Amir Abbas Fakhravar: Leading the Charge Against the Islamic Republic
Amir Abbas Fakhravar, 35, is a “graduate” of the infamous Evin prison in Tehran. His friendly and youthful exterior hides a painful period of torture and isolation — five years, with eight months in solitary confinement. But ask Amir about his state of mind following his harrowing experience and he shrugs:
They broke my wrist, my knee, a few bones, but never broke my spirit.
Fakhravar arrived in the U.S. four years ago and found no coherent voices speaking for the Iranian opposition movement:
I thought that the Iranian opposition had an organization here, but nothing existed in 2006.
And when he gathered some of the opposition figures, he quickly learned that they had little information about the real situation in Iran. Even more dismaying, according to Fakhravar, was the ignorance of U.S. policymakers regarding Iran.
With mentoring from Richard Perle — former assistant secretary of defense (1981-1987) and currently resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute — and with critical help from Philadelphia’s Craig Snider — who has dedicated himself to fight for freedom and democracy for the Iranian people — Fakhravar established the Iranian Freedom Institute (IFI).
The IFI, a Washington, D.C., think tank, looks to inform and educate American policymakers and the public in general regarding the real state of affairs inside Iran. Utilizing the latest technology, the IFI hopes to influence U.S. policy towards Iran and simultaneously educate the freedom-loving people of Iran who are living under a brutal dictatorship.
Affiliated with the IFI is the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS), created by Fakhravar and Arzhang Davoodi. Davoodi is a teacher and writer currently in an Iranian prison (he has been held for six years, with nine remaining on his sentence). In 1994, while in medical school (he subsequently graduated from law school), Fakhravar helped establish the independent student movement in Tehran. Fakhravar and Davoodi proceeded to form the nucleus of an independent worldwide student organization. In 2002 they organized a student conference, and three years later they launched CIS, which today has a membership of 6,200 students.
The Confederation of Iranian Students should not be confused with the Islamic Republic’s student organization, cautions Fakhravar. The latter was created by the mullah regime, paid for by them, and run by them.
One of the CIS goals is to bring down the Islamic Republic dictatorship. “We have a three-step plan,” he says. First is to show the Iranian people and the world that the ruling Iranian regime is not democratic, but rather a brutal dictatorship. “We have already succeeded on that part of the plan,” Fakhravar added.
During last year’s demonstrations in Tehran following the sham elections which gave Ahamedinejad a second term, the Green youth demanded an answer: “Obama, are you with them (the regime) or with us?” Obama’s decision to continue to negotiate with the Khamenei-Ahmadinejad regime gave them legitimacy, according to Fakhravar.
There will be no progress on any issue until the upside down president leaves office in January 2013. November’s elections are crucial to containing the damage caused by this incompetent, narcissistic poseur.
Mr. Puder: I am shocked that you were able to post your article on this site. this site had been created for muslim haters and Islam haters…this guy that you are writing about is Muslim you know!! what makes him a better muslm? just wondering if you can help me…
Nothing on this earth can help you.
He is not a “better” Moslem, he is simply trying to bring the truth of fascist Iran to the West and to free his people. I am sure that he is a proud Moslem and Iranian. It is precisely because of that that he wants to save his country from tyranny.
Miriam , I think you are confusing PJ Media with your friends at huff post and the daily kos. THEY are the intolerant bunch. . . not us.
I’ve had the honor of meeting Mr Fakhravar several times. He’s one of the bravest people you’ll meet.
#3 Rick: I am assuming you meean Huffington Post and I am also auuming the you think I am liberl. I never go or have been to that site and I am in the center… The reason I love this site is it just makes my and makes me laugh. and if you really think this site is tolerant then read Phillys Chesler…By the way are from SC? I am going there next week to visit my son. He is a Marine…
From his lips, “We will have a free, democratic and secular Iran. It will be a friend of Israel and an ally of the U.S. ” to God’s ears!
Iran is also destabilizing Lebanon through funding of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon so a democratic, secular Iran who desires to be an ally of the West would be a welcome development.
Secular as I am, may God bless and protect this guy.
And #5, through your incoherrent post, I gather you think that b/c your son serves then you get a pass of some sort?
And we here recognize that tolerating the intolerant is a path to self destruction. If Islam undergoes a reformation, or if a country adheres to a secular agenda like Turkey used to, then we’ll support those people attempting to make it so. Islamists bent on taking over the world or subjugating women and murdering gays and unbelievers will never be tolerated, except by cowardly moral-relativists.