On a number of occasions I’ve pointed out the fact that the IRI has executed well over 15,000 Iranians since its inception. I’ve never heard a response from you regarding this fact, but ratehr attempts to compare the repression of the IRI with the repression of antiwar and civil rights protestors in the U.S. When was the last time the U.S. government executed 15,000 Americans? (And FYI, I’ve opposed the Iraq and Afghanistan wars from the very beginning).

Also, you’re playing a little fast and loose with the facts re: Saberi. You state: “Saberi has yet to deny she was in possession of such”. Here’s an excerpt from a Wikipedia entry that shows that she has denied it and that there are, in fact, two sides to this story. We would do well to treat both sets of claims with scepticism, rather than simply repeating the IRI’s claims as undisputed fact, as you have done:

“An appeals court reduced the charge against her from espionage to possessing classified information,[33][34] a charge Saberi denied,[8] and reduced her eight-year prison term to a two-year suspended sentence.[9][10]

After Saberi was released from prison, one of her lawyers declared that she had obtained a classified document while working as a translator for a powerful clerical lobby. He claimed that this had been used as evidence to convict her on charges of espionage.[35] He said the document was a classified Iranian report on the U.S.-led war in Iraq.[36]

Saberi later said, “The Iranian government claimed that I had a classified document, but I don’t think it was classified.” She stated that the Iranian authorities were unaware that she had the document in question until, “they pressured me to confess that I had classified documents, and I didn’t have any, but I started describing the documents that I did have. And so, later, they brought me to my home and I gave them the ones that they didn’t already have. But when I gave them this one, I looked at it and I said, ‘See, there’s no classified stamp on it; it’s not classified.’”[8] Saberi has suggested that the lawyer may have been under pressure from the Iranian government to say after her release that the document was classified, even though in court he had argued that it was not.[8]“

For example, allowing a limited debate within certain confines does not equal democracy or freedom. Far from it, Iran’s human rights abuses cannot be defended and the veneer of debate cannot hide the fact that Iran cannot claim to have a government that allows its people the freedom to really choose its course.

As for citing all the US’s human rights abuses – I agree, the US has really screwed a lot of things up, especially under Bush. But two wrongs don’t make a right. America’s failings don’t mean we should silently accept abuses by others any more than you accept our own. Join Amnesty International and work to end these practices. Unlike in Iran, you won’t be arrested for doing so.

As for your main argument that this does not show disarray on the Iranian government’s side, remember that the Iranians agreed to the proposal before all these problems arose.

Has Iran’s foreign policy apparatus frozen? Just because it won’t accept the West’s offer as-is, and offers counterproposals, what is so unusual about that? Isn’t this inherent in the nature of negotiation? And the fact that Iran’s leadership debates the issue, well isn’t that in the nature of an independent and republican form of government? (By the way, Matt, this really shoots down your past assertion that Iran is a “totalitarian state”.)

ElBaradei’s recent suggestion of using Turkey as a go-between was previously put forward and Iran declined. So how can offering it a second time be considered clever?

Ray Takeyh is all over the place in his view. It’s as if Iran attempted to link the nuclear issue with the issues of US military occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan, the civilian casualties of US drone attacks, and the prosecution of US officials responsible for torture in the name of the GWOT. What a muddy negotiation that would make! For gosh sake, guys, lets try to keep it real- shall we?

Declining a proposal within the framework of negotiations shouldn’t necessarily be attributed to a lack of capacity. Is it a lack of capacity the US-Russia arms control talks haven’t produced immediate results? Or a lack of capacity the EU hasn’t inducted Turkey? No. So why is it just because Iran is undergoing its own decision making and negotiation process, so many in the West are rushing to believe its some kind of inherent weakness? Wishful thinking, maybe? Hardly the objective means required for initiating an objective analysis.

And please spare us the “Iran playing for time” narrative. Remember that Iran fell victim to the West’s own “play for time” game following the Tehran Declaration and Paris Agreement, where the West’s insincerity to the negotiation process was utterly exposed after two long years.

For additional information regarding the West’s “playing for time” and “moving the nuclear goalposts” tactics, read some of Cyrus Safdari’s analyses. You can start here:

http://www.iranaffairs.com/iran_affairs/2007/09/moving-nuclear-.html

You’re right. Let’s not try to defend the indefensible. Let’s not defend Guantanimo, Bagram, and Abu Ghraib. Let’s not defend the detention of muslims after 9/11 (some of whom were Iranian). Let’s not defend the illegal war of so-called choice in Iraq. Or the continued murder of Afghan civilians by drone attacks. We’re talking here about inflicted casualties well exceeding a hundred-thousand, with millions forced to leave their homes to become destitute refugees). All of this done on US taxpayer money, so indirectly we all share in the shame. I won’t even go into the shame that is Palestine. Or the massive flooding of cheap drugs into Iran; the result of an ineffectual US led military occupation of Afghanistan.

But we’re drifting off-topic here.

Kazemi is also off-topic, but I’ll address it. Do we here in America seek international condemnation for the imperfections of our own criminal justice system? Have we done so for Rodney King? The “Oakland Riders”? Oscar Grant? Phoung Ho? etc. etc.

@Alireza:
One of the journalist organizations that supported Saberi during her trial has recently come out and criticized her for illegally having that secret Iranian document in her possession. To date, Saberi has yet to deny she was in possession of such.

For the record, Trita Parsi warned of this possibility in late July:

“…Iran currently is not in a position to negotiate. Some in Washington believe that the paralysis in Tehran has weakened Iran and made it more prone to compromise. But rather than delivering more, Iran’s government currently couldn’t deliver anything at all. The infighting has simply incapacitated Iranian decision makers.”

“Iran’s lack of capacity creates a tremendous danger for the White House. Of all scenarios the Obama administration could end up facing — an Iran that refuses to come to the table, for example, or an Iran that only uses talks to play for time — the worst scenario is another one: where the parties begin talks according to the set timetable, but fail to reach an agreement due to an inability to deliver. If talks fail, U.S. policymakers will be left with increasingly unpalatable options as a result.”

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/07/30/make_them_wait

http://www.irna.ir/View/FullStory/?NewsId=780145

This is really very shameful. The entire world should pass resolutions condemning the Iranian government’s human-rights violations against Iranian citizens. And yes, they should also pass resolutions condemning Israel’s human-rights violations against Palestinians. I am an Iranian, so I hope you will excuse me for being more concerned with the suffering of my fellow Iranians.

There would be no hypocrisy. Congress would have no trouble sleeping at night knowing Palestinians are being arrested and killed by Israel, and that Iranians are being arrested and killed by their government. But would this be better for the Iranian people?

I agree it would not be better for the Iranian people to be attacked, but, at this point, I don’t see this resolution leading to the horrific end for the Iranian people. The real horrific end for the Iranian people that we are creeping towards is one where the Iranian government will become even more totalitarian and all hope for a free and prosperous Iran is gone.

And if that military state does come, realize that your support for the Iranian government (which very well may come from a great pride in all things Iran) represented an element of momentum toward that horrific end for the Iranian people.

I also agree that Trita is an intelligent young man. I feel very comfortable trusting his better judgement on this one.

P.S. The mere claims of Iranian officials or Iranian media outlets do not constitute “evidence”, just as the claims of U.S. officials or media outlets do not constitute “evidence” either.