The negative world-wide publicity that results when an Iranian is imprisoned or killed in street violence causes many in the West to question treatment of human rights in Iran; too often this attention from the West results in even more sanctions being placed on Iran. But these sanctions punish average Iranians who have done nothing wrong, often lowering their standard of living.
The diplomatic outreach has failed in many occasions because of threats and illegal demands to shift the burden to Iran to give up its rights which other countries in the region have. Asking Iran to engage with the international community suggests that they are not doing so. The USA, UK, and few other countries act as "international police" but call themselves the "international community" and impose illegal sanctions on Iran and its people!
Too often responses by the West have required Iran to give up rights which other countries in the world possess. When Iran is portrayed as not engaging in the international community, countries that regard themselves as part of this community seek to impose onerous sanctions on Iran and ultimately on its people.
A particularly sensitive area involves Iran's energy requirements, particularly its need for nuclear energy. The goal of a nuclear weapons free world should be shared by all nations, including those who already have nuclear weapons. It is unreasonable for countries with stockpiles of nuclear weapons to threaten countries that are seeking to acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes. Iran is committed to international law and abides by a non-proliferation treaty. Yet there are countries that do not allow IAEA inspectors to visit their sites.
Several thousand Iranians have been killed since the Iranian Revolution due to illegal sanctions placed on civilian Iranian airlines. The sanctions placed by the United States and supported by the Western countries are contrary to the goals of the Article 44 of the Chicago Convention in which the USA is a signatory. A report issued by ICAO on October 4, 2004, concluded that the Western countries are violating their own accord and treating a member country differently, contrary to the provisions of the Convention. OpEdNews - Article: The Imperative of the Chicago Convention
The Algiers Accords of January 19, 1981, were brokered by the Algerian government between the United States and Iran to resolve the Iran hostage crisis. Among its chief provisions are: (1) The US would not intervene politically or militarily in Iranian internal affairs, (2) The US would remove a freeze on Iranian assets and remove trade sanctions on Iran.
Foreign interference has been used as excuse to crush human rights. Entities like Voice of America (VOA) should cease their interference in Iranian affairs and let Iranians seek solutions to their problems themselves. The Algiers Accord prohibits interference in Iranian affairs by VOA and others.
Iranians who live in Iran are more concerned about their survival than their rights. It was not so long ago that countries in the West and in the Middle East supplies Saddam Hussein with chemical weapons, arms, money and intelligence in its fight against Iran. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Iranians were killed. In December of 1983 Donald Rumsfeld, President Reagen's Special Envoy, shook hands with Hussein and called him "a man of peace." 350 Iranians lost their lives when their passenger plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf.
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