WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED
•to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and
However,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s particular form of radical Islam actually welcomes an apocalyptic war with the world. He believes in an Islamic messiah. His messiah is the Mahdi or 12th Imam. This messiah comes to rid the world of "infidels" after a cataclysmic confrontation with the West.
•to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and
However,
Speech, Press, and Assembly -- free speech, as such, does not exist in Iran. Human rights activists and other perceived agitators are sometimes subject to beatings, arrests, torture, and disappearance.
However,
Religious Expression -- the Islamic Republic of Iran is a religious institution with no secular concept of law. Those who convert from Islam to another faith may face execution for apostasy. Religious minorities are routinely subject to widespread persecution.
However,
Women's Rights -- in Iran, women can vote and run for Parliament and are not prohibited from traveling freely, but they are also subject to police beatings and torture for violating perceived social norms, are not protected from domestic violence, and are discriminated against in other subtle ways (such as inheritance law).
However,
Racism -- Arabs (who make up 3%) of the population, Azeris (who make up 24%), and Kurds (who make up 7%) are frequently subject to racial profiling and mass arrests at cultural functions. Although there are very few Jews in Iran, vicious antisemitism is also a serious problem.
However,
Beatings, Arrests, Torture, and Executions -- Iranian police tend to respond to peaceful political demonstrations by viciously beating and arresting protesters, who are then subject to further beatings, torture, sexual assault, and denial of medical treatment in prison. Iran formally executed 94 prisoners in 2005, and many more died in prison under mysterious circumstances.
However,
In June 2009, the Iranian government announced that Ahmadinejad had been reelected to a second (and, under term limits, final) term as president with two-thirds of the popular vote. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians protested the purported outcome of the election, which was not in keeping with projections or the public national mood, which favored the election of reformer Mir-Hossein Mousavi. Bowing to public pressure, the Ayatollah, who is the autocratic ruler of Iran, and subject to impeachment by the Assembly of Experts, initially ordered an investigation into the election results ... but the investigation resulted in a simple reassertion that Ahmadinejad was the victor, with no new evidence to back up the claim. Consequently, protesters took to the streets on June 19th, 2009, and were treated brutally by the Basij (paramilitary police). As many as 150 people died, journalists were expelled, and a human rights crisis ... and possible revolution is underway ... the situation is ongoing.
•to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and
However,
It was recently revealed that Iran has a second, underground and hitherto "secret" uranium enrichment plant ... enriched uranium is required to produce nuclear weapons ... continuing a disturbing pattern of Iranian evasion that jeopardises global non-proliferation.
•to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,
However,
At the strategic center of the Middle East sits a despotic regime developing nuclear weapons, that is led by a theocratic order of clerics, and a president who openly courts the apocalypse.
There is still an opportunity to bring about peaceful democratic change in Iran. The great majority of the Iranian people are deeply dissatisfied with the Iranian regime. If they could change the nature of their government, they would. The Iranian people's recent attempts to reform their government have been stymied by a repressive government that restricts freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press.
A major obstacle to the advancement of freedom and democracy is the Iranian constitution, which institutionalizes Iran's despotic regime and restricts rather than protects the civil and political rights of the Iranian people.
AND FOR THESE ENDS
•to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and
However,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a conference in Tehran, stated that
"Israel is a disgraceful blot that must be wiped off the map," his remarks were condemned by leaders from around the world. Speaking to a large gathering of students on a program titled, "The World Without Zionism," Mr. Ahmadinejad called on Palestinians to take control of the land, saying that
"The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic World."
Also, speaking to reporters at an Islamic summit in Mecca, Ahmadinejad said,
"Some European countries insist on saying that Hitler killed millions of innocent Jews in furnaces.... Although we don't accept this claim, if we suppose it is true, our question for the Europeans is: Is the killing of innocent Jewish people by Hitler the reason for their support to the occupiers of Jerusalem? If the Europeans are honest, they should give some of their provinces in Europe -- like in Germany, Austria or other countries -- to the Zionists, and the Zionists can establish their state in Europe."
Adolph Hitler might beg to differ with Ahmadinejad ... Hitler said,
"If I can send the flower of the German nation into the hell of war without the smallest pity for the spilling of precious German blood, then surely I have the right to remove millions of an inferior race that breeds like vermin" ... and he did just that, with the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, with a program of systematic state-sponsered extermination by Nazi Germany, its allies and collaborators ... called the Holocaust.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad openly denies the Holocaust ... but lives for the day he can repeat it!
In addition, the U.S. military has presented evidence that shows an elite Iranian force under the command of Iran's supreme leader as being behind bombings that have killed at least 170 U.S. troops in Iraq. Also, the U.S. military says 81 mm mortar shells used in deadly attacks in Iraq can also be directly traced to Iran.
According to the U.S. military, other Iranian officers have provided information that Iran is also arming a prominent Iraqi political organization. The officers were detained during a raid on the Baghdad compound of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a powerful Shiite political group with close ties to Iran. The raid also netted documents that confirmed the arms sale.
•to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and
However,
Iran is pursuing a radical course through its pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, its notoriety as the world’s leading supporter of terrorist groups, and its deplorable treatment of its own people. In each of these areas, Iran holds a position inimical to the rest of the world and is moving backward against the tide of international opinion leading them further into international isolation.
•to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and
However,
Ahmadinejad said that
"Iranian armed forces are ready to confront the forces of darkness. If anybody wants to shoot a bullet at us from anywhere, we will cut off his hands."
•to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,
However,
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can in one instant appear the diplomatic equivalent of damaged goods, and in the next, a confident leader whose bellicose speeches leave the West wondering how to deal with him and his perplexing nation now that he's won a much-disputed reelection.
HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS
Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations ...
Membership in the United Nations is open to all other "peace-loving" states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgement of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations ... the Islamic Republic of Iran was granted admission to the United Nations General Assembly on 24 October 1945 ...
--sja
