IRAN-RESIST: French TV interview with Kaveh Mohseni an Opposition activist in Paris

IRAN-RESIST: French TV interview with Kaveh Mohseni an Opposition activist in Paris
by Darius Kadivar
23-Dec-2010
 


Kaveh Mohseni Iranian opposition activist and editor of Iran-resist website, speaks with Infolive.tv from his exile in Paris, discusses life under the Teheran regime, and ways it could be changed from within. (English Subtitles)  
             
  Kaveh Mohseni's Website:   Iran Resist 

Share/Save/Bookmark

more from Darius Kadivar
 
shushtari

I wouldn't live

by shushtari on

in france......they're up to their necks in crap with the mullahs....

some of the bravest  iranians were murdered by the mullahs' assassins- gen oveissi, dr bakhtiar, shahriar shafiq, and many more....

individuals like that are irreplaceable....and the french were definitely complicit in those murders..

they even flew the b###ard khomeini to iran!

 

paris is nice, but not that nice! 


Darius Kadivar

Yes I do Abarmard Jaan ... and here is why ...

by Darius Kadivar on

But for that the monarchists like any other deemed opposition group need to have a foot in the country without risking to be executed for merely expressing themselves ...

Operatives of Iranian monarchist group confess on IRI TV

 

As for creating such a network that would encompass a far larger spectrum of people in society to which you rightly and realistically are referring to, I do not believe that it is impossible to achieve.

It may take time but we are working on it:

 

REZA's CALL: An Iranian Solidarnosc... by DK

 

 

 

RESPONDING TO REZA's CALL: An Iranian Solidarnosc in the Making ... by DK 

No opposition group can thrive without taking into account constructive criticism including from those who may not share our views.

However I don't think that one can obtain results overnight. It is a step by step process and Focusing on the International community's support is not necessarily seeking Foreign government's help or support. 

If they wish to help us all the better, why refuse a helping hand ? Particularly as long as it is not a military intervention with the counterproductive consequences we are perfectly aware of and oppose. But that is not our major focus unlike let's say the Mujahedin leadership and supporters who look for an official endorsement from foreign Politicians and Parliamentarians be it in Europe or the United States: 


Terrorist Supporting Republicans

 

Neither Monarchists nor the man they consider as their Sovereign that is Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi need such foreign endorsements to justify their legitimacy or desire to be put at the helm of political leadership of the country given that unlike the MKO we have a history of political leadership of this land and can therefore claim to an experience they have never assumed to date.

One including those who oppose the monarchy can consider it a failed record but then one needs to compare that deemed "failure" with that "deemed" success of the Republic that was born upon the ashes of the toppled monarchy to draw a definitive conclusion be it in social, economic or political terms.

Then and only then can one's claim to "failure" or "success" of a given political system have some meaning or legitimacy.

From that point of view it seems to me that the current Republic we have in Iran today will have great difficulties to justify it's so called "success" on nearly ALL levels including the nationalist argument which they artificially try to reinvent in the land of Cyrus and Darius the Great:

GIVE ME BACK MY COUNTRY: Bold Poem by a fellow compatriot denounces Ahmadinejad's Iran

 

This is why I think that the process of decline of Republicanism in Iran is on it's way and will ultimately be replaced by what was the genuine aspiration of our forefather's a century ago and that is "Constitutionalism" or if you will by "Republican ideals within a Royal Framework". 

In order for the Constitutionalist alternative to this 30 years of backward Theocracy to succeed it has to fill in the gap between the various sectors of Iranian society and the Constitutionalist ideals. 

That is what will demand not only an organization but rather a deep understanding of what we represent and wish to accomplish for future generations and for our collective good.

In other words I do not see any incompatibility between someone who would wish to see Iran become a Secular Republic and a Constitutional Monarchist except that the latter offers in my humble opinion two things:

A) An Attractive model of governance that restores our national pride and the way we have always seen ourselves as a nation that is a unified Kingdom protected from Separatist Temptations:

SEPARATIST TEMPTATIONS: Don't Let It Fool You ... Treason Exists ...

Which does not mean that minorities should not have a voice in parliament or have the right to administrative and cultural prerogatives as long as they do not renounce to their attachment to the Constitution of the land and the nation at large. In Great Britain for instance Scotland has it's own Parliament yet is not a separate state and yet Britain is not a Federal State like the United States.

B) An opportunity for National Reconciliation for Iranians at large divided by an unnecessary Revolution 30 years ago which went against EVERYTHING that our nation has represented in the history of human civilization and against progress be it political, social, economic or even cultural: 

Fereydoun Farrokhzad - Irani Boodan

As such I see the Islamic Revolution and the Republic that was born in it's womb as a perverted interruption of the Constitutional desires of the nation at large which aspired not to topple the Monarchy but to transform it into a democratic system with only a purely symbolic royal representation as embodied by a Reigning and Not Ruling Monarch:

Pro Bakhtiar Demonstrations in support of the 1906 Constitution


Iranian Mashroote Revolution (Bebin TV Summary on the history of the constitutional momovement

)

 

This is where the Intelligenstia can and should play a role in educating the masses on the very goals and aspirations of the Constitutionalist movement in Iran in order to clearly and unambiguously clarify any would be understanding of what are our exact goals.

It is not one of vengeance nor an attempt to rewrite history however tempting that can be for Staunch monarchists or deemed monarchists like the Bazari LA Tv's which have done some of the worst damages to the Constitutionalist cause due to the fact that for the most none were actually monarchists or even constitutionalist per se but merely TV Producer wannabees seeking to make a living through these medias counting on sensationalist and caricatural programs.

The Constitutionalist movement has nothing to do with such a behavior for it is first and foremost a deeply rooted and respected movement to this day as a milestone turning point in the history of Iran's democratic and modernist aspirations.

Something that the Revolutionary leaders of 1979 definitively were not:

pictory: Bakhtiar Denounces Bazargan's Provisionary Government in exile (1979)

And should I add were ENTIRELY at Odds with the Constitutionalist Ideals of our forefathers:

HISTORY FORUM: Nader Naderpour on Iran's Constitutional Revolution and European Rennaissance (1996)

 

So to answer your question. Yes we Constitutionalists and Our Sovereign the Crown Prince have a long way to go in order to impose our ideas and help understand our true goals to the Society at large inside Iran.

But I believe outside Iran particularly in the Diaspora at least our approach is gradually be it slowly but surely being understood particularly in the last year following the ebbing of the Green movement and it's Selected leader's timid opposition to the Theocracy they helped create.

So the Dynamics are in our favor be it on the long term.

To have our foot in Iran and to have a far wider influence we need to have an outreach to a wider network of people within the system. The military, the administration, the clerics etc but more importantly the civil society.

That I believe is currently the case be it behind the scenes. The Crown Prince has openly expressed support to many dissidents who have been imprisoned or tortured in recent years such as cleric Ayatollah Boroujerdi or the Union worker Osanloo or more recently filmmaker Jafar Panahi or lawyer Nasrin Sotoodeh.

However symbolic and probably of no immediate consequence on their predicament these gestures are also direct messages to the civil society at large on our commitment to democratic values and principles of Human Rights.


Reza Pahlavi's message on the Anniversary of the 1906 Constitutional Revolution


But what needs to be understood and I think explains much of the misunderstandings on what the Crown Prince of Iran represents within this struggle.

What Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi offers is not a leadership per se but a Catalyst spokesperson of the aspirations of Iranian democrats at large eve, beyond the constitutionalist camp people like me belong to.

This is where his position is both one of strength but also fragility. Strength because he can rally people around a common project and flag for regime change, fragility in that he cannot be it's "Political" Leader so to speak because he needs to stand above Party rivalries very much like a Secular Pope so to speak if you allow me this bold metaphor. By that I mean that he can actually play the similar role to John Paul II in regard to Poland's Solidarnosc movement where the actual leadership of the movement was in the hands of the leaders which naturally emerged from within Poland such as Lech Walesa or his entourage in the likes of Geremek to intellectual or other members of the working class and other social groups existing in Poland's communist dictatorship.

The External voice of Solidarnosc was the Pope. I am not claiming the The Crown Prince of Iran has the same aura on the international arena but he does have a Voice.

In addition his family's historical legacy of half a century rule from grandfather to father puts him in the center of the Political battle for Iran's future. That is a Fact which whether we like it or not or whether or not we consider the Monarchy as legitimate or not in Iran anymore as a focul point of comparison whenever his name is pronounced.

As such His name and current political role cannot be ignored due to the political failures of the Islamic Republic and it's loss of legitimacy since last Summer's brutal crackdown. 

People including his opponents will have to acknowledge the fact that history will force us to draw parallels between the two regimes: Absolute Monarchy Vs Theocracy

And Systems of Governments:

Constitutional Monarchy Vs Secular Republic ( Federalism, Parliamentary etc)

Constitutional Monarchy Vs Reformed Islamic Republic ( like Christian Democrats have achieved in some european countries)

or any other Option or comparison between existing systems of governments and States that can come to mind.

With a Regime like that of Iran today which is unable to reinvent itself and hardly Reform itself, one can legitimately conclude that all sectors of society will look towards an far more attractive alternative. However imperfect or incomplete that may be what matters is whether or not that alternative can offer opportunities for an evolution towards a much needed democratic transition ?

I believe it can and the history of Constitutionalist movements in history and Europe in particular seem to suggest that they offer not only an attractive solution to fill in the vacuum of democracy but also a bloodless one: 

 

RESTORATION: Britain's 'Glorious Revolution' of 1688 and the 'Bill of Rights' 

 

HISTORY FORUM: Franco's Ghost- Spain's Painful Road Towards National Reconciliation 

 

It is interesting that most Revolutions in the 20th century often looked up to France's bloody French Revolution as an example including our own clueless Pseudo Intellectuals:

HISTORY FORUM: Bahram Moshiri's Take on The French Revolution and Why He Misses The Point ;0) 

 

in a bid to obtain the perfect Republican model and often failed miserably :

VIRTUE IN TERROR: Maximilien Robespierre and the Reign of Terror (BBC)

Hence all the dictatorial systems we see in the middle East where Presidents appear elected for life very much like in South American dictatorships of the 1970's or in Africa or Eastern Europe to this day:

Ivory Coast crisis: Gbagbo ally warns of UN rebellion (bbc)

Belarus jails 600 activists over election unrest (bbc) 

But few take the time to study what took place in Great Britain which achieved Parliamentary democracy prior to America or France after Restoring it's Monarchy after Cromwell's Theocracy was brought down and Restoring their Beheaded Monarch's son : Charles II upon his return from exile:

HISTORY FORUM: David Starkey - Return Of The King (5 Parts)

And that was the starting point of Parliamentary Democracy in Britain.

As a matter of fact I think we Iranians despite our Anglophobia due to historical rivalries between our two nations actually share much more in common with the British than the French.

In addition We hardly beheaded our King or Queen but simply forced them into exile. So if the British managed to Restore their Monarchy after such a dramatic interruption, I do not see why we can't ?

Are we less Intelligent ? Less knowledgeable of our history or less confident in our capacity to adapt ourselves as a people to necessary change ?

I think Not !

Iranians have proved time and again that they can adapt themselves to change despite invasions of all sorts we have maintained our identity and unique outlook on ourselves. The Arabs were not able to impose their language on us. We even enhanced Islamic art thanks to our artistic contributions.

Why can't we do the same with our Political systems ?

That is why I see a Restoration of the Monarchy as a Step forward and not backward in our history. For by doing that we shall also send a strong signal to the world at large that we are a civilized nation and as good an them if not better in understanding our contradictions, weakness' and strengths and have the ability to correct ourselves and move forward.

So the Restoration can only benefit us all at large.

Shapour Bakhtiar understood this fundamental necessity early on and reiterated it two years prior to his cold blooded assassination by calling for REGIME CHANGE upon RESTORATION of the 1906 Constitution: 

Sokhanrani Dr. Bakhtiar be monasebat Mashrutiat

Crown Prince Reza is taking the mantle of the Constitutionalists where Bakhtiar left it.

But what we or at least I hope and would like to see is the emergence of people from within Iran's civil society who would accept to serve that 1906 constitution ( however updated with necessary amendments to make it more democratic and flexible to the realities of today's Iran) as Potential POLITICAL leader in the form of a would be Prime Minister.

That however is up to Iranian civil society to suggest such candidates. Even a guy like Karoubi, Khatami or even Moussavi could be considered as potential candidates for such a job if they prove that they have the capacity to mobilize and redefine their strategy in this common struggle for democracy. But that demands direct or indirect contacts with the opposition outside Iran to better coerce our strategies.

Are they willing to do that ? That does not seem to be the case to date. But that may also probably be the reason so many have lost faith in the Green Movement as a Political force for change. The Civil Force is still present in the current form of the Green Movement but not the Political force behind it.

That can only resurface with a stronger determination if civil and political forces united inside and outside Iran.

Public endorsements of such people like even Shirin Ebadi, Simin Behbanai, Akbar Ganji or any other prominent Iranian figure be them of Iran's political or civil movements to Join the Crown PRince would definitively help boost the Green Movement into a far more coherent force for change.

Such a coalition does not have to share the same ideological aspirations but have a common platform for Change that would take Iranian people's cause and rights at heart. As such they do not have to be Monarchists but Secular Republicans at best. But they will have to give up the idea that the Islamic Regime can be reformed. They can be religious but have to commit to the idea of Separation of State and Religion.

Someone like Shirin Ebadi who was alway an advocate of an Evolution towards an Islamic Democracy has finally reached this conclusion:

FINALLY GETTING IT RIGHT: Shirin Ebadi say's "I Don't believe in an Islamic Declaration of Human Rights"

So if she can make this effort then I don't see what is stopping her from moving another step closer towards us be it in terms of creating a common coalition of forces with two Key goals in mind:

A) Secularism

B) Democracy

Human Rights being a natural offspring of the two above pre-requisite to a civil peace and tolerant society. 

The rest is a question of Will, opportunity and realistic Commitments of all those involved in such a broad coalition without renouncing to one's political identity or political aspirations on the long term.

But Only a democratic process upon the collapse of the regime thanks to such a broadband coalition like what happened in Poland can help Iranians decide what they wish best for their country's democratic State:

A Constitutional Monarchy or a Secular Republic.

But in the meantime if they wish to have a Voice that Counts they need to seek it elsewhere than merely amongst the Leaders of the Green Movement who seem to accept the current Status Quo often to the disappointment of even their most genuine and staunchest followers, particularly the youth who see them as uncharismatic and impotent to lead.

So up to them and their followers to Respond or Not to Reza's Call:

REZA's CALL: An Iranian Solidarnosc... by DK

 

The Ball is in Their Camp now.

We told you what we can offer up to you or them to offer a better alternative in the Year to come.

Merry X Mas and Happy 2011 in the meantime to you and your loved ones. 

My Humble Opinion,

DK 

PS: Sorry for the lengthy response but after all it is my Blog ;0) And your question deserved a complete and detailed answer to the best of my capacity Best, DK.

 


Abarmard

One major problem

by Abarmard on

With Monarchist and Reza Pahlavi has been exactly things like this. They have focused their attention on foreign governments and Western people's approval than Iranian people inside.

You have to find a language that workers, merchants, teachers, and other parts of the society IN IRAN,can associate with. Otherwise no one would ever care.

Do you agree Mr. Darius?


Q

He's full of it!

by Q on

Carter asked Shah to stop supplying Oil to Israel????

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.... what twisted fantasies must be necessary to sustain the hapless monarchists these days....


Darius Kadivar

Rafsanjani the Half Brother of Khomeiny ?

by Darius Kadivar on

First TIme I hear this !

Dunno why all these opposition activists seem to start well in their analysis and suddenly say something out of the blue that demolishes their entire credibility.

;0)

That said I agree with much of the rest of what he said in the interview !

Just wished he had done his homework before making some claims and uttering some incorrect dates mentioned in his responses.  

But to his credit Unlike someone like Banisadre whose French is Horrible and puts any Iranian to shame when they see him on French TV at least  


Kaveh Mohseni's French is quite good and fluent. 

In other words He has potential to progress as a Opposition spokesperson ;0)