IRANIANS PRAISE KING'S LEGISLATION
King: Iranian Regime Dangerous to Global
Security, Iranians Need the Motivation
to Take Charge of their own Security
WASHINGTON
- To mark the 100th
anniversary of Iran's Constitutional
Revolution, Iranians on Capitol Hill
today convened a panel discussion on
U.S. Congressman Steve King's
legislation recognizing the significance
of the 1906 Iranian Constitution.
A panel of
five Iranian experts presented the
historical background of the democratic
revolution of 1906, and discussed the
benefit of Iranian freedom to the Middle
East, the United States and the world.
King's
bill, H.Res. 942, aims to inspire
Iranians to rise up and expel their
country's dictators. In the summer of
1906, thousands of Iranians, provoked by
the corruption and oppression of their
rulers, gathered in the public squares
of Teheran in silent civil disobedience,
intimidating the government with their
quiet demand for a democratic
constitution and a broadly
representative congress. Finally, on
August 5, 1906, Mozafaredin Shah issued
an edict for the writing of a democratic
constitution that would surrender power
to the people.
The panel
included: Iraj Aryanpour, former
undersecretary to the Iranian cabinet;
Dr. William Royce, Voice of America
producer and former head of the Farsi
service; Kamran Beigi, specialist on
contemporary Iran; Dr. James P. Lucier,
former staff director of the U.S. Senate
Foreign Relations Committee, and
Professor Mansour Kashfi, President,
Kashex International.
"Iran's
1906 Constitutional Revolution was an
indigenous movement by the people of
Iran to limit the autocratic power of a
corrupt regime," said King. "As the
current despotic regime of the
Ayatollahs presents a threat to world
peace, it is important to recognize that
Iranian history contains within itself
evidence of internal democratic
aspirations which could free the Iranian
people from this oppressive tyranny."
"Given the
current threat the Iranian regime poses
to global security today, the whole
world should join in supporting and
encouraging the Iranian people's fight
for freedom and democracy," said King.
