We would like to begin by wishing all Muslims around the world peace and prosperity on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan, and we sincerely hope that this year will bring much needed good tidings for the people of the Middle East, Africa and Asia caught in the throes of war, instability, and poverty. Hardly a day passes by without some sad news of the destruction of life and property by armies or insurgents or terrorists, and we hope that at least the month of Ramadan will give peace a chance and the populations of these ravaged countries some room to breathe in comfort and serenity.

The annual debate of the United Nationsí General Assembly got underway this month in New York, and as last year all eyes were on Iranís president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Ahmadinejad delivered his address this year after those of American president George W. Bush, German chancellor Angela Merkel, and French president Nicolas Sarkozy. Unlike last year, Mr. Bush hardly mentioned Iran in his speech, only listing it as a ìbrutal regimeî alongside Belarus, Syria, and North Korea. Instead it was Franceís new president and Germanyís chancellor who singled Iran out for strong criticism. President Sarkozy said, ìif we allow Iran to acquire nuclear weapons, we would incur an unacceptable risk to stability in the region and in the worldî. He added that if the UN Security fails to impose harsher sanctions on Tehran, then France and other members of the European Union would seek to impose their own set of sanctions. These events demonstrate more than ever that the entire international community is behind the demand of the United Nations that Iran stop its uranium enrichment program. Furthermore, as we have mentioned before on this page, it would be best for the Islamic Republic of Iran to heed this call to stop its enrichment program so that the country can get on with the development of its peaceful nuclear energy program.

There are still some people and organizations in the world that think that war with Iran can solve the nuclear issue, and we still believe that this is a risky and dangerous path to follow that may not bring about the desired results in the long run. Other powerful countries in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt should try to use their influence to convince Iran and the United States to put aside ideas of military confrontation and return to the negotiating table to resolve all the outstanding issues diplomatically.

On the bright side, there seems to be a glimpse of hope that moderate and pragmatic voices in the Islamic Republic may be on the rise again, and may hopefully be able to outpower those of the radicals on the nuclear issue. Mr. Hassan Rowhani, who was the former Secretary General of the National Security Council, emerged once again as a moderate politician. He now heads the Center for Strategic Studies which is connected to the Expediency Council run by Mr. Rafsanjani. Mr. Rowhani recently spoke with Javier Solana, the EU foreign policy chief, and there is a possibility that he may travel to Europe to meet with Mr. Solana in the very near future. Let us hope that wisdom and pragmatism will overcome foolishness and extremism and lead us to a peaceful resolution of this momentous crisis of our times.