Iran's Calculus of Terror

The world community must prevent future escalation of violence by conditioning its relations with Iran on respect for human rights. After years of struggle by Iranian activists, the European Union and the United States have adopted travel bans and asset freezes against officials implicated in human-rights violations. Despite its leadership in adopting UN resolutions, Canada is the only Western country that has not enacted similar sanctions, Ottawa's actions being limited to Iran's nuclear program. Amidst the shocking reports emerging from Syria, calls to refer the Assad regime to the International Criminal Court have intensified. As the Iranian leadership calculates its survival strategy, the time to discourage mass atrocities is now rather than later, with the hope that the country will see a nonviolent democratic transformation that does not repeat the horrors of Syria.