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Iranian-American Opposition to War with Iran

Reza Marashi explains why most Iranian-Americans are against an Iranian war: Few Iranian-Americans would welcome the prospects of a U.S. intervention under the auspices of democracy promotion that, in turn, shattered any semblance of stability and ignited a destructive cycle of conflict. This is a perfectly understandable and normal response to the prospect of a […]

Reza Marashi explains why most Iranian-Americans are against an Iranian war:

Few Iranian-Americans would welcome the prospects of a U.S. intervention under the auspices of democracy promotion that, in turn, shattered any semblance of stability and ignited a destructive cycle of conflict.

This is a perfectly understandable and normal response to the prospect of a foreign attack on one’s ancestral country. Serbian-Americans had no love for Milosevic, but they were understandably and justifiably appalled when their government attacked Serbia without just cause. It is natural that most Iranian-Americans are not supportive of policies that will involve their government killing hundreds or thousands of Iranians.

Attitudes towards attacking Iran would depend on one’s background. Political exiles expelled during the early stages of the revolution would probably be more supportive of military action, especially if they represent political factions that have long since ceased to have any backing inside Iran, since they will see an attack as an opportunity to assert themselves into their country’s politics. Members of the diaspora more concerned with the welfare of Iranians are naturally going to be more inclined towards a policy of engagement, which is what Marashi’s evidence shows. It takes a fairly hard-line ideologue to support policies that inflict suffering and even death on the people of his ancestral country.

It’s important to add here that there are relatively few Iran hawks proposing democracy promotion as a reason for an Iranian war. There is usually not much of an attempt this time to pretend that launching an unprovoked attack on Iran has anything to do with overthrowing Iran’s regime. The recent Fly/Schmitt article is something of an exception in that they want to force regime change, but their proposal is so unrealistic that it scarcely counts. As ever, their concern is not to create better political conditions for Iranians, but simply to weaken Iran and install a submissive government in Tehran. That they think that the Iranian public will help them to do this is just one of their more outlandish assumptions.

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