Another year, another visit, not much change

By: Alan Levine

Next week, world leaders will gather in New York for the UN General Assembly.  Unfair criticism of Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations promise to make headlines during the meetings.  But they will only be distracting from the most important Middle Eastern storyline at the meetings; the visit by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.   He has regularly attended the UN summit in September since his election in 2005 and is scheduled to speak on Thursday.

In 2007, Hasbara organized an anti-Ahmadinejad rally outside of Columbia University (see CNN's coverage here) on the eve of Yom Kippur, the day of his speech.  We cannot say that much has changed in Iran since then.  There has been news—the stolen election, Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani’s stoning and whipping sentences for adultery, kidnapped hikers, and other human rights abuses—but not much change.

Iran continues to be the leading state sponsor of terror and is still racing towards nuclear weapons.

We occasionally read media reports such as yesterday’s Associated Press (AP) article, “New Western concerns over Iran nuclear program.”  The concern according to the AP: “that Iran is pursuing a nuclear weapons program” and “developing ballistic missiles.”  You don’t say.

Earlier this month, the world learned of Iran’s financing of the Taliban.  What a surprise.

According to the State Department, the regime has been the leading state sponsor of terror since 2000.  It created Hezbollah in Lebanon, the terrorist organization responsible for the most American deaths before 9/11.  The regime has also been the main benefactor of Hamas and the Shi’ite militias fighting American troops in Iraq.

Though this has been news, the bottom line has not changed since our anti-Ahmadinejad rally.  The world’s leading exporter of terrorism is still pursuing nuclear weapons.  The only difference is that they are closer to achieving it.

Though there has been no change in Iran, there has been some change in the United States.  There are now organizations dedicated to stopping Iran, such as United Against a Nuclear Iran and Iran 180.  The U.S. Congress this summer passed the most important, toughest sanctions against companies doing business with the Iranian energy sector.  Iran is apparently feeling the sanctions’ bite, affecting the country’s oil exports and gasoline imports.

It is now easy to get comfortable—to feel that we have passed legislation and now the work is done.   But even the biggest supporters of sanctions never argued that they would single-handedly stop Iran.  The sanctions must be enforced and the pressure must be kept up.

That is why we’ve developed our “Take Initiative on Iran” campaign.  Though the Israeli-Palestinian talks have been dominating Middle East news as of late, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons is still the biggest challenge to the security of the US and Israel in the region.  We must repeat the message that stopping Iran’s nuclear program is an urgent issue and Ahmadinejad’s visit to the UN next week is the perfect opportunity.

Additional reading:

Iran frees American Sarah Shroud—after a power struggle, Washington Post

Iran’s Global Ambitions, Jamsheed Choksy, Yale Global Magazine Online

If Iran makes a final nuclear push, can it be detected? Washington Post

Maps of Iranian threat to the Middle East, American Israel Public Affairs Committee