For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
June 16, 2005
Statement by the President on Iranian Elections
In recent months, the cause of freedom has made enormous gains in
the broader Middle East. Millions of people in Afghanistan and Iraq
defied terrorists to cast their ballots in free elections.
Palestinians voted for a new president who rejects violence and is
working for democratic reform, and the people of Lebanon reclaimed
their sovereignty and are now voting for new leadership. Across the
Middle East, hopeful change is taking place. People are claiming their
liberty. And as a tide of freedom sweeps this region, it will also
come eventually to Iran.
The Iranian people are heirs to a great civilization - and they
deserve a government that honors their ideals and unleashes their
talent and creativity. Today, Iran is ruled by men who suppress
liberty at home and spread terror across the world. Power is in the
hands of an unelected few who have retained power through an electoral
process that ignores the basic requirements of democracy.
The June 17th presidential elections are sadly consistent with this
oppressive record. Iran's rulers denied more than a thousand people
who put themselves forward as candidates, including popular reformers
and women who have done so much for the cause of freedom and democracy
in Iran.
The Iranian people deserve a genuinely democratic system in which
elections are honest - and in which their leaders answer to them
instead of the other way around. The Iranian people deserve a truly
free and democratic society with a vibrant free press that informs the
public and ensures transparency. They deserve freedom of assembly, so
Iranians can gather and press for reform and a peaceful, loyal
opposition can keep the government in check. They deserve a free
economy that delivers opportunity and prosperity and economic
independence from the state. They deserve an independent judiciary
that will guarantee the rule of law and ensure equal justice for all
Iranians. And they deserve a system that guarantees religious freedom,
so that they can build a society in which compassion and tolerance
prevail.
Today, the Iranian regime denies all these rights. It shuts down
independent newspapers and websites and jails those who dare to
challenge the corrupt system. It brutalizes its people and denies them
their liberty.
America believes in the independence and territorial integrity of
Iran. America believes in the right of the Iranian people to make
their own decisions and determine their own future. America believes
that freedom is the birthright and deep desire of every human soul.
And to the Iranian people, I say: As you stand for your own liberty,
the people of America stand with you.
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