Dr./ Atty. Franklin Lamb is a former Assistant Counsel of the United States House Judiciary Committee at the US Congress and Professor of International Law at Northwestern College of Law in Oregon and writes that, "There is probably no country more misunderstood in America than Iran and its due almost entirely to politically motivated demonizations and misrepresentations, including, but not limited to, what President Ahmadinejad really said during speeches relating to the US and the West and the historical imperative to liberate occupied Palestine and every country’s right to develop nuclear energy and to live independently and free of US-led western hegemony."
Most Americans’ perceptions of Iran are limited to images of President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad accused of delivering anti-American speeches. Former US Senator and President Obama’s nominee for Secretary of Defense, Chuck Hagel, advocates mutual respect and friendship with Iran. He says, “On Afghanistan, the United States and Iran found common interests — defeating the Taliban and Islamic radicals, stabilizing Afghanistan, stopping the opium production and the flow of opium coming into Iran. From these common interests emerged common actions working toward a common purpose. It was in the interests of Iran to work with the U.S. in Afghanistan. It was not a matter of helping America or strengthening America’s presence in Central Asia. It was a clear-eyed and self-serving action for Iran.”
For the sake of healthy relations in the global community, Washington’s new administration must reach out to Iran, not just with words but with actions. It will benefit the societal health of both countries. Contact, visitations, discussions and more discussions by both peoples can pressure the respective governments to leave the past behind and develop bonds of friendship.
Dr. Lamb writes, "In Iran today one does not hear Rubinesque hate speech or even lectures about the 1953 US-UK overthrow of Iranian leader Mohammad Mossedeg or the shooting down on July 3, 1988 of the commercial passenger aircraft Iran Air Flight 655 (IIR655) or the US giving chemical weapons to Iraq, during its US backed aggression, or even the assassination of Iranian scientists or a number of other US green lighted aggressions against the country.
Much more often, conversations are likely to turn to the need to improve relations and friendly questions about what foreigners are experiencing in Iran and if they need assistance in doing something or information about their country."
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