By Barry Rubin It is now confirmed that the Iranian government–taking advantage of the world being distracted by events in Arab countries–has kidnapped the two leading opposition leaders, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi. They are being held in an undisclosed location and, since their abduction has not been made official, could be facing torture or even death.
This is the most serious single act of repression there in recent times. The situation demands the strongest possible reaction from the U.S. president, the Western world, the media, and everything else in what is so often called the “international community.”
If the Iranian regime gets away with this and there’s no significant cost, no one in that country is safe from the most dire treatment. The Iranian government is denying the kidnapping but their families say they haven’t seen them in 18 days. Here’s a protest by an Iranian human rights group on the issue.
Incidentally, the president of the United States has called so far for the ouster of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan ruler Muammar Qadhafi. When is he going to call for the ouster of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose fradulent election brought congratulations from the State Department, and Syrian President Bashar al-Asad, who backs terrorists in Iraq to kill Americans?
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center and editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal. See the GLORIA/MERIA site at http://www.gloria-center.org
