ARTICLE: “Islamic Republic of Fear: Restoring the revolution, taking away civil liberties,” The Economist, 25 August 2007, p. 46.

ARTICLE: “Intimidation In Tehran,” by Azadeh Moaveni, Time, 10 September 2007, p. 43.

The Economist piece says it well:

The rest of the world may be more concerned about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. But for many Iranians, the issue that has begun to outweigh other troubles, such as poverty, unemployment and the danger of war with America, is human rights.

Ah, but where is human rights in our dialogue with Iran? Lost in translation. Because we lack the OSCE-like diplomatic overlay in the region, that discussion has remained a non-starter, despite the Arab Development Report saying that this dearth of freedom is the main holdup, in many ways, for the region’s economic emergence.

As I have said many times, if you want the Lech Walesas and Vaclav Havels to arise, you need to provide some political top cover.

Instead, we risk appearing completely irrelevant to the lives of ordinary Iranians at a time when they could greatly use our attention and that of the world.

Such harsher treatment, say rights activists, is partly a product of the paranoid atmosphere generated by a government that has deliberately associated any form of civil disobedience with alleged foreign plots.

How best to play into the hardliners’ hands? Our current policy.

Too bad, because there are voices to connect up with inside Iran, like the current head of the judiciary who’s openly expressed his dismay with government policies.

The regime is risking much with this crackdown (from Time:

Some continued leeway on social restrictions was all the government could offer this vast, disaffected young constituency [two-thirds of Iran’s 70m are under 30], a small consolation for the absence of political freedoms and economic opportunities.

But it reflects their fear:

“The more threatened the hard-liners feel, the more paranoid they will become” --Farideh Farhi, Iran expert and professor, U Hawaii

In short, we’re playing the wrong side here, as though we learned nothing from our time with the Sovs.