Britain 'must not take sides' over Iran poll
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Independent Minds
Britain must not take sides in the Iranian election dispute, Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned today as he said there were "credible reports" of more than seven deaths in deadly clashes.
Appealing for restraint by the authorities in Tehran, he played down the reforming credentials of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi and said the West should not "fall into the trap" of backing one side.
Mr Miliband spoke out shortly before it was reported that the country's Guardian Council had declared itself ready to recount votes after the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad which has sparked mass protests.
"The most fervent hope is for peaceful protest to be met with peaceful response from the state authorities," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
"The loss of life that's happened - the seven that have been reported, the credible reports of greater loss of life - are to be deplored very clearly."
But he said it was vital that the UK, the US and other nations were not seen to interfere, echoing American President Barack Obama's message that, whatever the election result, "the world is watching".
"I thought that President Obama chose his words very carefully and very appropriately last night and I spoke to Mrs (Hillary) Clinton, the Secretary of State, and we are all determined not to fall into the trap of being seen to back one side or the other," Mr Miliband said.
"This is not a pro-West versus an anti-West competition in Iran, it is a competition to reflect the will of the Iranian people and I think that we have to hold fast to that point."
Offering help to the protesters would be counter-productive, he said.
"The long thesis of the conspiracy of foreign powers against Iran is one that is deeply ingrained in the popular imagination and peddled vociferously by the regime.
"What is very, very important is that we continue to show respect for the Iranian people - that's what President Obama did yesterday - that we continue to insist that it is for them to choose their government."
There was "real discontent" among a wide cross-section of Iranian society and not just in the capital, he said, but it should not be forgotten that Mr Mousavi was "one of the regime's founding figures".
"It would be quite wrong to present this as a clash between on the one hand the hardliner and on the other hand the raging reformer.
"Mr Mousavi is a pragmatic reformer but he is part of the revolutionary generation.
"Our position must be, to be absolutely clear, that internally it is a matter for the Iranians to choose their own government but externally the world needs an Iranian government that is willing to live up to its responsibilities.
"That, of course, is not just something for the president; it is a critical role for the supreme leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) who sets the tone and substance of Iranian international policy."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown today urged Iran to listen to its people's grievances in the wake of the country's election dispute.
Speaking about the situation during a tour of communications firm Arqiva in south east London ahead of today's Digital Britain report launch, Mr Brown said: "The elections are a matter for the Iranian people, but if there are serious questions that are now being asked about the conduct of the elections, they have got to be answered.
"There must be no violence in response to peaceful protests.
"I think Iran has got to listen very carefully, because the relationship they will have and the respect they will have from the rest of the world will depend on how they respond to what are legitimate grievances that are being expressed and have to be answered."
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Just after sundown, cries of "death to the dictator" echoed through Tehran as thousands of backers for Ahmadinejad's rival, Mir Hossein Mousavi, heeded a call to bellow from the roofs and balconies. The deeply symbolic act recalled the shouts of "Allahu Akbar," or God is Great, to show opposition to the Western-backed monarchy before the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
Half of Labour members want Tony Blair back.
Obama: Iranian voters' voices should be heard
President Barack Obama said Monday he does not know who rightfully won the Iranian election, but that Iranians have a right to feel their ballots mattered.
With images of bloodied protesters in Tehran's streets recalling the Islamic revolution 30 years ago, Obama said an investigation into alleged vote-rigging should go ahead without additional violence.
"It would be wrong for me to be silent on what we've seen on the television the last few days," Obama told reporters at the White House.
USA wants to get into the cash of Israel.
"And what I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was," Obama said. "And they should know that the world is watching." AND SO? They may as well stop seeing all the TVs. CRAZY I SAY
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
I thank you
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
We are led by an incompetent, conniving man for whom nobody voted, and to whom it has been made absolutely clear that absolutely nobody wants him to remain in office, but he stays on regardless because he knows best. That hardly puts us in a good negotiating position to persuade Ahmadinejad to resign, even if little Milliband wasn't quite so hilariously inappropriate as Foreign Secretary and who will be patted on the head by the Iranians, and everybody else, and told to run along.
While Obama cannot, cannot watch the blood in the streets of Iran we can watch this. Can we?
Yet an investigation by The Mail on Sunday has revealed that, for all Mr Obama's reputation for straight talking and the compelling narrative of his recollections, they are largely myth. We have discovered that his father was not just a deeply flawed individual but an abusive bigamist and an egomaniac, whose life was ruined not by racism or corruption but his own weaknesses. And, devastatingly, the testimony has come from Mr Obama's own relatives and family friends. Charismatic and with movie-star looks, Barack Obama Jnr has managed to steal some of Hillary Clinton's most influential supporters in the two weeks since he entered the US Presidential race. The 45-year-old lawyer depicts himself as a fresh voice for voters tired of the divisive rhetoric and self-serving ambition of established politicians on each side of the Democrat-Republican divide. His campaign to become the first black President is inspired, he says, by his love of the country that allowed his father to triumph against astonishing odds. Barack Obama Snr started life with the advantage of being able to read and write, but he also felt a profound sense of injustice. His father was a cook for British settlers in Kenya, who demeaningly called him their 'personal boy'.
"And what I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was," Obama said. "And they should know that the world is watching."
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
"And what I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was," Obama said. "And they should know that the world is watching."
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses. -Horace, poet and satirist (65-8 BCE)
I thank you
Firozali A Mulla
I thank you
Firozali A Mulla
I thank you
Firozali A. Mulla
Every people gets the government they deserve. When Iran has had enough of the Mullahs, they will go the way of the Shahs.
Until then, Britons should talk to every Iranian they know about Iran's situation while Britain's government keeps its mouth tightly shut.
Offering help to the protesters would be counter-productive, he said. "
Since when was helping one side and not the other countr-productive?
Only if you see it from the opposite side!
Sounds like a set-up to me.
But the rest of the world, including Canada, refused to recognize the expressed will of the Palestinians who elected Hamas, with over 50% of the vote. Canada'a Prime Minister rules Canada with a minority government that was elected with only 35% of the vote. Yet Canada's elected dictator refuses to recgnize the duly elected Palaestiian government. What hypocrisy!! One thing we must admire about Ahmedinejad is that he does not bow to Israel, which is what the US and Canada do. Ariel Sharon was correct when he declared that "We, the Jewish people, tell the Americans what to do, and the Americans know it" The Jewish rulers also control Canada, the UK, Australia, France, Germany, etcetera. BUT, they don't control the Iranians President Ahmadinejad - for which I am grateful.