Most Iranians oppose regime (Yes I'm a little suprised)

[Shammu]

Most Iranians oppose regime
Many would endorse 'Velvet Revolution' or even foreign military intervention
Posted: July 21, 2007
1:00 a.m. Eastern

By Bob Unruh
© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com

A new survey reveals that 92 percent of the subjects of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's totalitarian government do not believe their nation's role is positive, and two-thirds would support a "Velvet Revolution" to remove him from power.

The survey, by the Center For the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights, found that almost six out of 10 Iranians would support a foreign military action for the purpose of taking Ahmadinejad out of the role as dictator.

"There is clearly a huge distinction between the Islamic Republic of Iran and its intentions as a regime and its people," reported Said Jabbari, a senior analyst with the center.

"As a totalitarian regime it does not represent the aspirations of the Iranian people," he said. "Don't use 'Iran' and 'this regime' to represent each other."

"We need to create such a huge distinction. We never referred to Nazis as Germans. We clearly wanted to create a distinction between Germans and Nazis," he said. In this instance, Jabbari said, "we need to turn around and say the Islamic Republic regime, and the Iranian people, have two different paths."

He noted that another recent survey, done by Terror Free Tomorrow, produced nearly the same results.

"Through both surveys, what comes out loud and clear is the fact that the people of Iran neither approve of their government's policies nor of its structure. Indeed in the CFPD poll 67 percent said they would support a 'Velvet Revolution' for the removal of the regime and 58 percent went as far as saying that they would support a foreign military action for the purpose of changing the regime," Jabbari said.

Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, has said he expects both Jesus and the Shiite messianic figure, Imam Mahdi, to return and "wipe away oppression."

Ahmadinejad also has been urging Iranians to prepare for the coming of the Mahdi by turning the country into a powerful and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding the corruption and excesses of the West.

He sees his main mission, as he recounted in a Nov. 16, 2005, speech in Tehran, being to "pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi, may Allah hasten his reappearance."

With Iran's continued development of nuclear technology in defiance of the West, some analysts fear Ahmadinejad's intent is to trigger the kind of global conflagration he envisions will set the stage for the end of the world.

He has also described the Nazi Holocaust as a "myth" and called for Israel to be wiped off the map.

"The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom." he said.

The CFPD study was developed with the advice of a long list of experts, and was done during the second quarter of 2007 by students hired inside Iran to ask the questions.

The results came from a random sampling of 600 responders from Tehran, Isfahan, Tabriz, Shiraz and Mahabad, with the male-female ratio split 320-280. The respondents were equally divided among the following age groups: 20-30, 30-50, and over 50.

"Being proud and nationalistic, Iranians overwhelmingly want to have access to nuclear technology, including military nuclear technology," the study said. "But a plurality does not want the current regime to have the nuclear bomb and does not trust its pronouncements to the effect that it is not pursuing such technology."

Iranians also oppose their government's support for Hamas and Hezbollah, and disagree with Ahmadinejad's expressed desire to eliminate Israel.

Among the questions, and their responses:

Should Iran possess nuclear technology? 78 percent yes. 18 percent no. 4 percent don't know.

Should Iran possess military nuclear technology? 72 percent yes. 8 percent no. 20 percent don't know.

Should Iran have the nuclear bomb? 46 percent yes. 47 percent no. 7 percent don't know.

Do you believe the Iranian government wants the nuclear bomb? 88 percent yes. 10 percent no. 2 percent don't know.

    Will Western Europe accept a nuclear Iran? 52 percent yes. 47 percent no. 1 percent don't know.

"Perhaps the most important elements in both surveys were the implications they contained about attitudes towards the regime," Jabbari said. The TFT results show 61 percent opposed their current government, 79 percent said they wanted a democracy and "only 11 percent said they would strongly oppose having a political system in which all of their leaders, including the supreme leader are chosen by popular election."

"The CFPD survey went even further," Jabbari noted. "Fully 72 percent of Iranians said given the chance to go back they will not support an 'Islamic Revolution.' Sixty-seven percent do not consider the Islamic Republic to be a political system that satisfies the needs of the Iranian people."

He said 61 percent opposed the government's support for Hezbollah, 56 percent opposed support for Hamas, 70 percent did not advocate the destruction of Israel and two out of three disagreed with Ahmadinejad's claims casting doubt on the Holocaust.

The TFT survey was done by telephone from outside Iran, while the CFPD assessment was done in face-to-face interviews inside Iran.

"We … believe that the logical conclusion of both surveys is for the West to stop confusing the people of Iran with talks of engaging the very regime that Iranians consider to be extremely suppressive, incompetent and corrupt, and instead focus its attention on isolating that regime and supporting the people of Iran," Jabbari said.

"In pursuing our national security objectives in the region, our biggest assets are the interests we share with the people of Iran. Based on the facts uncovered by both surveys it would appear that clear cut Western support for democratic movements inside Iran, coupled with a policy of isolating that regime on the diplomatic and economic fronts, are not just welcome by the Iranian people but may indeed prove to be the only remedy for avoiding the need for military action against the Iranian regime."

The survey showed that 64 percent of Iranians believe there will be war to stop the nation's nuclear program, but only 14 percent believe Europe would participate in that. Forty-three percent of Iranians would support a military strike against the nuclear program, and 58 percent would support a military action to change the regime.

Only 32 percent said the Iranian political system satisfies the needs of Iranians, and only 43 percent said a "reformed" Iran could do that.

Jabbari told WND the Iranian people's nationalism was evident, but just as evident was the distrust they have for their government.

"They feel nobody has the right to come and tell Iran and Iranians that they don't have the right to have nuclear technology. The same majority believe that the government's intentions stating that this is only for peaceful purposes is not their true intention," he said.