The Good And Bad Of Cutting Iran Democracy Funding

The U.S. decision to cut $85 million in democracy funds for Iran has led to mixed reactions among Iranian-Americans, Iran analysts, rights activists and others. The original designation of the fund by the Bush administration to promote political change led to criticism by rights advocates inside Iran who said that the move would lead to increased pressure on them.  Many have criticized the decision and described it as an abandonment of Iran’s reformists and human rights activists and a blow to the democracy movement, but Ploughshares Board member Reza Aslan writing in “The Daily Beast” said that he along with many Iranian-Americans working for change in Iran are glad about the U.S. decision to cut the funds. Many of the groups that received the money are reportedly based in the United States and some, as Aslan pointed out, have little understanding of the situation inside the country and are usually not taken seriously by those fighting for change inside the country. Instead of designating funds for democracy promotion in Iran, the United States should bring up the issue of human rights violations in its negotiations with Iran, said Aslan.