[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 41, Number 24 (Monday, June 20, 2005)]
[Pages 1010-1011]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Presidential Elections in Iran

June 16, 2005

    In recent months, the cause of freedom has made enormous gains in 
the broader Middle East. Millions of people in Afghanistan and Iraq 
defied terrorists to cast their ballots in free elections. Palestinians 
voted for a new President who rejects violence and is working for 
democratic reform, and the people of Lebanon reclaimed their sovereignty 
and are now voting for new leadership. Across the Middle East, hopeful 
change is taking place. People are claiming their liberty. And as a tide 
of freedom sweeps this region, it will also come eventually to Iran.
    The Iranian people are heirs to a great civilization--and they 
deserve a Government that honors their ideals and unleashes their talent 
and creativity. Today, Iran is ruled by men who suppress liberty at home 
and spread terror across the world. Power is in the hands of an 
unelected few who have retained power through an electoral process that 
ignores the basic requirements of democracy.
    The June 17th Presidential elections are sadly consistent with this 
oppressive record. Iran's rulers denied more than a thousand people who 
put themselves forward as candidates, including popular reformers and 
women who have done so much for the cause of freedom and democracy in 
Iran.
    The Iranian people deserve a genuinely democratic system in which 
elections are

[[Page 1011]]

honest--and in which their leaders answer to them instead of the other 
way around. The Iranian people deserve a truly free and democratic 
society with a vibrant free press that informs the public and ensures 
transparency. They deserve freedom of assembly, so Iranians can gather 
and press for reform and a peaceful, loyal opposition can keep the 
Government in check. They deserve a free economy that delivers 
opportunity and prosperity and economic independence from the state. 
They deserve an independent judiciary that will guarantee the rule of 
law and ensure equal justice for all Iranians. And they deserve a system 
that guarantees religious freedom, so that they can build a society in 
which compassion and tolerance prevail.
    Today, the Iranian regime denies all these rights. It shuts down 
independent newspapers and web sites and jails those who dare to 
challenge the corrupt system. It brutalizes its people and denies them 
their liberty.
    America believes in the independence and territorial integrity of 
Iran. America believes in the right of the Iranian people to make their 
own decisions and determine their own future. America believes that 
freedom is the birthright and deep desire of every human soul. And to 
the Iranian people, I say: As you stand for your own liberty, the people 
of America stand with you.

Note: The statement referred to President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) of 
the Palestinian Authority.