US offers grants to opponents of Iran's clerics

[paineinthearse]

US offers grants to opponents of Iran's clerics
>By Guy Dinmore in Washington
>Published: May 6 2005 03:00 | Last updated: May 6 2005 03:00
>>
The Bush administration has put the democratisation of Iran out to tender - offering money to groups and individuals inside the Islamic republic in what officials describe as the start of a long-term effort to pay for opposition to the ruling clerics. A tender notice posted on the US State Department website is soliciting bids for grants totalling $3m (€2.3m). It notes that the Iranian government may not apply because current US sanctions prohibit funding for official purposes, but these may be waived for non-governmental organisations.

The Iranian government has protested against what it calls illegal interference, diplomats say. Proposals should focus on "promotion of democracy and human rights in Iran", the notice says. Priorities include development of political parties and media, labour rights, civil society, and human rights, particularly women's rights. The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor said the tender was in keeping with the procedure for ensuring open competition in issuing grants.

The initial amount is small but the department's Middle East Partnership Initiative has separate funding for democracy promotion in the region running into tens of millions of dollars. Some senators are proposing a bill that would raise $50m, specifically for Iran. Unspecified funding for Syrian opposition groups has been approved by Congress. "We have turned opposition into a profession," said Ray Takeyh, analyst at the Council on Foreign Relations, a New York think-tank. "This money is going to go up."

Iranian analysts say there is little chance in the current climate of US-Iranian hostility of groups inside Iran accepting US money. They would risk retaliation from the government, and also their credibility among some sectors of society. But the official tender notice does not exclude funding for Iranian opposition groups in exile. In recent months, new exiled organisations have sprung up, waiting for such a moment. "We are starting from scratch," a US official said. "We don't know who the players are in Iran and Syria." The Bush administration had not let go of the idea of "regime change" in those two countries, he added, but saw the process as a long-term project.

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http://news.ft.com/cms/s/9bfaece0-bdda-11d9-87aa-00000e2511c8,ft_acl=,s01=1.html

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A search for iran & tender at http://search.state.gov:8080/queryStateGov/results.jsp?QS=iran+tender&summaryStyle=top-line&queryType=1&searchDomain=null&breadcrumb=http://www.state.gov&errorpage=SearchRedirect.html&libs=StateGov_spider_lib;&adv=advsearch.html&stylesheet=scripts/StateGov.css&lang=en&create_date=&numhits=100&scope=spider&header=null&footer=null&site_name=stategov&help=searchadvhelp.html&feedback=searchfeedback.html&whatsnew=whatsnewsrch.html&title=&from_date=0&sk=article_date&sm=desc
produced many hits, but I could not find the tender information referenced.