Dear Ali,
keep sounding the horn.
even though many in the West will not agree to the point that Iran was and is a democracy to her own decree, that she may bring order and stability to the region and that many is "...pondering MUNDANE issues.." instead of Godly ones (!)still, you raise some counterpoint against universal suffrage on agression to your beautiful country.
I pray God/Allah that some "administrators" in the West contemplate what you are saying together with their determination back in 2003 to topple Saddam in order to bring law, order and peace to Iraq.

Well...The U.S. State Department as well as Israel, Canada, the UK, Netherlands and Australia label Hezbollah as a terror organizaiton. Moreover, the argument here is that Iran is a potential beacon of democracy. In Iran's current state, this argument is preposterous. The article does not inculcate the US, thus attacks on U.S. foreign policy, no matter how dubious its "enemy of my enemy is my friend" mentality may be, is a red herring. Although, I do agree that the U.S. has exacerbated the issue of ME instability due to its oil appetite and vacilating, incoherent foreign policy (ie. supporting Karimov, Saudi Arabia, Musharaf, various warlords, and many others) while demanding democratic reformation.

Iran is probably as democratic as Pakistan. In one country, there is theocratic rule, in another military rule. Both countries sponsor terrorists. One (Pakistan) has actually invaded India in 1999. It actually has nukes and threatens to use them.

So what ? Well, we see Pakistan gets billions in US aid, Iran is called a member of the axis of evil.

Iran has a foundation of democratic institutions. unfortunatly owershadowed by the ruling bastion of the ayatollahs, the Supreme Council of the Iranian Revolution. The west should support the Iranian people and their desire to change the balance in favour of the democratic institutions.

Iran also has a history of foreign intervention on it's soil that spans the 20th century; the Russian Tzar in 1913 acting to quell democratic uprising, occupation during the Second World War, western involvement in the coup that reinstated the last Shah and the Iraqi attack on Iran and ensuing war in the 1980's.

Iranian anxities and our thretening posture (yes that's us) are the fuel on which the country's antidemocratic institutions run, echoed in their confrontational language and desire to arm themselves. Dialog and economic development are the prescriptions which will tip Iran in the right direction.

Note: The Hezbollah is a Lebanese organisation who fought the Israeli occupation of South Lebanon as well as taking part in the Lebanese civil war. Though I'm no defender of Hezbollah ideology or tactic, or Iran's support them, I find the 'terrorist' branding of this organisation (and others with it) dubious. It's easy to forget what we in the past have done (in Europe for one) to fight ocupation, then apply a different moral on others. Either way america should clean it's own front portch (on which lies amongst others a handful of Africas most brutal paramilitary organisations)

While not diminishing the contributions Iran has made to world culture and knowledge, has anyone asked the under-25 members of the population whether they think they live in a free democracy?

If (relative) political stability is to be used as the gauge, then pre-invasion Irak was the posterchild.

In response to Evan, there were Jews who have lived in what is now Israel continuously since the diaspora, not all came from Europe.
Jews are descended from Arab tribes that migrated long ago and a lot of Jewish custom comes from that ancestory, so Israel is more a combination of cultures than a European colony.

Iran supporting terrorists? What about U.S support for warlords in Somalia?

In response to Wade, it must be said that Israel is colonized and ruled by Europeans and their descendants and is not an indigenous Middle Eastern culture.

I believe the last sentence belies the lack of objectivity in the article:

"The world ought to work with the best living example of democracy in the region -- Iran, imperfections and all."

Only if one discounts the existance of Isreal can one come to the conclusion that Iran has anything close to resembling a democracy.

It is true that Persians have contributed so much to our world. Some of the best poetry, and the notion of monotheism are prime examples. But to say that the Islamic Republic of Iran is anything but a theocracy that supports terrorism, and consistently attempts to deny the views of its population is beyond me.