Sunday, 30 September 2001

Ref.: 64 / M / 204

To: The Secretary of State Colin L. Powell

Dear Secretary Powell

The Association of Iranian Researchers after its last letter referenced 59/M/199 dated September 16^th would like to reiterate the following points:

1. The United States of America has repeated its mistake of twenty two years ago over the US diplomats hostage crisis negotiations. At that time, President Carter believed that the Islamic President had the power or the last say over the country's affairs. His optimism cost him the presidency. This time the West's premature optimism resulted in a slap in the mouth following the British Foreign Secretary's visit to Tehran and resurgence of 'Death to America'.
2. United States of America tested the tested again. It believed that the Islamic Republic regime, with its appalling human rights record and deriving its legitimacy from harbouring and helping national and international terrorist groups and organisations, would remove the support net that it has carefully spread over the last twenty two years and would allow its children to fall without any support.

Sir, if United States of America along with other countries and governments are serious in fundamentally extracting the roots of terrorism they have no choice but to:

1. look at the people of the regimes who are terrorists or harbour and help international terrorist organisations in the same manner as the people of the free and democratic world. They too are victims of terrorism. It must be recognised that they have equal rights to human and economic rights.
2. stop dealing and supporting such regimes for economic and political expediency and to set up this relationship with the people of these countries and their free representatives.

Finally, while we look forward to the day that the roots and motivations for all terrorist activities have been eradicated we would like to stress that unless attention is paid to the above points the arrest and removal of Ben Laden and the Taliban will be futile and only reactive since it will only become another reason and motive for the creation of other Ben Ladens and Talibans.

With respect

Hossein Ladjevardi