To Mr. Zakaria

On the 20th of June, Fareed Zakaria, the world-wide known editor of Newsweek International, quoting the journalist Maziar Bahari, wrote that Ali Khamenei was « the single most popular political figure in Iran » (1) and that Ahmadinejad was popular because he spent on social programs for the poor.

These claims are constantly repeated in the official media in Iran and are so far from the Iranian realities that they amaze and exasperate every Iranian committed to the movement for democracy. One can only have doubts about the intention of anyone who has such claims.
Mr. Zakaria, world-wide reknown journalist who knows a lot about Iran and the Middle-East wrote his article to confront senators who are in favour of a tougher stand towards the Islamic Republic.
Iranian people have many arguments to oppose this claim. We can enumerate some of them specially for the attention of Mr. Zakaria :
 Despite the mobilization of governemental means and facilities, despite the transfer of volunteers from different regions of Iran to Tehran, despite incentives given to participants, Khamenei and Ahmadinejad have not been able to gather the equivalent of 5% of Tehran's voters to support them ! If Tehran has around 5 million voters, 5% of this population represents 250 000 people ! If they do not mobilize all the state capabilities, they could not even mobilize 2% of this population !
 Now compare this situation with that of the Green movement. We all know that on the 15th of June 2009, despite the official threats and depsite the dangers, at least 3 million people participated in the non-violent protest against the fraudulent elections. Since then, to prevent such massive mobilizations to take place, the officials considered themselves allowed to commit any kind of crimes against protesters. The international public opinion is now aware of the crimes committed by the Iranian state since June 2009. Lies, violation of human rights, murders in a context of worsening economic and social difficulties, not only decreased the popularity of Ahmadinejad and Khamenei but transfomed them into the most « hated » political figures among the Iranian population.
 Mir-Hossein Musavi and Mehdi Karroubi asked for permission to organise non-violent demontrations in Tehran and other cities, but the Ahmadinejad/Khamenei's governement who perfectly knows that millions would participate in such protests never allowed non-violent protests to take place.

As the Green movement deepened and widened, Khamenei's power eroded away. This erosion is so important that non only different social categories of the Iranian society but also a large part of the clergy and sources of imitation expressed their opposition to Khamenei and his appointed president, either publicly or through a meaningful silence.
Khamenei has now to terrorize the fundamentalist elements of his own appointed majles with his own violent street militiamen, to silence shia clerics, he has to surround their homes and classrooms by threatening and violent elements of his guards and militia !

Mr Zakaria writes :

« The comparison of Iran’s Green Revolution to the velvet revolutions of Eastern Europe is mistaken. In 1989 dissidents had three forces on their side: nationalism (because communism had been imposed by force by a foreign power), religion (because communism repressed the church), and democracy. The Green Movement has only one: democracy. The regime has always used the religiosity of the people to its advantage, but it has also become skilled at manipulating nationalism. »

This claim shows a total ignorance of the present political situation in Iran. The reaction of the Iranian people during Ayatollah Montazeri's funeral, the wide and growing opposition of the clergy to Khamenei and Ahmadinejad increased the fear Khamenei's regime has of religious days. Many crimes were committed during Ashura's day. All this proves how untrue Mr. Zakaria's claim is.

 The opposition of reknown figures of the clergy against Khamenei and his « appointed president » also show that people's religiosity are not in favour of Khamenei but openly against him. Many of the clerics and shia sources of imitation are worried and fear that people's hatred of Khamenei's Islam and specially youth's hatred of the Islamic Republic and of Khamenei's Islam, turns into an erosion of Islam itself in Iran, this is why some of the most prominent figures of the clergy decided to join the people in its opposition to Khamenei to save Islam and its reputation. Today, the discredit into Khamenei fell is so deep that some of his closest and more faithful friends try to distance themselves from him.

Maybe Mr. Zakaria gave up the journalistic neutrality because of the internal conflits in the American Senate or because of his personal opposition to those who are in favour of a tougher stand towards the Islamic regime. Whatever his intention may be, his claim about Ahmadinejad and Khamenei's popularity are totally false and contrary to the Iranian reality. Its only impact is to discredit Newsweek among Iranians.
As an Iranian who aspires to freedom, I am totally opposed to any military action against Iran and I also think that even talking of war is beneficial to the dictators ruling Iran. As Mr. Zakaria I am totally opposed to those who use the threat of military strikes despite of the failure of any military policy. As thousands of Iranians and defenders of human rights, freedom and justice, I hoped that Mr. Obama would win the American presidential elections and considered his victory as a historical event.
But as a fair and equitable person, I think that Mr.McCain can say something right on Iran and that the Obama administration and the person of the President can make mistakes on Iran.

For instance, my knowledge of the psychology of the Iranian rulers and specially of Khamenei make me think that the letters written by President Obama to Khamenei before and after the elections enhanced his illusion and the illusion of this closest advisers and probably made them more bold and reckless in the organisation of the electoral fraud and the internal repression.
In its way, Mr. Zakaria's article in Newsweek also enhances this illusion, this is why it has been so welcomed and appreciated by the most discredited newspaper, the official Keyhan which is mouthpiece of the most extremist trends of the current power in Iran.

Ali Keshtgar, editor of www.mihan.net
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1- http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/19/mccain-s-mistake.html#
« NEWSWEEK’s Maziar Bahari, who was jailed by the government for four months on trumped-up charges, believes that the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, remains the single most popular political figure in Iran. »