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نسخه فارسی

Iran-US Negotiations
The English Version of the Statement


Over the past century, the U.S relationship with Iran has been volatile, and the coming months may prove to be a decisive era in the history of the relationship between the two countries. A misreading of the situation in Iran might lead to decisions which will damage the national interests of both countries.

The harsh repression of peaceful protests in the wake of the disputed Iranian election this past June removed any doubt about the cruelty of the Iranian totalitarian regime. Direct shots fired at unarmed civilians in Iran captured global attention, but this was only an example of the atrocities that were committed. Intensifying pressure on protesters, the use of Stalinist methods against detainees, and threatening university students and faculty are only few more examples of the continuing campaign against peaceful opposition in the weeks since the election.

Recent news indicates the US administration's intention to negotiate with the Iranian government. While maintaining an active venue of negotiation is necessary for resolving the conflict between the two countries, a constructive dialogue with Iran must address the Iranian regime's recent brutalities. Neglecting such atrocities by any country, particularly in this crucial period, would have a severe negative effect on the Iranian public. As people with deep connections to their Iranian homeland, and who have studied and worked at universities across the world, the signers of this letter are concerned about the neglect of human rights violations in Iran by the rest of the world. As the current regime faces an internal crisis of legitimacy, it is obvious that the goal of the Iranian government is not the resolution of its international conflicts. Rather, they seek a false victory for their confrontational policies, which could be used as justification for escalating the violent crackdown against domestic political opposition.

From our point of view, the confrontational policies of the previous US administration, coupled with the use of double standard in dealing with issues of human rights, have had a negative impact on the public perception of the United States' intentions in the Middle East. While we oppose any military threat against Iran, we remind American policy makers that turning a blind eye to human rights abuses, which began in 1953 with the coup against Mohammed Mosaddeq, has created suspicion within Iran about American intentions. In our opinion, neglecting the recent atrocities in future negotiations with Iran would confirm this suspicion in the eyes of the Iranian people and would have a negative effect on long-term relations between the two countries. We believe the issues of human rights violations and the Iranian government's atrocities against its own citizens are critical issues that should not be sacrificed for short term gains. It is important to remember that the Iranian public is carefully following the interactions of foreign governments with those who violated their civil rights.

October 2009


Signatures in alphebatical order
  1. Amir Aavani, PhD student, Simon Fraser University, Canada, Computer Science
  2. Arash Abazari, PhD student, Johns Hopkins University, Philosophy
  3. Ali Afshari, PhD student, George Washington University, System Engineering
  4. Mazda Ahmadi, PhD student, University of Texas at Austin, Computer Science, Championship of RoboCup Rescue Championship 2002 and 2003, Runner up position 2001
  5. Hamid Akbari, PhD student and Part time Faculty, York University, Canada, Strategic Management
  6. Kazem Alamdari, Adjunct Professor, California State University, Northridge, PhD Sociology
  7. Parviz Alivand, PhD student, University of Texas at Austin, Economics
  8. Khosrow Allaf-Akbari, PhD student, University of Maryland and Princeton University, Energy Policy Studies - Astronomy, Gold Medal of Iran's Collegiate Physics Olympics 2002
  9. Hamed Amini, PhD student, Ecole Normale Superieure, France, Applied Mathematics
  10. Kiarash Amiri, PhD student at Rice University, Electrical Engineering
  11. Amin Arbabian, PhD student, UC Berkeley, Electrical Engineering
  12. Soroush Aslani, PhD student, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Organizational Behavior
  13. Mitra Azizian, PhD student, Colorado School of Mines, Petroleum Engineering
  14. Roja Bandari, PhD student at UCLA, Electrical Engineering, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow
  15. Anahita Basirat, PhD student, Gipsa-lab, Grenoble INP, France, Cognitive Science
  16. Arash Behboodi, PhD student, SUPELEC, France, Telecommunication
  17. Ahmad Beirami, PhD candidate, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
  18. Mostafa Beshkar, Research Associate at Yale University and Assistant Professor at University of New Hampshire, PhD Economics
  19. Goodarz Danaei, Graduate student, Population and International Health
  20. Ehsan Ebrahimy, PhD student, University of Chicago, Economics, Gold Medal National Math Olympiad 1996
  21. Vahid Entezari, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Center for Advanced Orthopedic Studies, Harvard Medical School, MD
  22. Behdad Esfahbod, MBA student, University of Toronto, Software Engineer, Red Hat, Computer Science and MBA, Silver Medal International Informatics Olympiad 1999, Gold Medal International Informatics Olympiad 2000
  23. Mehran Eslaminia, PhD student, North Carolina State University, Civil Engineering
  24. Sanli Faez, PhD student at University of Twente, Netherlands, Physics, Gold Medal National Physics Olympiad 1996
  25. Hassan Faghani, PhD Student, Washington University in St. Louis, Economics
  26. Azadeh Farahzadi, Postdoctoral Scientist, PhD Physics
  27. Babak Farzad, Assistant Professor, Brock University Canada, PhD Computer Science, Bronze Medal International Informatics Olympiad 1995
  28. Maryam Farboodi, PhD student, University of Chicago, Economics
  29. Roozbeh Foroozan, PhD student at Pennsylvania State University, Energy and Environmental Engineering
  30. Reza Ganjdanesh, PhD student, University of Texas at Austin, Petroleum Engineering
  31. Ali Ghodsi, Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo, PhD Computer Science
  32. Mohammadreza Ghodsi, PhD student, University of Maryland, Computer Science, RoboCup World Campion 2005
  33. Reza Golestani, PhD student, University Medical Center Groningen, Netherland, Nuclear Medicine
  34. Ali Gordjinejad, PhD student, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Physics
  35. Ahmad Reza Hadaegh, Associate Professor, California State University San Marcos, PhD Computer Science
  36. Amir Haji-Akbari, PhD Student, University of Michigan, Chemical Engineering
  37. Babak Heydari, Post Doctoral Fellow at UCLA, PhD Electrical Engineering, Gold medal National Chemistry Olympiad 1996
  38. Fereydoun Hormozdiari, PhD student, Simon Fraser University, Canada, Computer Science
  39. Sara Jabbari-Farouji, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Paris Sud (Orsay), France, PhD Physics
  40. Ramin Jahanbegloo, Professor, University of Toronto, Canada, PhD Philosophy
  41. Arsalan Kahnemuyipour, Assistant PRofessor, Syracuse University, PhD Linguistics
  42. Kianoosh Kalantar, Graduate Student, University of Rochester, Accountancy
  43. Ali Karbasi, PhD student, Florida International University, Material Science and Engineering
  44. Shabnam Kavousian, Instructor, Langara College, PhD Mathematics Education
  45. Moslem Kazemi, PhD student, Simon Fraser University, Canada, Engineering Science, Member of Sharif's Robocup Team, World Champion of Robocup 1999, 2000, 2001
  46. Yaser Kerachian, Technology Transfer Officer, Wilfrid Laurier University, PhD Physics, Gold medal International Physics Olympiad 1995
  47. Banafsheh Madaninejad, PhD student, University of Texas at Austin, Islamic Studies/Comparative Literature
  48. Mohammad Mahdian, Senior Research Scientist at Yahoo Research, PhD Mathematics, Gold medal in the International Math Olympiad 1993 and two Silver medals in the International Informatics Olympiads 1992 and 1993
  49. Mahdi Majbouri, PhD student at USC, Economics
  50. Mostafa Majidpour, PhD student, UCLA, Electrical Engineering
  51. Mehrdad Majzoobi, PhD Student. Rice University, , Electrical and Computer Engineering
  52. Peyman Malaz, Graduate student at UCLA, International Relation
  53. Mehrdad Mashayekhi, Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University, PhD Sociology
  54. Hamidreza Mehdizadeh, PhD student at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chemical Engineering
  55. Bahar Mehmani, PhD student, Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands, Theoretical Physics
  56. Nargess Memarsadeghi, Computer Scientist, PhD Computer Science
  57. Mohammad Mesgarpour, PhD student, University of Southampton, UK, Operational Research
  58. Mazyar Mirrahimi, Researcher, INRIA The French Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control, PhD Applied Mathematics, Silver Medal International Math Olympiad 1999 - Gold Medal National Collegiate Math Competition 2000
  59. Babak Mohit, Dr.PhD student, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Health Policy and Management
  60. Anahita Mirtabatabaei, PhD student, University of California Santa Barbara, Mechanical Engineering Science
  61. Kamran Moinzadeh, Professor, University of Washington, PhD Industrial Engineering
  62. Nazgol Moshtaghi, PhD student of Marketing and Instructor, University of South Florida, Marketing
  63. Leila Mouri, PhD student, Columbia University, Middle East and Asian Language and Culture
  64. Farzaneh Najafi, PhD student, University of Pennsylvania, Neuroscience
  65. Hossein Namazi, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin, PhD Mathematics, Gold Medal National Math Olympiad 1994
  66. Hamid Naseri, Adjunct Faculty, University of Houston, PhD Electrical Engineering
  67. Amir Nayyeri, PhD student, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Computer Science
  68. Borghan Nezami Narajabad, Assistant Professor at Rice University, PhD in Economics, Gold Medal National Math Olympiad 1996
  69. Arash Parsa, PhD student, UC Berkeley, Electrical Engineering
  70. Siavash Pourkamali, Assistant Professor, University of Denver, PhD Electrical and Computer Engineering, Silver Medal International Chemistry Olympiad 1997
  71. Amin Pourmohammadi, PhD student at Washington University St. Louis, Economics
  72. Amir Pourmousa, Senior R&D Specialist at Simulent Inc. Canada, PhD Mechanical Engineering, Silver Medal International Physics Olympiad 1995
  73. Faezeh Raei, PhD student and Economist in the International Monetary Fund, Economics, Ranked Third in the Nationwide University Entrance Exam 1998
  74. Hazhir Rahmandad, Assistant Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering Department, Virginia Tech
  75. Ahmad Rahmati, PhD student, Rice University, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  76. Alireza Raisi, PhD student, Pennsylvania State University, Civil and Environmental Engineering
  77. Seid Alireza Razavi Majomard, PhD student, University of Minnesota, Twin-Cities, Electrical Engineering
  78. Nassim Razi, JD, PE, Senior Electrical Engineer, Buro Happold Consulting Engineers
  79. Behnam Robatmili, PhD student, University of Texas at Austin, Computer Science
  80. Amir Saberi, PhD Student, Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Silver Medal International Chemistry Olypmiad 2004
  81. Ali Sadighian, Assistant Professor of Business, The City University of New York (CUNY), York College, PhD Operations Research
  82. Bashir Sadjad, PhD student at University of Waterloo, Canada, Computer Science, Bronze Medal International Informatics Olympiad 1997 - RoboCup Champion with Sharif CE team 1999
  83. student, University of Minnesota, Economics, Gold medal in the National Math Olympiad 1999
  84. Behzad Sajadi, PhD student, UC Irvine, Computer Science
  85. Babak Salamat, Senior researcher at Yahoo!, PhD Computer Science
  86. Mahyar Salek, PhD student, University of Southern California, Computer Science
  87. Pegah Sattari, PhD student, UC Berkeley, Electrical Engineering
  88. Seyed-Amin Sayedi, PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University, Business, Silver Medal International Informatics Olympiad
  89. Reza Sebti, Graduate student at University of Alberta, Canada, Philosephy
  90. Babak Seradjeh, ICMT and NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, PhD Physics
  91. Hamed Sheibany, Postdoctoral Researcher, TIMA Grenoble, France, PhD Microelectronics
  92. Ali Shojaie, PhD student, department of Statistics, University of Michigan
  93. Hassan Shojania, PhD student at University of Toronto, Electrical & Computer Engineering
  94. Ali Shourideh, Phd student, University of Minnesota, Economics, Silver Medal in International Math Olympiad 1999 and 2000
  95. Ali Taalebinezhaad, Senior Research & Development Scientist at Robotics & Computer Vision, PhD Mechanical Engineering
  96. Ali Tahzibi, Researcher and Associated Professor, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, PhD Mathematics
  97. Azadeh Tajpour, Graduate student, Claremont Graduate University, Studio Art and Art History
  98. Hoda Talebi, Graduate Student, University of Rochester, Finance
  99. Ali Tehrani, Professor, Conestoga College Canada, PhD System Design Engineering
  100. Amir Togha, Assistant Professor, BCC of CUNY, PhD Mathematics, Winner of the National Collegiate Math Competition 1992
  101. Nayereh Tohidi, Professor, California State University at Northridge, PhD Gender and Women's Studies
  102. Seyed-Fakhreddin Torabi, PhD student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Biochemistry, Gold medal National Chemistry Olympiad 2000
  103. Alireza Vaezzadeh, Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School, PhD Pharmacology
  104. Majid Yahyaei, PhD Student of Mechanical Engineering, University of Southern California
  105. Farshid Zabihian, PhD student at Ryerson University, Mechanical Engineering
  106. Sahar Zangeneh, PhD student, Department of Statistics, University of Michigan
  107. Hossein Ziai, Professor and Director of Iranian Studies, UCLA, PhD Islamic and Iranian Studies
    108.
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