Today in Washington (May 1, 2009)

Religious freedom in Iran worsened US Commission

Dr. Richard Land, a Commissioner with the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom [USCIRF], during a press conference announcing the release of that commissions annual report said today religious freedom conditions in Iran have worsened during the past year, said today.

In Iran, government rhetoric and actions worsened conditions for nearly all non-Shia religious groups, most notably for the Bahais, as well as Sufi Muslims, evangelical Christians, and members of the Jewish community. The Commission has decided to designate Iran as a country of particular concern again because the situation has worsened.

After the conclusion of the press conference, Land told WashingtonTV that the issue of religious freedom in Iran has to be on the table, during any talks between the United States and Iran, in the same way that human rights was on the table in US negotiations with the former Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Land said, Secretary of State George Schultz always talked about human rights and the right of the [Soviet] refuseniks. And weve also made the same kind of stipulation with North Korea, that when it comes to talks with North Korea, that human rights and religious freedom, being one of those human rights, needs to be part of the total package. And that the United States of America and its government should not separate human rights discussions and religious freedom discussions from the other policy concerns.
Iran most active state sponsor of terrorism, says US
The US State Department said on Thursday that Iran remains the most active state sponsor of terrorism in the world.
In its report for 2008, the U.S. said: Irans involvement in the planning and financial support of terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy.
Cuba, Sudan and Syria were also designated as state sponsors of terrorism.
In response, Irans Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who was in Havana, Cuba to attend a meeting of the Non-aligned Movement, said that the United States was not in a position to pass judgment on other countries.
With its support for the Zionist regime [Israel], racism, occupation and everything that has taken place at Guantanamo prison, America is not competent to accuse other countries, Mottaki said, according to the official IRNA news agency.
Americas policy of double standards is known throughout the world, and it [the U.S.] has nothing new to say, he added.
Gates presses for speedy approval of war funds
Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday urged lawmakers to quickly approve 83.4 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for assistance to Pakistan.
The funding request, which covers the remainder of fiscal year 2009 on 30 September, includes $75.8 billion for combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and $7.1 billion for State Department projects.
President Barack Obama has made tackling extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan the central focus of his strategy to bring stability to the region.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• WashingtonTV
• Iran
• Today
• in
• Washington
• DC