Another Iranian Paradox

One reason why Iran has always fascinated me is due to the many contradictions and paradoxes found in the Iranian society. They overthrew the tyrannical Shah in a revolution, but ended up replacing him with a dogmatic theological regime. It is an Islamic Republic, but its most prominent holiday, Nowruz, is based on Zoroastrianism. It’s a country where women are forced to cover their heads, but women also account for 60 percent of university students. Now with Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s Friday sermon, another contradiction can be seen: the man, who was once highly critical of demonstrations against the government, is now inspiring people to go to the streets.

Rafsanjani rose to prominence during the Iranian Revolution and was a member of the Revolutionary Council- a group created by Ayatollah Khomeini after the revolution to design policy and deal with political dissenters.  Although often portrayed as a moderate, in his eight-year presidency, he has been accused of executing political dissidents, Communists, Kurds, and Bahais. In his other big sermon at the Tehran University, he fully supported the government crackdown on students asking for more freedom and praised the state for their use of force. His harsh sermon came in summer of 1999 after the government had brutally crushed student demonstration. In his sermon, he blamed “enemies of the revolution” and “sources outside the country” for the unrest.

Yet his Friday prayer sermon on July 17th 2009 helped embolden the reform movement, in which he criticized the government’s handling of the election and their crackdown on the political dissenters. In his speech, he demanded the release of political prisoners, ease of restrictions on the media and an open national dialog. He urged the government to eradicate the “doubt” the Iranian people have about the election results.

“Doubt came down on our nation like the plague. Of course, there are two separate currents. There is a group of people who have no doubts, they…and mind their own business. But there is also another group, whose numbers are not few and include a great section of our erudite and knowledgeable people, who say: ” We doubt”. We should take measures to remove this doubt.”

He then went on to criticize the endorsement of the election results by the Guardian Council, the clerical body that oversees the electoral process.

“They should sit down and talk to each other in a brotherly and sisterly manner and point out their reasons. Eventually the people will find out the truth and we can ask the people too. We have to provide the ground to return this trust to the people. Unfortunately, a good use was not made of the opportunity that the Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei] gave the Guardian Council in which an extra five days was given to them to talk to the ulema.”

The sermon once again reignited Iran’s protest movement. Thousands of supporters took to the street across Tehran after the sermon. Two days later Iran’s reformist former president Mohammad Khatami came out to call for a referendum on the legitimacy of the government – a move seen by many as showing a renewed confidence within the reformist movement. More protests were held in Tehran on July 21 also.

As one of the regime’s top clerics, Chairman of the Assembly of Experts (the body that selects Iran’s supreme leader), and as a leading member of the Iranian revolution, Rafsanjani belongs to the inner political circle. But by not accepting the results, he now stands opposed to the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei- something unimaginable 10 years ago.