August 30, 2006

Rev. Canon John L. Peterson

Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation

3510 Woodley Road, NW

Washington, DC 20016

Via Fedex

Dear Reverend,

We have learned that The Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation has invited Mohammed Khatami, former president of the Islamic Republic regime in Iran, as one of the main speakers at a conference hosted by your organization.

We ask, hereby and for the record, that you remember that in addition to many other human rights abuses which took place under Mr. Khatami's presidency, he directly and publicly sanctioned the brutal repression of the 1999 Student Uprising in Tehran.

Indeed, it was he, as President of the Islamic regime and as head of its National Security Council, who qualified thousands of students as a "bunch of hooligans" and unleashed his brutal repressive forces against them.

This repression led to the deaths of many students and to the arrest and torture of many others. Some of the most well-known examples are Ezzat Ebrahim-Nejad, who was thrown from a third floor balcony by security agents  after having been shot, and Akbar Mohamadi, who died recently at Evin political jail after having been beaten while observing a hunger strike.

Furthermore, many intellectuals, activists and journalists were arrested, tortured or killed under Mr. Khatami's administration. One of the latest and most publicized cases is that of a Canadian-Iranian photojournalist, Zahra Kazemi, who was brutally murdered in 2003 for taking photos of the Evin Prison, where political prisoners are incarcerated under very bad living conditions.

As we have stated previously, far from being a "reformer", Khatami is simply a PR agent serving a corrupt, tyrannical oligarchic and terrorist regime. His main mission, since 1997, has been to buy time for the theocratic regime rather than looking to improve the living condition of Iranians and stability in our world. It is worth noting that he has recently reiterated his endorsement of the Islamic regime's nuclear activities and continues in his outspoken support for various terrorist organizations in the Middle-East region.

In reality he's a preacher of "Monologue Against Civilization" rather than a reliable person trusted to improve any kind of dialogue among civilizations. His regime is an expansionist backwarded political frame that has the exportation of Islamism  as one of its main supporting pillars.

Sir, please consider the following:

While opposing any war, Iranians cannot forget the crimes committed during Khatami's presidency; nor can they forget that these crimes were approved and sanctioned by him.

We and our countrymen believe that attempts by non-Iranian groups such as yours to focus the world's attention on this man and his regime, are very misguided actions that may deviate the focus from the real aspirations of the Iranian People.

Iranians do believe that such ill-policy will have a devastating effect on global public opinion, resulting in a loss of moral support to them, and would ultimately bring us closer to a war. Without doubt, the underground nuclear activities carried out, during eight years of Khatami's Presidency,  and the world's sudden wake up can be considered as a credible prove for our claim.

Therefore, the majority of the Iranians, who long for ending the Islamic Republic's terror and repressive rule and want to establish real democracy and secularism, firmly protest against the visit to the United States by one of those who caused so much suffering and bloodshed to their nation.

In that line, we call on your organization to reverse the ill-advised decision to invite Mr. Khatami as one of the speakers at your group's conference. If you decide otherwise, we will then be forced to go ahead in our plan to organize a peaceful protest action in front of the National Cathedral, echoing the outcry of millions of Iranians and all of those who are seeking for a real global justice.

We strongly hope that you will be willing to listen to the Iranian people's legitimate concerns about this visit and thus listen to its voice rather than that of one of its brutal repressors, in this case, Mohammed Khatami. In this way your organization would better deserve its name of "Center for Global Justice and Reconciliation".

Respectfully,

On behalf of SMCCDI

Aryo B. Pirouznia (The Coordinator)

c.c: Ms. Jean F. Duff (the Managing Director) jduff@cathedral.org 

SMCCDI
        5015 Addison Circle #244 Addison, TX 75001 (USA)
         Tel: +1 (972) 504-6864; Fax: +1 (972) 491-9866;
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