WAMU Radio
Hundreds of Iranian Americans rallied in front of the White House Saturday demanding the Obama administration do more to help the Iranian resistance movement.
The protestors are asking the U.S. government to take the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) off the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations. The group was once allied with Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime, but MEK officials say they renounced violence a decade ago.
Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was among the protesters. He says U.S. officials haven’t been helping the process.
Demonstrators chant during a march in Washington after rallying in front of the White House Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011. Hundreds of people rallied, demanding that an Iranian opposition group, Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK) be removed from a U.S. terror list. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
“The State Department has been horribly naïve – not just this administration but the previous administration – thinking that you negotiate with Iran,” says Ridge.
Amir Emadi traveled to D.C. from San Diego to pressure the administration to assist protestors in Iran.
“I think that the Iranian people deserve a lot more attention than does the Iranian government,” says Emadi.
International attention came back on Iran after U.S. officials foiled an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador at a restaurant in D.C. But for these Iranian Americans their native country never left their minds.
http://wamu.org/news/11/10/23/hundreds_rally_for_iranian_opposition
