IND:  The Obama administration ought to implement the ideas suggested here by Mr. Djavadi.  Forget about engagement, economic sanctions or threats of military strikes.  All these policies are counterproductive.  Focus on empowering the Iranian people, among other factors with communication tools.  Attack this regime with TV & Radio airwaves and internet bandwidth.  For instance, this writer has often wondered why doesn’t the U.S. have radio & T.V. transmitters in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Persian Gulf states so millions of ordinary Iranians could listen and watch without having to have shortwave radios or satellite dishes?

Speaking at a conference of Islamic countries’ national radio and TV networks, Iran’s President Mahmud Ahmadinejad recently said that the media are the main tool Western powers use to overthrow other governments. “Nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons are just a distraction. Today, the enemy’s main weaponry is the media,” he said. For once, he is actually right!

…The Iranian regime cannot tolerate the free and fair flow of information. For that reason, Tehran has been quite successful in banning, jamming, blocking, and disrupting that flow of information, not to prevent “Western media infiltration,” but primarily in order to minimize communication between its own citizens.

…Now, for one moment, imagine a second round of massive protests nationwide and the effects they might have if, unlike five months ago, Iranians had better access to communication tools for the exchange of information. If they could freely follow international radio and TV programs, and had unimpeded use of, and access to, the Internet and mobile phone systems.

I believe we have not drawn the appropriate lessons from June’s presidential election in Iran and the media’s capacity to play a role in bringing about change in Iranian society and government. We are certainly not acting as though we have learned those lessons.

Recently, Reuters reported that the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors “is covertly testing technology in Iran and China that lets residents break through Internet censorship imposed by their governments.” If confirmed, that could be good news.

Maybe there is no need for either military actions or tougher economic sanctions that are widely thought to be counterproductive or ineffective. Providing Iranian people with tools of better communication and information would do the job, in concert with other political and economic components.

Help the Iranians communicate and exchange information and let them handle the situation themselves.

Abbas Djavadi is associate director of broadcasting with RFE/RL in Prague. The views expressed in this commentary are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.