ETERAZ

Thanks Jamshid Jan

will consider it maybe more detailed and complete. I think I have got something here that can lead to an interesting debate.

Merci

Re: Kadivar

Excellent analysis. I found myself in agreement with your points. This should be an article, not just a comment, so that it gets more exposure.

A few Contradictions and Ommissions... ;0)

I also beg to differ ;0)

I first would like to say that I appreciate Mr.Hooman Majd's personal efforts of clarification as to an objective look at Iran and its geo strategic position in the middle east and the post Sept 11Th new world order or should I say New World DISSORDER. I would not mind to debate with him and I think that a civil intellectual debate never hurts.

Nevertheless here are a few contradictions which I think also perfectly illustrates the intellectual void and misconceptions that characterized the generation of the revolution and lingers on particularly for all those who want to see in the Islamic Revolution as a reference in our legitimate struggle for democracy and human rights in the same way the French Revolution for instance has become for French society today that lives and thrives perfectly ( Only after 200 years nevertheless) as a functional secular republic.

The Islamic Revolution in my opinion unlike the French Revolution was not only a Hoax that lured a great many intellectuals ( often also intelligent but terribly naive) but also a Religious one, and from that point of view it failed from the very early stages to respond to the notion of secularism but also to a more essential criteria in my opinion: LA SEPARATION DES POUVOIRS aka the Seperation of Powers that truly characterizes the republican constitution that derived from the French revolution of 1789. The Islamic Revolution unlike the Constitutional Revolution a century earlier failed to respond to these two critieria's by advocating a divine rule of law and an international revolution spearheaded by Islam Best expressed by the Regimes most bloody henchman the Mullah Khalkhali:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iz2QCYr7STQ

Its power and popularity also lured the Iranian National Front of secular Iranians who in a bid for power heart warmingly joined the revolution and the religious fundamentalists. It was also a sexist revolution that clearly set the status of women as second to that of men. Women who were at the forefront of calling for the Islamic Revolution were also lured into thinking that by wearing the Hijab, they were actually claiming for more rights ( a right that they already had both in form and content since Mohamed Reza Shah unlike his father tolerated the hijab and religious practice) often in contradictory terms which they did not particularly think through not because they were not intelligent but because like their male counterparts were confused by the general euphoria and demand for change. The Social Rights that Iranian women benefitted from before the revolution was soon to be taken away from them in the most UN DEMOCRATIC behaviour with the argument that the establishment of the Islamic Republic ( presented in all the confusion as equal in practice and institutions to a secular Republic like France to which they often liked to compare themselves to all the more that the Ayatollah was well recieved in the land of Voltaire and Montesquieu which the Ayatollah probalby never even bothered to read) would guarantee their natural rights: i.e.: Make babies, Shut Up and take care of house hold activities. When the Hoax became obvious and many Iranian women demonstrated against the first Islamic Laws limiting their representation in Iranian society ( and in that supported by dissident Ayatollah Taleghani : see Hijab Not Mandatory they were brutalized and violently reduced to silence. Thus the female civil society that already existed before the Revolution and greatly benefitted from emancipation was reduced to oblivion and supervised by the dreadful moral police the Dokhtarhayeh Zeynab presented by the regime very much like the revolutionary guards as the quentessential role models for an Islamic society in the making. One simply needs to look back at the Male Oriented Violence perpetuated against the first anti Hejab demo to see the little respect that the Islamic Revolution held for its female genders one of its most significant representatives who was respected for her works and achievements before the Revolution and beyond the political spectrum of the time was the first Female Minister of Education Mrs. Farrokhroo Parsa who was VERY UNJUSTLY and brutally executed by the new leaders of the country. I believe that this crime against Humanity is something that the Islamic Republic will be held accountable not only against the people of Iran but also GOD ( if he exists that is ) not to say the already dark pages in the history of the genesis of Islamic revolution in Iran that will never be forgotten by any honest historian. The French Revolution had its reign of Terror but it did not distinguish genders or establish a sexual apartheid as the Islamic Revolution did from the early days of its access to power.

It also led to the demise and assassination of its most notable members like the Forouhar couple but also the only National Front Leader that firmly opposed the Revolution and the Religious Leaders and that was Shahpour Bakhtiar. Bakhtiar believed in an EVOLUTION and Not REVOLUTION. His admonishments and insight in the reality of what was happening was particularly visionary and rings even more strongly with the passage of time.

Please watch:

Bakhtiar in Power

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWJc5bSSyUg

Bakhtiar in Exile shortly before his assassination:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jKXWRzs-Mg

The Fall of Bakhtiar who was a Constitutionalist first and foremost and NOT A REVOLUTIONARY was inevitable given that he was named late but also was abandoned by his own party member like Sanjabi and Forouhar. However Bakhtiar's ultimate stand appears as heroic as the last stand of the Iranian Constitutionalists in 1906 and if you allow me the comparison to American History as the Last Stand of the Alamo by accepting the post of Prime Minister against all odds, Bakhtiar may have lost the BATTLE not the WAR ( No need to accuse me of wanting to bomb Iran for I am sure you undertand the litarary metaphore I am trying to convey to you).  

1st Contradiction: Not Pro IRI but Pro Khatami

Mr. Hooman Majd's says in Iran they call Khatami "KHODA BIAMORZ" Oh but wasn't that what they said about the Shah. Is Khatami dead already ? ;0)

Mr. Hooman Majd's says he is not a supporter of the Islamic Republic but does openly and clearly say that he supports former President Khatami. I think I understand what he is claiming under this not so disguised support and that is that Khatami will be Iran's Gorbatchev. Why Not ? However that would still mean a support for the IRI as a system of government since its inception. Sure there should be reforms ( although the West and America should not support it openly because it could offer an excuse to squash it in the egg). Ok so this means we have to wait and see if Khatami will be reelected and create the relatively positive and constructive atmospher of the late 1990's. He still is a Mullah and will because of that fact be confronted to his own ideological preferences that is a religious state and what he sees as a legitimate revolution. However were Khatami to start another reforme based on the seperation of powers the religiosity of the revolution and the divine rule of the Velayateh Fagih would be questioned. Lets give Mr. Hooman Majd's the benefit of the doubt that Khatami will succeed in reforming the regime and maybe even against all odds that Khamenei does not oppose even resigning from his post. Maybe even with some luck he would die of old age, desease or ... accident ( which in most totalitarian governments actually means assassination).

Then What ? the best we or  Mr. Hooman Majd's can do is speculate for no one can claim to know what can happen. I think that the major mistake would be to see the West abandone Iran's civil society in the making and all human rights and women rights activists and unionists, journalists who are trying to make a difference. So I am diametrically opposed to Mr. Hooman Majd's suggestion that the West should not support the Reformists in Iran. By that I do not mean that I like the Reformists but I believe that the reformist mouvement simply signaled that something went terribly wrong with the revolution and the way it took root in our society. Their acknowledgment of this reality only fragilized the IRI and supporting them in a give an take process should on the contrary benefit in creating the necessary dissidence withing the infrastructure of the Islamic State just like during the Gorbatchev years. The Support SHOULD NOT BE UNCONDITIONAL but In my opinion but a give an take process. You give us more democracy we will give you more patience and time to reform. JUST LIKE with the SOVIET UNION.

Why did Gorbatchev with all his good will fail ? because he continued to call himself a communist and wanted to preserve the system. What about the next KHATAMI ? Just like Sharifemami, he will say: MAN OON KHATAMIYEH PEESHEEN NEESTAM !

So the major problem will be how Khatami or any other person from within the system can challenge the divine nature of the Islamic State and present one with not just a smiling face but a democratic one. Given the interior dissent that exists and a generation that cannot relate to the government or regime. I surmise that this will fail on the long term anyhow. So It will ultimately all be about filling in the VACCUM OF POWER.

Can Khatami do that ? Que Sera Sera ... ;0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVuEC3r7a-o

2nd Contradiction: He considers the Iranian monarchists like the Russian Tzarists as obsolete but does not hesitate to refer to the pride he feels as well as Iranians at large for the Persian Empire.

Interesting that in Russia precisely according to a pole the russians greatly regret the Tzars today. So Just Imagine Iran's Nostalgia for the Pahlavi Era all the more that the Royal Family is still alive. Not that they would necessarily be restored but I would not put the nostalgia for the Persian Empire as a result of the hard work of the Islamic Republic and the glorious Islamic Revolution but because of the ever growing dissappointment with what the Islamic Revolution has done to our national identity. 

The reference to the Persian Empire is particularly interesting given that it clearly contradicts EVERYTHING THE REVOLUTION AND THE ISLAMIC REPUBLIC have stood for since 1979 and the fall of the monarchy. So what is he suggesting ? An Islamic Rennaissance like during the Safavid's with a new but benevolent turbaned monarch like Khatami ? Come on who would buy this on the long term ...

Third Contradiction: KHATAMI being the Best Solution for Iran and would be the best friend of America ?

For what and for which goal, may I ask ? Reform or march towards a secular system of government ? In the case of the latter then the choice is clear, Khatami should ask for a seperation of powers and therefore a secular notion of not only the republic but also the Revolution. I wish him all the success for he will be faced with his own religious contradictions but more importantly constituency. Recall how Khatami was critisized in Italy for shaking the hands of a woman.   

As for Best Friend of America ? Why should he given that the Russian's would most certainly be our privalegded partners all the more that they will certainly be helping us with both enrichment and most probably the making of the Bomb. America in my opinion is entirely out of the picture today in Iran and for several decades to come given the new distribution of geo strategic influences that are taking shape and only confirmed with the recent Georgian crisis opposing Russia and the European Nato Nations allied with the US.

My Conclusion ( A Personal Assessment, no one is forced to accept or share it ) :

So this leaves me with the following observation on Mr. Majd's optimism regarding Khatami as the best thing for Iran:

I am ready to acknowledge that he would be better than Ahmadinejad but I would not support him without reserve or harsh critics. I would actually say that Khatami can actually prove to be a great leader if he adopts in my book at least a Franco Profile than that of a Gorbatchev which would lead to his doom and what he stands for ultimately: His place and that of his revolution in the dustbins of history.

Why Franco ? because he was sly like machiaveli and to his credit at least ( regardless of his condemnable ideology) prepared a bloodless transition towards democracy by simply restoring the monarchy in his country against all odds by naming Juan Carlos as his successor. Spain became a democracy overnight shortly after his death. In the case of khatami to whom I wish a long physical life on earth I would strongly advise him to simply prepare his political suicide and that of his dispicable regime for the best of all. A restoration would be positive step towards national reconciliation and the fact that it would come from his own initiative it would also be seen as a will to conciliate the nation, parliament with the ideals of the constitutional revolution of 1906.

HERE IS THE REAL IRANIAN PARADOX:

We Actually Regret to have done this Revolution and Dream of Grandeur and Restoring Our Persian Empire ( more for what it stands for : Our National Pride (symbolized by the Sun and Lion Flag which we all know if the Royal Flag hypocritically highjacked by other so called nationlisic or opposition movements like the Mujahedin Khalg or even the left wing grouos, as if we did not know the significance ) ) than for what it was or may have been: A multi cultural entity based on the first charter of Human Rights).

AND YET FOR THE SAKE OF OURSELVES AND FUTURE GENERATIONS BOTH CAN AND SHOULD CO EXIST THAT IS AN IRANIAN CIVIL SOCIETY AND SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT WITH UN AMBIGUOUS COMMITMENT TO DEMOCRACY, GENUINE BELIEF IN HUMAN RIGHTS AND WHICH SEES NATIONAL PRIDE AS AN AFFIRMATION OF DIGNITY NOT DOMINATION ( as Wishing to Wipe another Nation off the Map) .

Something the Russians with Putin have failed to do because they have never experience True Democracy after more than 70 years of Soviet dictatorship. Instead they are simply using nationalism as a pretext to grandeur while suppressing the Press, encouraging a SAVAGE form of CAPITALISM which would make AL CAPONE look like Cinderella and wastes his countries human ressources in constly and bloody wars like in Tchechenia and Georgia.

Being an Older nation than Russia ever was, We Should be teaching Russians about democracy and human rights instead we are at War with our own true values and everything that we inherited from our greatest ancestors like Cyrus the Great or our Great Persian Poets like Saadi, Khayyam and Ferdowsi or the heroes of the Constitutional Revolution of 1906 all this because of a regime that stand against ALL these Great Values be them cultural or historical in the name of a so-called Islamic Rennaissance.

Make Me Laugh!  

Please read my following articles:

He is Awake: Close Up on Cyrus KAR by Darius KADIVAR

The Persian Empire Strikes Back! By Darius KADIVAR

XERXES: A Screenplay by Ren. A.Hakim and interview by Darius KADIVAR

So The Choice is Yours: Do you want a Turbaned Dynasty or a and Secular Constitution be it a Republic or a Monarchy ? In the latter case: The King would simply be the coherent living symbol of the institution that exists in our country for 25 centuries and NOTHING MORE, NOTHING LESS, just as in the case of any Impotent Constitutional King or Queen in Europe. In other words he or she would not have the slightest political or military power unlike Ayatollah Khameni the Velayateh Fagih or Religious Godfather of the Islamic Republic.  In other words I do not see Reza Pahlavi or a member of the Pahlavi dynasty ( Go for Qajars if you want but I don't think it will answer the real historical dillema we are trying to adress here otherwise I am willing to vote for Marjane Satrapi as Queen LOL ) as a political leader but simply as an adequate person ready to live up to that responsability. To date in all honesty he has at best been a mediatic attraction and curiosity than an efficient catalyst for change, but the only and probably strongest advantage he has over any other political figure in the public eye is his historical legacy. Can he Live up to his promise some 30 years ago when he took oath as Roi de Jure ? :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h09-snPfeK8&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBxYjjoKOro&feature=related

I don't think I can answer to that question but only speculate like anyother free thinking citizen in exile.

Would he make a suitable Constitutional king in the lines of his role model Juan Carlos in 1976 before a Parliament ( in our case an elected one that represents the democratric spirations of all involved) ? :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sX-ZW-AgybI

Yes I sincerely think so and hope so but I have reservations as to his political astuteness and capacities to date which have alas hardly convinced anyone beyond his own constituency. But to set Reza Pahlavi aside in the chessboard of Iran's political life today would be not only an error but also a miscalculation on behalf of any genuine observor of the political and ideological confrontations that we as a society will be confronted to in a future democratic Iran in search of its roots and national identity and to which the Revolution has failed to deliver both in content and form.  

The real Question is Whether Both Khatami and Reza Pahlavi ( but beyond these two personalities in the public eye their respective constituencies) have the necessary balls to meet such a historical challenge as Spain did some 32 years ago if ever it presents itself as a possible option and oppurtunity for national reconciliation one way or another through the dynamics of Iranian political life in the years to come ? Today I can only claim that  NO ONE KNOWS ... ;0)

What we need to avoid as members of a civil society is falling for empty promises that cannot be delivered like the opposition has in the past by claiming to be able to overthrow the regime in 6 months and everything will be OK. Nor to satisfy to the lures of another Mullah with a smiling face who will sell us his so-called Islamic Democracy for we claim:

1) A SECULAR DEMOCRACY

2) SEPERATION OF POWERS that clearly define the : EXECUTIVE AND LEGISLATIVE POWERS like in all civil and democratic societies ( unlike the pseudo democracy in neighbouring Russia or other Gulf States).

NO the time for empty promises is OVER FOR EVERYONE !

and I believe if there has to be within the current system a future successor to the populistic and demagogical president Ahmadinejad he or she ( Yes I said She after all why not) should ponder on this carefully for People are Fed Up with Empty promises from their Pashmo Sheesheh Pseudo Democracy ... 

I invite you to watch the following video of a civil debate between Khatami and Farhang Mehr former minister of the Shah's government and prominent Zoroastrian:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djArOFSkhD8

Lastly Unlike  Mr.Hooman Majd's optimistic observations on life under the Islamic Republic, I personally share those of Dr. Abbass Milani to which I would like to convey your attention as a compliment to the interesting debate here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHLd-dfrrsk

In otherwords I believe that we need to keep in mind that the struggle for democracy in Iran is that of a century old struggle that dates back to 1906 and not merely about replacing the Islamic Republic by another one preferably a democratic one regardless of its shape: A Republic or a Monarchy.

THE SAD FACT HOWEVER IS: WE HAVE NO OPPOSITION NOR WHAT I CALL FOR A SOLIDARNOSC MOUVEMENT TO ALLOW US TO HAVE THAT LEGITIMATE DEMOCRATIC CHOICE.

But Like the French Say: L'Espoir Fait Vivre

AN IRANIAN SOLIDARNOSC: Should Not be an Option but an URGENT Necessity for ALL who Are Truly believe in Democracy and Human Rights today. That is a Colaition of All Democratic forces be them  Secular Republican or Constitutional Monarchists or even APOLITICAL mouvements like Human Rights activists in order to enforce and support the Iranian Civil Society in the making. A MOUVEMENT NOT A POLITICAL PARTY is where our efforts should reside.

From this point of view If I may share my humble opinion, I will boil it to the following comment by one of the greatest visionaries of his generation:

IRAN HARGUEZ NAKHAHAD MORD said Shapour Bakhtiar

DK

Generating Fatwas

Samsam jan

Please be careful with the tone!  It makes you sound a little too self-righteous and very judgmental.

Not becoming of the great person you have picked as an avatar.

Respectfully

IRANdokht

Any member of diaspora who legitimizes & humanizes

the Qadesiyeh regime outside V-ran in the form of Appeasement, Promotion, Service, Cooperation, or Silent approval is either a regime sypathizer in disguise or a full fledged member of the regime. No ifs & buts.  Very good point by Jamshid

Yeah the usual crowd who

Yeah the usual crowd who haven't been to Iran since '79..."IRI agent blah, blah, blah..." Write a book then talk, no-one cares in the slightest about your inane, unimaginative and repetitive drivelling...

Ba Arezu-ye Movafaghiat, Sadegh

samsam

You don't like him because he translates for Ahmadinejad?

are you serious?

IRANdokht

A very accrurate

A very accrurate opinion.

That is only for the 5 million or so pro regime Iranians who are exploiting (estesmaar) the rest of the population.

Here we have Sadegh, a pro-estesmaar individual, giving us a report. And you call yourself a lefty? Sure, and president Bush must be a fanatic communist.

Hey Mehdi

What is it with you? You have a Israel bug up your butt? apparently you do. No matter what anyone talks about you just jump in and make an unrelated comment about Israel and praise the Afatollah Geda Ali and his monkey Ahmaghinejad.

We get it! Israel is an evil apatied regime.

First and foremost, be maa cheh?! Let the palastinians deal with it.

Second, Your arbaab has stolen more than enough money from the poor Iraninans and given it to Hamas and Hezbollah, who are way more corrupt than the Israelis by the way, to the point that it has been conterproductive. People in Iran are sick of hearing about the plight of the  Palestinians and about that low life sheikh hassan nassrolah, especially when they have to work three jobs just to keep from dying. They are also sick and tired of watching their god given wealth and natural resources being squandered by theives like Geda Ali, Rafsanjani, and the likes of the killers and sexual perverts such as Temsahe yazdi and Vaez Tabasi and all the other low lives.     

So, please, for the sake of that Indian bastard Khomeni, leave us alone.

Another dime a dozen mullah lobbyiest!!

 Hooman Majd;

""He often writes on Iranian affairs, and travels regularly to Iran. He has also served as an advisor and translator for two Iranian presidents, Mohammad Khatami and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on their trips to the United States and the United Nations, and has written about those experiences.""

Gig is up!!!  We had Namjoo week. This week is Brother Majd week.cheers!!

Thanks Sadegh jan

I heard his interview on NPR (Fresh Air) and I was very intrigued by what I learned about hooman Majd. Not sure how he feels about IRI regime yet (I think I would have to read his book), but he did mention that he was translating Ahmadinejad even though he doesn't see eye to eye with him, and sometimes he had to hold back a chuckle, which I found very interesting.  He seems to keep an open mind about the IRI and the world politics, not really biased either way. I like people who can discuss political issues without getting too emotional like myself! :0)

Anonymous....  so you're rolling on the floor laughing...  hmmmm It's even funnier to read your comment with all the spelling errors and wrong name etc... I can picture you jumping on your keyboard all angry and hitting the keyboard real hard spelling R O F L M F A O!  LOL  It sure is hilarious!   :0)

IRANdokht

ROFLMAO! good one! getting

ROFLMAO! good one! getting carried away with your imagination...

Majid Hooman is a grandson or son? of an Ayatollah...hahaha. He might be able to fool the leftist usefule idiots in the US but not true Iranians.

Thanks

This is an interesting take. I heard him on NPR and I thought he had some good points.

Absolutely ridiculous..

Another one of those Sadegh's masterpiece!

"Iranians supported the Russian invasion of Georgia". How do you make this assertion? Where is the proof that Iranians supported this? IR might have supported this, but did Iranians support it? Even if they did, what happened to all the empty talk about defending the oppressed? Are Georgians different than Iraqis or Palestanians?

"There is an opportunity for reformist to win the 2009 presidential election...." Absolutely absurd. There is no way in hell that reformist will win that election. That fool Imam Zaman could reappear and ask IR to let reformist win, and it won't happen. Candidates will be vetted, polls and election boxes will be rigged, and Basijis, and Pasdars will get to vote 10 times. None of this has anything to do with the United States. There is nothing U.S can do to influence that process. Sadegh, stop blaming, pointing finger at the United States for all of IR's cheating, and corrupt ways.

Not cutting it

This sort of cutesy/folksy Islamist republic whitewashing propaganda is as ineffective as of the more professional rendition of the same delivered by Juan Cole. 

IRI vs Iran

There are many other quotations, sentiment, proves for not amalgamating the terms "IRI" with Iran. These are two different entities and very opposite to each other. Not only an Iranians trend to raise this difference, but even Khomeini, the founder of this regime, never believed in such an odd amalgamation. Only IRI's Melli-Mazhabi and apologists attempt to bridge these two terms together because they desperately drum support for their non-Iranian IRI.