Iranian political prisoners plead with US for end to isolation

More than 50 former and current political prisoners in Iran have written to Barack Obama calling for an end to the “crippling sanctions” and international isolation suffered by the country. They urge the US president to see the government of Hassan Rohani as “the last chance” for a breakthrough in the deadlock with the west.

The letter, whose signatories include prominent officials of the former reformist government of Mohammad Khatami and journalists, said the main victim of the “heavy and unprecedented” sanctions imposed over Iran’s nuclear programme had been the Iranian people. Faezeh Hashemi, daughter of conservative former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, whose last-minute support helped Mr Rohani secure the victory, is among the signatories.

“All the Iranian nation, including the families of political prisoners, especially low income people, are suffering under runaway inflation and [the] shortage of medicine and basic staples. Sanctions have now turned into a mass punishment of the Iranian nation,” it said.

Foreign sanctions and intolerable pressure on the public and the incumbent government would “enhance extremism and weaken the shaky sapling of democracy” in Iran, it added.

The letter, posted on opposition websites on Thursday, said the June presidential poll that led to the election of Mr Rohani – Iran’s former nuclear negotiator, who has pledged to walk the path of “detente” with the world – must be seen as an opportunity to restore constructive interaction between Tehran and Washington.

“It’s time for both [Iran and the west] to turn the pages of history and open a new chapter in approach toward each other,” the letter read. “We think the tenure of this government may be the last chance for reaching a reasonable and acceptable solution by both parties,” it warned. “The time is ripe for replacement of sanctions by a solution agreed by both sides . . . in which no side feels a loser.”

Mr Rohani, who took office at the weekend, has repeatedly said his government would pursue a foreign policy of moderation.

The centrist cleric said this week the Islamic regime was determined to resolve the deadlock in nuclear talks with the six powers – the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany. This would be achieved through easing the concerns of the international community and having more straightforward negotiations while preserving Iran’s legitimate rights under international law.

Mr Rohani hopes a breakthrough in talks would help him rescue an economy tipped into crisis because of international sanctions and the mismanagement of Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, the former president.

The economy is plagued with an official inflation rate of 35.9 per cent, youth unemployment of 28.3 per cent and a currency that has lost more than half its value against the dollar since July 2010.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader and the ultimate decision maker on issues such as nuclear talks and relations with the US, threw his weight behind Mr Rohani’s moderate foreign policy on Saturday.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013.