J. Michael Waller

By Professor J. Michael Waller, October 30, 2010

My letter To BBG, IBB, VOA and VOA PNN,

I was invited for an interview on the occasion of the anniversary of the student uprisings of July 9, 1999, with Mr. Chalangi on his program entitled "News talk". Mr. Jamshid Chalangi and Mr. Ali Bijan Farhoodi, the producer of this program, had both confirmed the time at 12:00 pm on Saturday, July 10, 2010.

Today, I received news from your organization that a "special meeting" was held to discuss my presence on this program. Apparently the producer of this program faced a stern opposition to this interview and my presence by VOA PNN's editor in chief, Mr. Sajjadi, and one of the newscasters, Setareh Derakhshesh.

Setareh Derakhshesh and Ali Sajjadi, based their objection on, in their words, my "lack of credibility." Here is my question for Ms. Derakhshesh and Mr. Sajjadi. Do they also consider the "Congressional Research Service's report on Iran" that is based on a thorough academic research not credible either? Exactly which of their qualifications warrants the position to dictate who is and who is not worthy of airtime on VOA PNN?

VOA executive editor, Steve Reddish, reportedly rushed to side with Ms. Derakhshesh and Mr. Sajjadi. Mr. Farhoodi asked that if I lacked credibility, then why was I invited on VOA PNN's most viewed program, “Static,” hosted by Mr. Hosseini. They responded, "Static is a comedy show and we invited Fakhravar only to ridicule him." It’s very clear to me that these government employees in VOA PNN are using slander to discredit me and my organization in order to push their own personal agendas and viewpoints. Here is a part of the Congressional Research Service report that contradicts the allegations of the above mentioned.

Congressional Research Service, Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses
June 11, 2010, Page 4-5 www.fpc.state.gov/documents/organization/143901.pdf
Opposition/”Green Movement” (Rah-e-Sabz)
"All of the blocs and personalities below can be considered, to varying degrees, as part of the Green movement. However, overall leadership of the movement and decision-making on protest activities is unclear, with several components competing for preeminence. Some Green supporters have left for Europe, Asia, or the United States. ... Student Opposition Leaders/Confederation of Iranian Students. Staunch oppositionists and revolutionaries, many now favor replacement of the regime with secular democracy. Generally young and well-educated, want free and open media and contact with the West. One key bloc in this group is the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS), led by Amir Abbas Fakhravar, who was jailed for five years for participating in July 1999 student riots. CIS, committed to non-violent resistance, is an offshoot of the Office of Consolidation Unity, which led the 1999 riots. At the time of those riots, most students were strong Khatemi supporters, but turned against him for acquiescing to hardliner demands that he crack down on the rioting. The crackdown killed four students. Student leaders currently attempting, with mixed success, to gain support of older generation, labor, clerics, village-dwellers, and other segments. CIS supports imposition of severe sanctions against Iran, including a total oil sale embargo, to deprive the regime of the funds it needs to pay its security forces. CIS and other student activists purportedly developing list of Iranian officials who they assert have committed major human rights abuses—an intended parallel to the “deck of cards” of alleged Saddam-regime “war criminals” developed by the United States before the overthrow of Saddam."

All this aside, it is not the responsibility nor is it the realm of a journalist or editor to sit and judge whether someone should be interviewed or not. They are paid to provide pertinent information and to ensure viewership. Besides, who better to interview on the anniversary of the Student Uprisings of 1999 than someone who was involved in it and who later was charged and arrested for this involvement? Instead, Mr. Sajjadi and Mrs. Derakhshesh strive for a uniform outlook throughout the programs that is aligned with their own views. Mr. Sajjadi's decision not to air Neda's death for three days after every other news media had done so and Mrs. Derakhshesh's inflammatory interview with the controversial cleric Kadivar, in which he deliberately altered a slogan chanted in Iran to falsely convey the idea that the Iranian people are staunch supporters of their government's policies towards the Palestinians, are just two examples of how far they will go towards this end.

In fact, Mrs. Derakhshesh is mentioned by name in Senator Coburn's letter to President Bush as the main culprit in "failing to provide Iranians with a clear and effective presentation of our foreign policy but provided another platform for its critics." "Setareh Derakhshesh editorializes that America opposes your policy in Iraq, including troop reinforcement. There is no poll cited or any other basis for this statement, but it is presented as fact." Mrs. Derakhshesh does not stop at undermining the U.S. foreign policy, but also attempts to undermine the Green Movement in an interview she did with Nasser Zarafshan on 12/5/09. Mr. Zarafshan was slandering the courageous Iranians, calling them a bunch of youngsters with no goal or plan. He said that he was clearly seeing "the hands of American Imperialism" in this movement and claimed that this movement was all but dead. During this hour long interview, Mrs. Derakhshesh agreed with everything he said. Notwithstanding their best attempt to discourage the Iranians, the following day on Ashura, they came out in unprecedented numbers and news of chaos and fierce clashes poured from Tehran, with some describing the city as a war zone.

Perhaps a documentary that was aired in the past two days on all Iranian television stations during their news broadcast on the occasion of the anniversary of the Student Uprisings of 7/9/1999, entitled "The Key Players of the Mayhem of 7/9/10", will shed some light on my credibility;

In this documentary, the Islamic Republic itself has named me as one of the "Key players" of this event. Clearly, they did not have access to Mr. Sajjadi or Mrs. Derakhshesh to ask for their approval prior to airing this program.


I hope that with the appointment of the new members of BBG, this kind of abuse of authority will be stopped. If I do not receive a reasonable response to this e-mail, I will file a formal complaint with the BBG for the unfounded cancellation of this interview, the derogatory remarks made by Mr. Sadjadi, Ms. Derakhshesh and VOA PNN management and the smear campaign that VOA PNN has directed towards me in the last 4 years.

Regards,
Amir A. Fakhravar
President of Iranian Freedom Institute
Secretary General of Confederation of Iranian Students
Info@Fakhravar.com

Since March 8, 2007, after Senator Coburn's letter to president Bush, stating his objections to VOA Persian's policies as set by its management at the time, was published in Washington Times, VOA boycotted me, my friends and all the members of the Confederation of Iranian Students. The Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS) is a pro-western, independent student movement of over 4000 members with student Federations in Iran, the United States, England, France, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Turkey. It is the largest International Iranian student movement active both inside and outside of Iran. CIS was officially launched in November 2002. Its principal objective is to empower the will and confidence of the Iranian people in their quest for freedom. It reaches out to students through social, cultural, artistic, literary, and sports activities.

CIS works tirelessly to promote freedom, human rights and democracy in Iran. The Confederation educates publics, and organizes and mobilizes grass-roots support in the United States, Europe and Iran to promote freedom of expression, freedom of press, and freedom of religion – the constitutional foundations of a future free, secular and democratic Iran. The U.S. Congressional Report dated January 2010, stated the following regarding CIS: “Opposition/”Green Path Hope.” All of the blocs and personalities below can be considered part of the Green Path of Hope opposition/revolutionary movement. However, overall leadership of the opposition is unclear, with several components competing for preeminence and the ability to determine the direction of the protest movement.
Student Opposition Leaders/Confederation of Iranian Students/Office of Consolidation of Unity (Daftar Tahkim-e- Vahdat). Staunch oppositionists and revolutionaries, many now favor replacement of the regime with secular democracy. One key bloc in this group is the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS), led by Amir Abbas Fakhravar, who was jailed for five years for participating in July 1999 student riots. CIS, committed to non-violent resistance, is successor of Office of Consolidation Unity, which led those riots. CIS supports international efforts to sanction the regime. At the time of those riots, the students had been strong Khatemi supporters, but turned against him for failing to challenge hardliners, particularly after July 1999 violent crackdown on student riots, in which four students were killed. Student leaders attempting—and increasingly succeeding—in gaining support of older generation, labor, clerics, and other segments to topple regime.” (Page 4-5 report on IRAN)

CIS chapters regularly brief national political leaders, policy-makers, and prominent scholars about the current political, economic and social issues that Iranians confront in their daily lives under the oppression of the current regime. CIS members work closely with Amnesty International and other human rights organizations.
Our fight with the corrupt management of VOA, however, continued until last September when the Inspector General of the United States got involved with the case and Sheila Ganji was removed from her position, thus raising our hopes for resolving these issues. But the level of corruption exceeded our expectations.

After months of silence and waiting for VOA Persian to be placed in order, I broke my silence on February 23 of this year and the final phase of the campaign against the policies of this media was unlocked with my speech at the U.S. Congress. This speech was attended by key members of Congress and their aides and focused on "Iranian Green Revolution, Oil Sanctions and the analysis of the policies of VOA Persian".

Trent Frank, a representative from Arizona, who was present during my speech, stood up at the end and announced that he would instigate a new campaign against the misuses of this media. Two days ago, a letter from this representative, signed by seventy other members of Congress, was sent to the president. The original letter and its Persian translation may be viewed here.

United States Congress/Washington DC./March 17, 2010

Dear Mr. President Obama,

We are encouraged by your powerful statement during your first State of the Union Address: “As Iran’s leaders continue to ignore their obligations, there should be no doubt: they, too, will face growing consequences.” However, while economic sanctions and international isolation may be necessary, we believe the greatest threat to the Iranian regime will come from the liberation of its own people. We ask you to support Iranian dissidents fighting for freedom and democracy in Iran.

The United States must stand by the thousands of Iranians who have stood defiantly against the regime. We must call for the release of all political activists and demand the cessation of torture, rape and other human rights violations. As the leader of the free world, the United States has a moral obligation to support the courageous men and women in Iran who are demanding freedom and democracy at risk of arrest, imprisonment, and execution. Iran's dissidents will not stop fighting. We should not stop fighting for them.

In addition, the freedom movement has relied heavily on the internet to inform the Iranian people, organize protests, and update the international community about the regime's violence against its own people. We should assist Iranian dissidents by helping them to circumvent state censorship through access to relevant internet technologies.

Finally, we implore you to investigate the anti-American rhetoric reported to be coming from Voice of America -- Persian. The apparent lack of oversight regarding the context of VOA-Persian broadcasting -- an American-taxpayer-funded program -- has ironically harmed the plight of the dissidents by propagating anti-American sentiment throughout the region.
The United States, through principled public and material support, can help the Iranian people to achieve self-determination.

We appreciate your consideration of our request.
Sincerely,

TrentFranks Member of Congress

Signed by:

1. Trent Franks (AZ)
2. Robert Aderholt (AL)
3. W. Todd Akin (MO)
4. Rodney Alexander (LA)
5. Michele Bachmann (MN)
6. Roscoe Bartlett (MD)
7. Joe Barton (TX)
8. Gus Bilirakis (FL)
9. Rob Bishop (UT)
10. Marsha Blackburn (TN)
11. Roy Blunt (MO)
12. John Boehner (OH)
13. Jo Bonner (AL)
14. Dan Burton (IN)
15. Ken Calvert (CA)
16. John Campbell (CA)
17. Jason Chaffetz (UT)
18. Howard Coble (NC)
19. Mike Coffman (CO)
20. Mike Conaway (TX)
21. Tom Cole (OK)
22. John Culberson (TX)
23. Jeff Fortenberry (NE)
24. Virginia Foxx (NC)
25. Phil Gingrey (GA)
26. Louie Gohmert (TX)
27. Bob Goodlatte (VA)
28. Scott Garrett (NJ)
29. Sam Graves (MO)
30. Parker Griffith (AL)
31. Wally Herger (CA)
32. Peter Hoekstra (MI)
33. Bob Inglis (SC)
34. Lynn Jenkins (KS)
35. Jim Jordan (OH)
36. Steve King (IA)
37. Mark Kirk (IL)
38. Jack Kingston (GA)
39. Doug Lamborn (CO)
40. Robert Latta (OH)
41. Cynthia Lummis (WY)
42. Connie Mack (FL)
43. Mary Fallin (OK)
44. Michael T. McCaul (TX)
45. Tom McClintock (CA)
46. Thaddeus McCotter (MI)
47. "Buck" McKeon (CA)
48. Jerry Moran (KS)
49. Sue Myrick (NC)
50. Randy Neugebauer (TX)
51. Pete Olson (TX)
52. Joe Pitts (PA)
53. Bill Posey (FL)
54. Tom Price (GA)
55. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL)
56. Dave Reichert (WA)
57. Dana Rohrabacher (CA)
58. McMorris Rodgers (WA)
59. Edward Royce (CA)
60. Paul Ryan (WI)
61. Steve Scalise (LA)
62. Jean Schmidt (OH)
63. Aaron Schock (IL)
64. John Shadegg (AZ)
65. John Shimkus (IL)
66. Lamar Smith (TX)
67. Todd Tiahrt (KS)
68. Lynn A. Westmoreland (GA)
69. Joe Wilson (SC)
70. Ted Poe (TX)

Congress of the United States
Washington DC.
March 17, 2010