VIEWPOINT : Iran proving dangerous in an indifferent world
The recent interest by many parties in normalizing business with Iran highlights the fact that too many have forgotten the lessons of history. It's important to remember the words of Nobel Prize Laureate Elie Wiesel, a survivor of the Holocaust, who warned, "... the peril threatening humankind today is indifference ..."
Wiesel tells us what indifference looked like in the years before and during World War II. But what does it look like in 2014? We can see it ourselves, as hundreds of multinational companies still do open business in Iran -- and more eagerly look to renew business there -- while Iran continues to develop its nuclear program, and provides massive support to the brutal regime of Bashar Assad in the murder of more than 140,000 Syrian civilians.
What does indifference look like in 2014? We see it when Iran hangs its own citizens in public squares on building cranes, and the companies that manufacture those cranes defiantly do nothing about it.
We also see indifference as hundreds of human rights activists suffer in Iranian prisons, while the manufacturers of electronic monitoring equipment continue to sell Iran surveillance products.
We see indifference when Asian and European auto manufacturers continue to do business in Iran with entities owned by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. These automakers know that IRGC has supplied 100,000 rockets to Hezbollah in Lebanon and terrorists in Gaza for the purpose of murdering Israeli civilians and destroying any hope for peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Yet the automakers continue business as usual in Iran.
What does indifference look like in 2014? When planeloads of European trade delegations fly into Iran to discuss ways to line their pockets even before Iran has agreed to halt its nuclear program, ended its support for terrorists, while ignoring the repeated threats of Iranian leaders to the destruction of Israel.
What does the opposite of indifference look like in 2014?
It looks like the American people and their elected representatives in the U.S. Congress and state legislatures -- including the Indiana General Assembly -- imposing the toughest sanctions ever against Iran and pursuing more.
It is thanks to these sanctions that American companies are prohibited from doing any business in Iran with the exception of the sale of food and medicine. Yet it's not enough for America, and a few key allies like Canada, to have tough sanctions when much of the world is still doing business as usual in Iran.
Further, the recent interim agreement signed in Geneva between Iran and the negotiating team representing the international community (the P5+1), gave Iran too much sanctions relief in return for too little. The proof: Iranian leaders have already declared their refusal to dismantle their nuclear program.
What can we do to ensure that Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, does not develop nuclear weapons?
In order to force Iran to choose between having a functioning economy or nuclear weapons, we should demand that multinational companies end their business in Iran. As the CEO of the advocacy group, United Against Nuclear Iran Ambassador Mark Wallace said, "We should give the world a clear choice: Either you can do business in Iran or in the United States. Not both."
We have the power to choose not to invest in companies doing business in Iran, and we have the power to refuse to buy their products. Please visit UANI.com where you can view and send messages to companies that are active in Iran.
Most Americans understand that Iran without nuclear weapons is already a major threat to human rights and world peace. Most Americans understand that a nuclear-armed Iran would feel emboldened to do worse. Now it's time for us to challenge an indifferent world to put an end to Iran's dangerous nuclear ambitions.
Bob Feferman is a local resident and outreach coordinator for the non-partisan advocacy group, United Against Nuclear Iran.
