Iran regime's victims waiting for justice

The Iranian government's latest international debacle has been the arrest of Iranian-American Haleh Esfandiari, one of the best-known Iran experts in Washington, D.C.

While visiting her 93-year-old mother in Tehran, Esfandiari was robbed at knifepoint of her luggage, which included her U.S. and Iranian passports. When she tried to apply for a new passport, she was detained by authorities there and interrogated about the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars' Middle East Program, of which she is the director.

She eventually was whisked away to Iran's notorious Evin Prison, where she has been repeatedly accused of being an American and Israeli agent. These are commonly false titles bestowed upon any Iranian who dares question the validity of the ruling clerics' actions, or is merely assumed to have questioned their authority.

The Esfandiari incident comes at a time of continuing tension between the United States and Iran over Iran's defiance in pursuing nuclear technology. It should serve as a clear warning to the U.S., and especially the international community.

The Iranian government doesn't plan on stopping its enrichment efforts any time soon. But, it is clearly willing to buy time by stalling on manufactured issues. The recent arrests of Esfandiari and other Iranian Americans have been a way to keep the United States occupied while the Iranian regime supposedly searches for evidence against the accused and, most importantly, continues with its uranium-enrichment efforts.

Recently, Iranian officials declared they had new evidence to confirm that Iranian-American detainees were acting against Iranian national security. Yet, this evidence is as lacking as the purported weapons of mass destruction that instigated the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

The Iranian rogue regime's reputation precedes it. Any reasonable audience will question the validity of its accusations.

This very regime that is accusing Esfandiari, a top U.S. scholar, and Kian Tajbakhsh, a reputable U.S. urban-planning expert, of espionage arrogantly denies the Holocaust, continues to humiliate its female citizens by giving them half the legal rights of men, and, of all the world's countries today, has carried out the highest number of child executions.

The Iranian regime should be considered among the greatest enemies of civilized society, and one whose fall from power is indispensable to a stable Iran and, in turn, greater regional stability in the Middle East and throughout the world.

A preemptive attack on Tehran is not the solution, nor are severe sanctions that, although intended to isolate the regime, will only render life difficult to nearly impossible for the country's poor and the middle class.

However, the U.N. Security Council must undertake measures to target and irreparably hurt Iran's leadership, as well as its nuclear program. Iran has a long list of human-rights abuses; these documented atrocities are the means to undermine the current regime's power.

The United States, meanwhile, will find a strong ally in well-organized Iranian-American human-rights groups.

As deliberations over ways of confronting Iran's nuclear ambitions continue, Esfandiari is still sitting in Evin Prison. She is among the thousands of innocent people taken hostage by the ruling clerics.

Her arrest is a vital reminder of Iran's human-rights violations staring us in the face. The regime's victims are wondering if America will ever act.

Faye F. Farhang writes for various Persian-American online journals and lives in Seattle. Contact her at www.ffarhang.com