I have never agreed with President Bush's argument regarding the axis of evil. Unfortunately, fundamentalists in Iran have used this as an excuse to brand us as allies of Mr. Bush.

Iran, the Iranian government, has mentioned several times that it wouldn't attack Israel.

Unfortunately, violence begets violence. And this is how the war on terrorism seems to be going at this juncture. A lot of people are losing their lives. Many children are losing their parents. Too many houses are being destroyed. And, unfortunately, the arms industry seems to flourish.

I want to take my American friends back to the end of World War II, when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was formulated. A group of thinkers met to come up with ways and means to prevent yet another war. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt played a crucial role in assembling this group of people. And that is why the name of the United States is synonymous with the cause of human rights around the world.

No American soldier should be allowed to set foot on Iranian soil, regardless of the criticism we have of the Iranian government.

Akbar Ganji is a human rights activist in Iran and he works on freedom of expression and he does his job very well.

America is not the only one who should decide about the policies toward Iran.