Iran: The Past, Present, and Future
Like other Iranian-born Americans, Nushin Namazi feels strongly about the situation in Iran. Her father was a diplomat in the Shah's time, and her great grandfather founded the medical school at Shiraz, where ancient WAISer Dr. Sidney Raffel was once a visiting professor. Nushin writes: Iran, at this time, it is a very dangerous place. The article in Newsweek is noteworthy. The mullahs are holding on to their power and want Iran to become like North Korea. China just signed a multibillion dollar oil contract with the Mullahs. Can they be overthrown over the next months? Years? Who knows? Iranians prefer Americans and Europeans to their own people. At least that was the case 25 years ago, and even today the people of Iran love America despite the anti-American position of the government. Most of my parents' friends were assassinated in the first year of the revolution. We came to America for political asylum in 1979. I grew up here in America, became a citizen several decades ago, and consider America my country. There are 300,000 MDs in Iran who drive cabs to supplement their income. There are many educated Iranians with PhDs and long years of government and academic experience. There are a lot of highly educated Iranians here in America with advanced degrees and relevant experiences which would allow them to make significant contributions to Iran's future. RH: Let us hope that, when there is a regime change, all these trained people can help rebuild it. Like many dictatorial regimes, the Mullahs have blown out their country's brains.
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Ronald Hilton 2004

last updated:
December 3, 2004