US to Support Democracy in Iran

USA Today reports the Bush administration is about to begin spending money in Iran, for the first time in nearly 25 years. This money, about $3 million, will be used to support democracy there. It's about time. Iran is a much more complex country than most Americans think. We typically see Iran as this fundamentalist Islamic fanatical state, ruled by the iron fist of the clergy. That view is not completely wrong, nor is it completely right. Iran is also the closest thing to a functioning democracy there is in the Middle East, with an elected parliament and president. Over the last several years, there has been a great struggle inside Iran behind the more moderate democrats, including the elected president Khatami, and the clerics, who still wield the power to override the elected officials and who control the judiciary. Wikipedia puts it

Khatami is regarded as Iran's first reformist president, since the focus of his campaign was on the rule of law, democracy and the inclusion of all Iranians in the political decision-making process. However his policies of reform have led to repeated clashes with the hardline and conservative Islamists in the Iranian government, who control powerful governmental organizations like the Guardian Council whose members are appointed by the Supreme Leader.

It is in the American interest for the more moderate democrats to gain ascendancy over the clerics, even if those democrats have no love for the United States and do not want direct US involvement in Iranian affairs. President Bush has pursued, up to now, a foreign policy in regard to Iran that appears guided by the overly simplistic view many Americans have. With this move, perhaps a more nuanced policy, cognizant of the complexities internal to Iran, is emerging. That would be a move in the right direction.