Students petition for action against Iran

Responding to what they claim is a serious threat to the United
States, a group of UCLA students has begun circulating a petition
“imploring” the government to take action against
Iran’s nuclear development.

At the start of winter quarter, a group of students conceived of
a petition that would urge Congress “to take immediate and
serious diplomatic action to deal with the real threat of nuclear
Iran,” and so far they have received a few hundred
signatures, said Jasmin Niku, a second-year political science
student who helped develop the petition.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, has already signed the
petition, and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, has expressed
interest in signing it as well.

So far, groups as polar as the Bruin Democrats and Bruin
Republicans have expressed enthusiasm for the petition, said Trevor
Klitofsky, a first-year political science student who helped
organize the petition.

The goal of the students is to obtain about 1,000 signatures,
along with a list of students’ hometowns, and to send the
petition to the congressional representatives of each hometown
listed.

Rather than join with organizations like Environmentalists
Against War or Stopthebomb.com, which circulate petitions online,
Niku said it was more effective to talk to students one-on-one
about why the issue is critical.

One possible diplomatic action Klitofsky hoped the petition
would affect is the passing of the Iran Freedom and Support Act,
which outlines that it should be U.S. policy to support the
transition of Iran to a democratic government.

The petition was prompted by the threat of Iran gaining nuclear
capabilities that it could potentially use to make weapons, rather
than for the peaceful purpose of civil nuclear power, as the regime
asserts.

Under the U.N. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, of which Iran
is a part, countries are not allowed to advance nuclear weapons and
weapons technology. The final goal of the treaty is complete
disarmament.

Earlier this week, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
threatened to withdraw from the treaty if international pressures
aimed at stopping their nuclear power research for civilian
purposes escalated, though he did not withdraw.

Despite Ahmadinejad’s statements to the contrary, the
United States and other European countries believe that
Iran’s research is in fact being directed toward developing
nuclear weapons.

This situation is just the latest in the past months of
escalating tension between Iran and the United Nations, leaving
concerned students far from the Capitol but still searching for
ways to take action.

“Something diplomatic has to be done,” Klitofsky
said. “We as students can’t just sit here and do
nothing.”

Aharon Klieman, a visiting professor of political science,
pointed to three “lethal components” of the situation
between Iran, the United States and the international community at
large.

First, the Iranian president has expressed dogmatic views to the
exclusion of others, Klieman said.

Second, Iran will soon have the capability to build nuclear
weapons, defining “soon” as “several years at the
most” and possibly months, Klieman said.

And third, “under the existing regime, the Iranian
president could have exclusive control over the decision whether to
use the nuclear option. He has his finger on the button,”
Klieman said.

“The hope is that Iran will become more moderate over
time,” he said, “but perhaps we don’t have the
luxury of time.”

Niku expressed a similar concern.

“The situation really is serious. Iran has an irrational
president with no democracy to stop him,” Niku said.

This is the political backdrop against which students decided to
take up the issue and demonstrate that “students actually
have a voice and can make a difference,” Klitofsky said.

With reports from Bruin wire services.

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