EYEWITNESS REPORT FROM IRAN

(Part II )

"When it comes to politics and its methods, theologians are amongst the most benighted clique."

Abu Zeyd Abdol Rahman (Ibn Khaldun) - Historian (A.D. 1332-1406)

Editor's Note: This is the concluding segment of a report submitted to Focus on Iran by an Iranian living in Europe, after his second trip to his homeland.

U.S. ECONOMIC SANCTIONS:

The first issue that needs to be pointed out here is that the economic sanctions of U.S. against Iraq, Libya or others for that matter is not comparable to the one imposed against Iran. This is indeed contrary to the propaganda of the clerics' regime itself and, even some of the naive members of its opposition. Objectively speaking, the Iraqis and Libyans lived in a relative state of welfare prior to the sanctions and their standard of living declined tremendously only after the imposition of the sanctions. Nonetheless, in the case of Islamic Republic, the issue became a pretext for the mullahs to disguise their incompetence claiming that the foreigners have once again planned to hinder the economic prosperity of Iran at a time when Iran is no longer pre-occupied with the War against Iraq. However, the people of [ran rightfully recognize that the economic sanctions of U. S. were not imposed until several years after the war, and it is the regime itself which has truly imposed "an all out economic sanction" against the people by either wasting it outside the country funding various terrorist organizations or domestically pouring it in the bottomless pocket of a close circle including its own lackeys and relatives. (In Iran, everyone is aware of the fact that Ahmad Khomeini's wealth outside the country, amounts to nearly $US 4 billion).

It is precisely the regime in Iran which has imposed an economic sanction on its people by banning the import of powdered milk as a luxury product, notwithstanding the notion that it is the primary means of aid provided by OMS and other charity organizations for developing countries. It is the mullahs' regime which prior to the imposition of any sanctions, added the name of some 800 pharmaceutical products to the existing list of 300 drugs which are not to be covered by the so-called social insurance. Many of these products are essential in treating cancer and are quite expensive. In short, it is the regime itself which has intensified the sanctions against the Iranian people and thus the vile efforts of Rafsanjani and his lackeys in laying the blame elsewhere_ ought not surprise anyone.

CATEGORIZING THE RULING MULLAHS:
The boring passion-play of "moderate vs. radical" which has been manipulated for years by a whole host of foreign politicians, news media and even some naive Iranians, and at times has served to disguise the commercial interests of some, specially the Europeans, is becoming more insipid and baseless by the day. That is precisely why this unfounded theory has recently received a face-lift, with the ruling clerics now being categorized as the "modern right", "traditional right", "leftist" and etc.

I must make it absolutely dear that if some foreign politicians are in dire need of legitimizing their friendly relations with the mullahs' regime so that they could continue the economic pillage of Iran turning it into the world's largest trash bin of European archaic products, the people of Iran on the other hand, are quite aware of the fact that these mullahs are all of the same nature. In Iran, I often heard the following analogy: "...the behavior of the ruling clerics is quite similar to stray wolves, when they are by themselves they tend to howl a lot and nip at each other, however, once they notice an approaching individual, they would not hesitate to attack him collectively... "

In the midst of all this, it ought to be pointed out that Rafsanjani's lackeys work hard to spread the rumor that their "idol" is still revered and supported in the Western circles. This falsehood is even streched out to give the impression that a large portion of the $20 million budget allocated by the U.S. congress, is funneled directly to Rafsanjani so that he could in turn spend it for the election campaign of his "moderate" supporters H

!Ironically, even Rafsanjani himself is unsure of such unswerving levels of support and in fact many in Iran are of the belief that the primary reason for Adeli's Ambassadorship to Canada was to attend to Rafsanjani's investments outside of Iran, in essence easing his flight to Canada after the much
expected, inevitable toppling of the regime.

Rafsanjani's supporters who, by various nomenclature such as the technocrats, servants, well-wishers and re-builders, tend to disguise their radical past, are none other than the members of the "Islamic Association of U.S. & Canada" who grabbed the reigns of power during the time of Bazargan and managed to establish the "University branch of the Islamic Republic's Party". Mr. Noorbakhsh, the current so-called "moderate" head of the Central Bank, used to serve as the accountant for the "Jahade Sazandegi - The Jihad for
Reconstruction" which was the Mecca for radical belligerent forces, such as the Hezbollahis and the Basij.

Mr. Adeli, who used to wear his favorite khaki uniform in the early days of the Revolution, was none other than the leader of the Mlzbollahi and Basiji club-wielders, unleashed in the streets by the "Islamic Republic Party". In short, those who died in the bombing of the headquarters of the latter, were the top-ranking members of the Party, and these so-called "moderate" fellows of today, were the Party's next in charge. It is so horrific that such characters have managed to become the "messengers of moderation and modernity". It is so pitiful that here and there, the likes of "Shoale Sa'adi", the well known member of the Majles who frequents Paris in pursuit of the Doctorate degree, would not hesitate to shamelessly characterize Rafsanjani as the " Messiah of Iran"!!

Yesterday's President, Ali Khamenei, who was advocating the forgiveness of Salman Rushdie and was "slapped on the mouth" by Khomeyni, today is the most ardent supporter of the "death fatwa" for the British author. The same Khamenei who was in constant contention with his then Prime Minister, MIr-Hoseyn Moosavi, opposing the latter's nationalization policies, today is the most vehement opponent of privatization and economic moderation. Ironically, the Rafsanjani of the yore, who as the head of the Majlis, used to see eye to eye with Prime Minister Moosavi, today has made a 180 degree flop in support of the free market economy.

Khoineehaa, as a fervent advocate of the "Line of the Imam" theory and as the leader of the second Islamic Revolution, namely the disgraceful act of invading the American Embassy and the imprisonment of its staff, is apparently out of the circle of power, yet behind the scene, he is among the most trusted advisors of Ali Akbar Rafsanjani.

It ought not surprise anyone if this soap-opera takes a totally different twist after the propaganda agents of Seyyed Ali Khamenei, who is referred to by Iranians as "Sey dah" (dab in the Azari language stands for abnormal), namely, Fazal Kermani, Mohammad Rohani, and Meshkeeni, succeed in their efforts in obtaining him the so-called prestigious title of "Ayatollah" from the religious centers of Qom.

The theory of "critical dialogue" glorified specially by some Europeans, in the hopes of the emergence of a Gorbachov look-alike in Iran, is nothing but a farce since, Iran's Nikita Khrushchev, Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, has long lost his teenage in culpability, and as the Iranian saying goes: he has grown quite a beard H !!

Regardless of which clerical group gains prominence in Iran, they would still need to run the national affairs by resorting to laws established centuries ago, laws in which any modernization, evolution or for that matter any minor adjustment is deemed unswervingly heretic and thus prohibited. To prevent further damage from this sinister clique in Iran, the world community and specifically the people of Iran are left with no choice other than the replacement of this vile inhumane regime.

THE BASIJ & OTHER REPRESSIVE LEVERS OF THE REGIME:

 Childish acts such as the "Ashoora Battalion", the "Karbala Brigade" and the "20 million strong Army" and things of this nature, realistically speaking, are nothing but hot air. The overall standing of this regime inside the country is so unstable, shaky and unpopular that is -hardly imaginable. After an accurate research and probe in a city of 400,000, I reached the conclusion that the regime has at best 40 Armed lackeys at hand and could not mobilize more than 200 more to repress an uprising in a 24 hour period. Nevertheless, in every corner of the country, even in the small remote villages, one would run into the familiar placards stating the encampment of "Basij Station number... ". This is yet another deceptive ploy of the regime, since every business who employs more than 5 people is obligated to purchase such placards from the local municipality along with its business license and is then instructed to post the former on a visible site outside of its shop. The same applies to governmental entities and other companies, however the plan is actually
void of any substance.

The entire Basiji force in Iran, which gathered for the first time in the large Stadium outside of Tehran after quelling the uprisings in Mashad, Arak and Shiraz in 1991-92, amounted to 100,000. However, since a systematic appearance of this force entails a more organized attribution ofranks and files, along with further allocations of a regular reward system, elevating them to the levels of a Judicial Law Enforcement entity, the program of mobilizing them in a regular basis has not come to fruition. On the other hand the regime fears that a more organized Basij force, might end up in the same path of its Revolutionary Guards (RG), refraining to a large degree, to act as a repressive arm of the regime, quelling various uprisings. Namely, the RG in organizing itself into regiments and battalions has acted more like the Army, the Police or the Gendarmerie in distancing itself from upholding the so-called "goals and values of the Revolution". It is for that very
reason that Mohsen Rezayi, the Commander of the RG, in a recent speech, vehemently criticized any fin -their organizational plans for the Basij and went on to characterize such a move as an act which could result in the "total loss of momentum" for the latter.

While the regime tries to avoid any public gathering of the Basijis, it announced a national maneuver by the latter on May 19th, consisting of 230,000 participants, under the pretext of "Nahye az Monkar - Preventing ill-deeds". Therefore, the total number of the Basijis, be it 100,000 or 230,000 considering the inaccurate data propagated by the regime, still amounts to a mere 0.1 % to 0.3% of the total population.

Another lever of repression utilized by the regime is a special brigade called the "Tavvabin - The Penitents". The members of this group are selected from the ex-Mojahedin, Communist Guerillas and other factions who suffer either from the guilt of turning in their own comrades or participating in their executions. In reality, these "Tavvabin" are not siding with the regime, rather they are merely sparing their own life, that of their families and their belongings. They are of the belief that they could only continue a peaceful life (relatively speaking) as long as the clerical rule persists and are fearful of losing their security once the current regime is no longer around.

This regime is facing a situation wherein some high ranking commanders of its Army and even certain vital segments of its RG have officially denounced and refrained from repressing the uprisings in Mashad and Qazvin. This is at a time when the mullahs were toying with a shameless plan to bombard the city of Qazvin in the like manner that their comrade in arms, Hafez Assad massacred his opposition in the city of Hama in 1982. During the last maneuvers in the deserts north of Qom, the Air Force Commanders once again reiterated their stance that their planes will not be participating in such exercises and that their role is to safeguard the territorial integrity of Iran. Therefore the repressive arm of the regime is limited to a small brigade of "Tavvabin", an insignificant portion of Law Enforcement units and finally the unorganized forces of Hezbollah and the Basij.

THE RADIO STATIONS OUTSIDE OF IRAN:

The lack of any Iranian opposition radio station, has left this field wide open for foreign radio stations to the expected one-sided pursuit and reflection of the interests of their governments in regards to the Islamic Republic. The French, German and British radio stations continue to re-broadcast the so-called official news of IRNA (Islamic Republic's News Agency) while occasionally conducting harmless interviews filled with petty questions from characters who tacitly portray their support for the current regime. The level of these programs has declined so much that certain interviewees are labeled in Iran as the "Regime's Submarine", implying that they are a mere hewing of the mullahs in disguise. On the other hand, "Radio Israel" and "Voice of America" are posing more and more as anti-regime radios, increasing their volume in a productive direction via effective interviews.

Nonetheless, people in Iran are still awaiting the formation of a meaningful opposition which would fully utilize the current radio waves to show them the various ways of resistance and struggle against the regime, provide instructions in organizational tactics in the hopes of a national uprising, and finally one that could synchronize the local movements.

Many in Iran, after hearing the news of the powerful American radio installations in Kuwait, were wondering why these facilities are not offered to the Iranian opposition groups who support the replacement of the current regime with a democratically elected nationalist government. The latest stance of the U. S. and specially that official, which has recently manifested itself in their radio broadcasts, is causing both content and anxiety among the people in Iran. They are concerned that in order to combat the Islamic Republic's nuclear capabilities, a preemptive strike by the IAF similar to the one canied out against the Iraqi Center for Nuclear Research, might be in the plans, which will only serve the vile schemes of the ruling clerics to mobilize the public against Israel and dignify its unfounded minors that the U.S. and its Israeli allies have been working on a grand conspiracy to disintegrate Iran. This will also cause the opposition groups to reject any moral or material support offered by the U. S. and specifically Israel towards their struggle against the mullahs' regime. In essence, an erroneous venture like bombarding Iran, will indeed 1 Ppcw mom water in the mullahs' milt' as the Iranian saying goes.

THE PEOPLE'S EXPECTATION FROM THE OPPOSITION - AN ANALYSIS:

A s mentioned before, the lack of an alternative, despite the general debility of the regime, is the primary cause for the mullahs miserable persistence albeit with a mere 5% support from the populace. The satire of Obeyd-e Zakani, the Iranian writer and poet of 14th century A .D. is quite relevant here:
"...a fellow, on his way to the warfront, was wielding his sword clamoring aloud while trembling and ducking his head simultaneously When he was asked why he weaseling, he quickly responded I want to scare off my enemy. When questioned as to the reason behind his trembling, he said I am quite frightened myself... ".

The formation of an alternative, namely a leadership to head the struggle against the current regime is of essence. This leader must be capable to attract the support of the people and western nations in addition to having the common characteristics of a pacesetter. Some who have lost their fighting spirit in Iran, along with those who have fallen victim to the sophistry and propaganda of the regime, are of the belief that certain western nations along with Israel have un-admittable interests in Iran which forces them to tacitly throw their support behind the clerics. Despite the theory's general fallacy, it is unfortunately quite valid in the case of some European countries. Once such obstacles are removed, the people will participate with more eagerness and hope resulting a more effective and massive opposition. The fall of the Iron curtain, the plight of Ceausescu, and the changes in South Africa, have convinced a large segment of Iranians that they could only trust a leader whom aside from the common leadership characteristics, enjoys the moral and material support of the western nations, specifically the U. S.

It must be pointed out here that if the opposition figures inside the country could not assume the role of leadership, based on their very own confession in private circles, is simply due to the ruthless measures exercised by the regime in controlling their activity and that of their known clique of friends. On the other hand labeling them as mere lackeys of the regime and belittling their courage and self-sacrifice is far from any compassionate or rational point of view. Furthermore, a review of this century's struggles and revolutions will shed fight on the notion that the opposition to autocratic, totalitarian regimes, often has found its leadership roots in the expatriates of that country.
WHAT THREATENS IRAN TODAY AND TOMORROW:
The threats are numerous, however the primary ones are the treacherous ideology of the mullahs, namely their anti-nationalist view towards Iran and their benighted indifference regarding the territorial integrity of Iran. The consequences of such shortsighted views could be none other than civil war akin to the ones responsible for destroying Afghanistan or Lebanon. Time is indeed quite limited for all the patriotic well-wishers of Iran.