Iran opposition

It's a petition against a 'possible military intervention' in Iran - and it's been signed by more than 120 Iranian opposition activists living in exile.

The paper was published on Tuesday, a few hours before the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran's nuclear program was due to be released.

One of the initiators of the petition was Iranian journalist Akbar Ganji who lives in exile in the United States.

Iran's religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was mainly responsible for mounting tension between Iran and the international community, journalist Ganji told Deutsche Welle: "By oppressing the Iranian people, by interfering in other countries' interior affairs and by using aggressive slogans against Israel the religious leader feels very powerful.“

Striving for regional supremacy

After the controversial presidential elections in 2009, the Iranian democracy movement was struck down with violence. Many opposition members were sentenced to long years in prison, others fled the country.

The oil-rich country is striving to gain regional supremacy in the Middle East, attempting to expand its influence not just in Afghanistan but also in Iraq and in other Arab countries, positioning itself as a competitor of Saudi-Arabia. One of the constants in Iran's foreign politics since the Islamic Revolution 31 years ago has been its enmity with Israel.

Military intervention would strengthen regime

The Iranian people would not be appreciative of a military strike against Iranian nuclear plants, journalist Ganji told Deutsche Welle. Almost all Iranian opposition members - based in Iran or living in exile - oppose any kind of military intervention against the country, he said.

"This will always look like foreign powers are preparing the ground to topple the regime. But changing the Iranian regime is up to the Iranians themselves," said the trained sociologist. Akbar Ganji is one of the most famous criticis of the current Islamic government in Iran. He left the country in 2006 after long years of imprisonment.

Akbar Ganji is considered one of the masterminds behind Iran's democracy movement. He tries to promote direct dialogue with the Iranian population and calls on the international community to speak with one voice when it comes to penalizing human rights violations in Iran.

Ganji is convinced that war cannot build democracies, and so the petition signed by the Iranian opposition members reads accordingly, "You cannot transport democracy with rockets.“

A military strike against Iran would only strengthen already existing mistrust against some Western countries, warns Akbar Ganji. "Iranians would consider anybody who would support such an intervention a traitor.“

"An attack would mobilize nationalistic sentiment"

Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi shares Ganji's views. Any military attack against Iran - no matter whether it would hit Iranian nuclear plants or other targets - would only mobilize nationalistic sentiment in Iran and strengthen the regime, said the 64-year-old lawyer.

Ebadi has lived in exile in London since 2009 and repeatedly draws attention to human rights violations in Iran. But according to her, violence from outside is the wrong way to change the political system in Iran.

"If there was a military intervention against Iran, the people would lose their anger against the Islamic regime. It would be like fresh blood for the regime. The Islamic leadership would then crack down on the opposition and justify this oppression by saying it was aimed at 'guaranteeing national security'," said the human rights activist.

It would not be the first time for the Iranian leadership to use this method. In the war with Iraq between 1980 and 1988, numerous opposition members were executed in Iranian prisons - and the regime at the time said this move was necessary to "guarantee national security."

And so, Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi suggests that "the world should wait for this regime to crumble by itself."

Report: Shabnam Nourian (nh)
Editor: Sybille Golte / Michael Knigge