The Moral Right to Lie
April 18, 2005

IRVINE, CA--The Iranian Mullahs are angry about a new U.S. law that permits funding of pro-democracy groups in Iran. The Mullahs say such funding interferes in the internal affairs of Iran, which the United States, in 1981, agreed not to do--in order to save the lives of our embassy personnel being held hostage!

"The president of the United States should answer this latest outrage from the Mullahs," said Dr. Andrew Bernstein, a senior writer at the Ayn Rand Institute. "He should inform Iran in no uncertain terms that we repudiate all 'agreements' forced upon us by those pointing guns at the heads of Americans. He should tell Iran that a 'forced agreement' is a contradiction in terms, which we never should have honored--and which we no longer will honor.

"With full moral rectitude, the president should declare to the world that against foreign aggressors the United States reserves the right to do whatever is necessary to defend itself--from deception to lies to the funding of opposition groups to outright warfare."

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Dr. Andrew Bernstein, a senior writer for the Ayn Rand Institute, is available for interviews on this topic.

Contact: larryb@aynrand.org or 800-365-6552 ext. 213.