It's difficult not to arrive at that conclusion, and I would be more than happy to be proven wrong, but it's not just our organization: it's a series of other organizations that are not based in Iran. They're not engaged in subversive activities. They're engaged in what are very innocuous and reasonable activities aimed at educating the public. The fact that all of them have now been denied funding makes it appear as if this is a policy shift. The official policy of support for civil society and human rights remains, but the practice seemingly has changed.
Of course, there may be partisan points being scored here, in that maybe any initiative started under the previous administration is now seen as being tainted one way or the other, but in the case of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center, we received bipartisan support. As well, the message it is sending to human rights activists and democrats in Iran, as one of them told me, is that the doors are being shut in our face and we're being told that the world is standing with Ahmadinejad, not with us. That's very demoralizing.
I would hope the Canadian government, which I think has had the best policy in this regard, could potentially, at least as a symbolic message, step in and say that we are willing to support this initiative now. Maybe we can open an office in Canada. That could be the message this government sends to the people in Iran.