An Iranian Urges the U.S. not to Meddle in Reform Efforts

In an August 1st op-ed in the New York Times, “Money Can’t Buy Us Democracy,” Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji expresses his strong reservations to American aid for Iran’s democratic opposition. His article is in response to the controversy surrounding Secretary Rice’s request to Congress for $75 million in aid, which an article in The New Yorker suggested may be a thinly-veiled attempt at regime change.
Ganji’s says his views on American involvement in Iranian politics were shaped by the time he spent in prison as a result of his investigative articles about the assassinations of dissident intellectuals. He recalls his jailers frequently accused him (and sometimes the entire opposition) of being in the pay of the United States. He notes that the belief that the Iranian opposition is simply a creation of the US government has done nothing to help the democracy movement in Iran. Ganji believes that if Iranian democracy is to advance it needs to be developed internally. He observes:
 “We have learned from our history that despotism can be imported, and that despotic rulers can survive with the help of outsiders. But we have also learned that we have to gain our freedom ourselves, and that only we can nourish that freedom and create a political system that can sustain it. Ours is a difficult struggle; it could even be a long one.”
He also argues that Iran would benefit from less short-sighted American financing and more long-sighted American diplomacy and argue for the development of a greater understanding of Iran. He believes the US and other countries concerned about Iran’s current state would do best to simply provide “moral and spiritual support” and refrain from attempts at financing or overtly criticizing the current regime’s oppressive policies.
He offers this messages to those interested in a democratic Iran:
“Many Iranians want freedom; we fight for it, and we do not fear prison and oppression. Our demand is for a secular, democratic political system in Iran. Many of the Iranian people, who are incidentally deeply devout, support this demand.
The best help the world can offer us is to listen to the different voices of our society, and when forming a policy toward Iran or an image of its people, do not reduce our country to the regime that rules it most brutally.“