solely concern itself with the affairs of Iran. The
response is that Iran is probably the most important country in the most important region of the
world in this century and it has been the source of many problems and confusions for the United
States in the past several decades. In effect, the Iranian regime has been at a state of war with the
United States since the seizure of the US embassy in Tehran in November 1979. This can not
stand. As the famed ex-Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov put it: "International community should
never trust a state more than that state trusts its own people." The dilemma today is that we’re
dealing with a system that does not treat its people well and is on the verge of acquiring the most
dangerous form of arms: nuclear weapons.
The history of relationship and friendship between our two countries go back to the first Iranian
constitutional revolution beginning in 1905. One of the most revered figures of the Persia’s
constitutional revolution is Howard Baskerville of Nebraska. Baskerville, was an American
missionary in Iran who died fighting alongside the constitutional forces against tyranny and
despotic king. He is often referred to as the American Lafayette in my country, if you will. And
then there are William Morgan Shuster and Arthur Milspaugh who were instrumental in
reforming Iran’s financial sector in the first decades of the 20th century. Iranian people will not
forget that the United States commitment to Iran’s territorial integrity in the aftermath of World
War II stopped Soviet dictator Stalin from disintegrating their country. For a number of good
reasons, America has always been seen as a benevolent power in the eyes of my countrymen.
With that image in mind, most Iranians today would like to see an active American role in
freeing their country from the yoke of religious dictatorship that has gripped their country since
1979. Frankly, America is the only country that we trust and it is the only country that can help
us in terms of ability, capability and operational experience.
Can the United States affect positive change in that corner of the world? The answer is yes. The
United States has tried and tested many same policies during the latter stages of the cold war in
Eastern European countries. The most successful of them was Poland. Therefore a model exists
for the current policy makers to follow. Polish Solidarity movement enjoyed huge political,
financial and moral support from the United States and to a degree from the United Kingdom and

2. Vatican in the form of late Pope John Paul II’s visits to that vastly Catholic state. Therefore, that
example can serve today’s policy planners as a great role model in defeating today’s tyranny in
Iran. Our other model is South Africa. There are many examples to follow. We do not have to go
far to see how those policies were implemented and we should not forget the immense value that
a free Iran can have for all of us.
Now how you can help us as individuals or as a society:
You live in a free country where your government is accountable and responsible. You can ask
your elected officials at the state level to seek divestment from Iran. Some state pension funds
are tied to foreign entities and as done in California and other states, each state can begin this
process by divesting these funds from those that are tied to the Iranian businesses or interests.
That is also one of the effective methods with which the western countries tried to bring an end
to apartheid in South Africa in 1980s. At the federal level, you can write to your
congressmen/women and senators asking them to do what they can to further the cause of
democracy and freedom in Iran. There are many great bi-partisan bills in both the House and the
Senate with regards to Iran. You can also ask your president not to cut funds to legitimate Iranian
human rights groups. You can ask your current president not to open a dialogue with the Iranian
regime when it is killing and suppressing young men and women in the streets of Tehran. At this
time, unfortunately, any dialog with that regime will demoralize the demonstrators and
strengthen the hands of the oppressors. Above all, you can demand your country’s private sector
to stop doing business with the Iranian regime. I am certain that these acts will not be forgotten.
A free Iran will have the same impact on the middle-east that the fall of Soviet Union had on
Eastern Europe and Asia.
You can help us make that change happen and we count on your support.