Manouchehr Mohammadi i USA

Det är mycket glädjande att Manouchehr Mohammadi vars bror Akbar Mohammadi mördades av den islamiska regimen nu befinner sig på säker mark i USA och aktivt kämpar för Irans frihet.


Iranian Activist Seeks U.S. Support

November 16, 2006
The Wall Street Journal
Jay Solomon


A leading Iranian student activist is calling for the Bush administration to directly fund opposition groups seeking to topple the theocratic regime in Tehran. Manucher Mohammadi escaped from Iran last month after his brother and fellow democratic activist, Akbar Mohammadi, died in Tehran’s Evin prison. Manucher Mohammadi says his brother was severely tortured during seven years in prison and ultimately died from his injuries.

Mohammadi arrived in the U.S. earlier this month and has taken a fellowship at Washington’s National Endowment for Democracy. He says he’s using his time in Washington to meet senior Congressional and administration officials, such as Elliot Abrams, the National Security Council’s point man on the Middle East.

“I’d like the U.S. government to lend spiritual support to the Iranian opposition…and to support it financially,” Mohammadi said at a news conference held at Freedom House today. “We need to develop a plan of action and put it to work.”

The U.S. Congress has allocated $75 million this year to promote democracy in Iran, much of which will go to radio stations beaming programming into Iran. It’s unclear if Mohammadi’s organization, which he’s calling the Anti-Dictatorial Front, could be eligible for U.S. government funding, which is distributed through the State Department.

The Mohammadi brothers achieved prominence in 1999 for helping to lead major student protests against the Iranian regime. They men were subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison.