Exposed Foxes

Mafie@att.net

Almost 35 years ago Bijan Mofid, one of Iran’s greatest contemporary playwrights, in his famous play "Shahr-e Ghesseh" ("The City of Fable"), very creatively and correctly presented the Iranian Mullahs (Islamic clergymen) as "foxes" scattered throughout society with no value added. In that entertaining play he showed the Mullahs as hypocritical personalities who continuously lie and deceive the Iranian masses. This was the same exact message that other Iranian playwrights, poets, and thinkers, such as Mirza Agha-Khan Kermani, Iraj Mirza, Obaid Zakani, Hafez, etc., have communicated to Iranian people in different eras.

On April 10, 1997, a German court convicted four Iranians in the 1992 murders of dissident Iranian-Kurdish leaders in a Berlin restaurant, the Mykonos. The prosecutors proved that the "highest state levels" in Iran’s capital ordered the killings, specifically, Iran's "Committee for Special Operations," which comprises of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Rafsanjani, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayati, and Information and Security Minister Ali Fallahian. Furthermore, the court ruled that Mr. Fallahian had overseen the operation’s logistics; since the court had previously issued an international arrest warrant for him, the case remains open. The court’s ruling led the E.U. nations (15 countries) to withdraw their ambassadors from Tehran on April 11; immediately afterward (on April 15) Japan suspended its high-level dialogue with Iran.

These events combined were about to deliver the final blow to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Already under severe economic and political sanctions by the U.S., the IRI could not afford to undergo additional isolation from the West. For the IRI, the new widespread political sanctions by the 15 E.U. countries and Japan were absolutely unbearable. By April 15, 1997, the Islamic Republic of Iran became completely isolated from the Western world. With the complete failure of its internal policies and objectives and now entirely isolated from its badly needed Western support, the IRI needed to present a completely different image in order to rebuild its badly damaged relationships with its European trade allies.

The IRI was left with only two options: (1) It could wait for a sudden internal blow-up, which in turn would inevitably cause its destruction, or (2) it could design a sophisticated pressure-release mechanism to present a "newer and gentler IRI" to the West. This is the reason behind the sudden birth of its smiling President, Mr. Khatami, and the creation of state-controlled and state-managed dog-and-pony MODERATE party.

In 1997 selected groups of Iranians in the West worked very diligently and assiduously to support the IRI’s new-born fox, Khatami. These groups included (1) Iran’s Godless leftover leftists who, almost overnight, finally found God, (2) the usual well-known loyal IRI supporters in the West, (3) many pro-Constitutional Monarchy political activists who are as confused as always, and (4) selected infamous Iranian producers and journalists working in the Iranian media in Los Angeles, etc.

For the first two years under the IRI’s newborn fox, Presidency Khatami, these groups did their best to promote and support Khatami as much as possible. They used every possible justification to rationalize Khatami’s ineffective, meaningless, deceiving policies and behaviors. They fought anyone who was against Khatami, claiming that everyone needed to support this newborn child so that he can bring democracy and justice to Iran and the Iranian people.

Gradually many of these people realized that Khatami’s only function was to prolong the IRI’s life in Iran; they started distancing themselves from Khatami and his dog-and-pony show, called "the Reformist Movement." Some even went so far as to claim that they never supported the newborn fox. Thanks to the Information Age, they can lie but they cannot erase their well-documented past!

This entire ordeal created further division among the Iranian opposition forces living in the West, a division that fosters the IRI’s overall short- and long-term strategic objectives.

As a result of the September 11^th tragedy, the United States retaliated against the governments that support and harbor terrorism. This change in U.S. foreign policy created a strong momentum among all the oppressed people in the Middle East who live under some of the most tyrannical systems that mankind has ever experienced. This momentum provides a unique opportunity for all the oppressed people of Iran to finally put an end to the current oppressive Islamic Republic of Iran government and achieve their long-awaited freedom and secular democracy. The IRI is very much aware of this momentum and its potential to remove the IRI from Iran. Just as it did after the 1997 events, the IRI is developing a variety of "options" and "solutions" for the Iranian people and for the West so that it appears to present an even more reformed version of its oppressive system and thus prolong its existence.

These days, various IRI loyalists and well-trained characters in Iran such as Tabarzadi, Nouri, Shamsol-vaezin, Ganji, Abdi, etc., are being promoted as potential alternatives or leaders to guide Iran’s future. The ugly and sad reality is that almost the same people who promoted and supported Khatami in 1997 in the West have now started celebrating the IRI’s latest pregnancy and have started promoting the IRI’s yet-unborn child. These supporters in their new endeavor use the same exact phrases that they used in 1997 to justify and rationalize Khatami as the potential solution. They attack and insult anyone who questions their activities as if Iran and Iranians must be condemned to be ruled by oppressive and antediluvian systems.

Some days, the IRI introduces its casts of characters as students; some days, they are being introduced as Agha-e Mohandes (Mr. Engineer); some days as political activists; some days as intellectuals and philosophers who have actually written the Declaration of Human Rights for Iranians; some days as political prisoners fighting for Iranian rights, etc., etc. The IRI paints, reshapes, or reconfigures them as necessary to relate them to any and all segments of Iranian society. Just like a soft and flexible newborn child, these IRI-created chameleons are so flexible in their political maneuverings that they can present a different well-prepared fairy tale of themselves or their plans for Iran’s future for any segment of Iranian society that might be interested in Iran’s challenges.

These characters are actually being introduced and promoted to Iranians inside Iran by the Iranian media in the West that broadcast their programs inside Iran. Some of these media are in the direct service of the IRI, and some are just naïve and politically incompetent media that unwittingly serve the IRI and further its objectives.

The IRI’s number-one objective is to survive at any cost and by any means. They use anyone, any ideas, any relationship, any tools, any philosophy; they sell anyone and anything, even Iran. They kill, stone, flog, torture, amputate body parts, jail, assassinate—whatever is needed to survive. They deceive and lie as much as needed to prolong their existence, even for one more day.

We all remember Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, who was sitting next to Ayatollah Khomeini in his return flight to Iran. He was talking to Ted Kopple almost on a weekly basis during the hostage crisis. Khomeini ordered Ghotbzadeh’s murder once they had no more use for him. We all remember Bani Sadr, who ended up dressing up as a transvestite to escape from Iran after Khomeini came after him. We all remember the people who were murdered (Dr. Ghasemlou, Dr. Broumand, Dr. Elahi, Dr. Rajavi, Dr. Bakhtiyar, etc.) by the IRI for having views that presented a potential danger to the IRI.

The IRI has no concept of loyalty. Their only loyalty is to the infrastructure that supports their overall existence. Supporting the IRI’s new child (new IRI-based alternatives) only prolongs the existence of an oppressive system in Iran.

Iran’s post-revolution economy is oil-based, state-controlled, interest-group-oriented, imports-dependent, monopolies-dominated, under-taxed, overly subsidized, and basically stagnant. The consensus among Iranians and foreign observers is that Iran’s economy is now in worse shape than ever before. Judged by official government statistics, all common indicators of economic health show negative signs. Per capita income is at an all-time low. The middle class is old (and is using their old money); no other additional healthy middle-class has been created in the last 24 years. Economic growth is nonexistent; the inflation rate is continuously increasing; unemployment and underemployment have paralyzed the IRI system; the government is deep in debt; and net foreign reserves are at an all-time low.

Furthermore, the economy’s slow growth, higher than 40 percent unemployment, double-digit inflation, and continued fiscal deficits are accompanied by publicly acknowledged shortages of housing, classrooms, teachers, health clinics, and vital prescription drugs; by significant air and water pollution; by considerable soil erosion; and by alarming deforestation. As if these economic woes were not enough, the country is suffering from social scourges such as widespread drug addiction, prostitution, and urban crimes.

We Iranians need to believe that we all deserve much more than what the IRI and its supporters are trying to sell us. Iran and Iranians deserve a secular democratic system that allows for all of Iran’s groups to collectively and collaboratively bring the best quality of life and the best future to all Iranians. Once and for all, we all need to agree that the IRI (and its various new flavors) is not the solution for IRAN.

A National Referendum under international observation is the first step toward a new future for Iran. All Iranians deserve the opportunity to participate in a National Referendum in Iran where all Iranians can vote freely under international supervision and observation for their desired form of political system! A National Referendum must meet the following prerequisites:

1. Separation of state and religion in Iran.
2. Equal rights and freedom for all Iranian women and men as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which recognizes "the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family."
3. Political pluralism (that is, a multiparty system) and free elections as inseparable elements of a democratic system.
4. Freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, freedom to form independent professional organizations and syndicates, and freedom to form political parties as preconditions for free elections. Free elections are possible only when equitable resources are allocated to ALL political parties.
5. The establishment of a secular democratic government in Iran that respects the rights and individuality of all Iranians, regardless of gender, race, or political and ideological beliefs.

We all live outside Iran because of the barbaric Islamic system that rules Iran. Let’s not forget or forgive the real enemy of Iran and the Iranian people. Let’s not be duped by the IRI and its supporters who are now promoting various new solutions to prolong the IRI’s life. Any sloppy action on our part will further prolong the life of Iran’s ruling dark forces and its ruthless government.

Among the greatest treasures that the United States offers to everyone are democracy and freedom. The same way that IRI supporters here in the West are using their freedom to support an oppressive government in Iran, we too can use that same freedom of expression and say "NO" to the IRI and "NO" to IRI supporters in the West. And we can support and promote a National Referendum in Iran without any IRI involvement.

Farhad Mafie

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

Copyright©2003 by Farhad Mafie. All rights reserved. Any reprint of this article must bear this notice. For information, contact Farhad Mafie at Mafie@att.net or at (949) 851-1714.