The recent developments in Iran have once more revealed the enthusiasm of the populace to integrate with the outside world and terminate the enduring marginalisation the country has been hurled at hot on the heels of the institution of the current regime. In fact, this ground-breaking change, which is being spearheaded notably by the students, has gained a totally new dimension so as to embolden the students to promulgate their willingness to embrace the following unconditionally: Secular Democracy (an expression which has been the nightmare of the ruling elite).

The long-lasting agitations coupled with the unwillingness of the students to attend their classes to evince their disapproval of the death sentence imposed on a scholar, Hashem Aghajari, for his remarks critical of the ruling elite sparked an unprecedented tug-of-war in the streets of Tehran between the baton-wielding devotees of the ruling elite, known as Basijis, and the students asking for the institution of Democracy and the separation of religion from the state. What astonished most reporters was the fact that given the nature of the ruling class in Iran and the location of Iran, which is located in an embattled area where such notions as Secularism and Democracy had long been conceptualised as heresy, the Iranian population, by and large, overwhelmingly favours the separation of religion from the state. In fact, this general viewpoint of the populace in Iran, if realised, is likely to prompt a substantial change in the region, where given the dwindling popularity of Secularism in most countries such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Persian Gulf Kingdoms, and even Turkey, which had been denoted as an exemplary model for Muslim countries, Iran can play a pivotal role. On the other hand, the astonishment of most reporters with respect to the popularity of Democracy amongst people is indicative of their lack of knowledge of this region of convoluted tendencies. An analytical look at the 20th century Iranian history is adequate to shed light on the preludes to the ongoing events in Iran:

20th century, for Iran, has been characterised by an unduly pursuit of Democracy. In fact, the constitutionalist movement of the early 20th century, which succeeded in getting the constitution accepted along with the foundation of a parliament to restrict the powers of the shah mark the initiation of the formidable quest for Democracy in Iran. Furthermore, the constitutionalist movement had adopted a Western Style Democracy as their model in a region where, even today, Democracy is still an avant-garde concept. owever, the machinations plotted by the ruling shah along with the indifferent stance of United States to this movement were amongst the factors leading to its demise. In fact, this movement gained Iran the title of being amongst the first countries in the world to draw up a constitution.

The aspirations of Iranians for Democracy reached the level of culmination in early 1950s in the wake of the popularly-elected Iranian Prime Minister, Dr. Mossadeq’s term, whose bonafide aim was to establish a pluralist and well-functioning Democracy to address the needs of all Iranians. Nonetheless, he and his policies (just like Arbenz in Guatemala) became the victim of the Cold War American Foreign Policy whereby he was deposed by means of a stratagem orchestrated by the British and Americans due to his contentious policy of the nationalisation of the Iranian Petroleum, which exhorted the United States to associate this policy with communist tendencies despite the Democratic nature of his government. The deposition of his government and the resurgence of monarchy marked the end of the fleeting Democracy in Iran. However, the stultification of Iranians with monarchy coupled with the exponentially growing popularity of Democracy worldwide and in Iran became very pivotal at mobilising masses against the autocratic rule of the shah and for the establishment of Democracy in Iran. However, the repercussions of this, the Iranian Revolution, proved very deleterious since it ended up with the replacement of one dictatorship with another; i.e., monarchy with a theocracy, which, after more than two decades, has disillusioned its own baby-boomers; as a matter of fact, Iran is endowed with one of the youngest populations of the world -with an estimated 70% of the population being under the age of 30.

Today’s students of Iran, in whose minds Democracy has further been cyristalised, are congregating in masses in most campuses of the country to complete the actions of their grandparents: the procurement of Democracy, which was set in motion in the early 20th century, but still hasn’t seen competition. In fact, as is evident, nowhere in the Middle East does such a democracy-oriented movement appealing to such large numbers exists. Contrary to their parents and grandparents, today’s students have learnt not to fall for the threadbare blandishments of the ruling elite. Moreover, the persistent stance of the students to stress the necessity of the separation of religion from the state, the implementation of which appears to be a grandiose task in Middle Eastern conditions, is quite noteworthy.

Equivalently, it wouldn’t be incorrect to insinuate that despite the existence of a regime that is unpopular in the eyes of its people, Iranians can, by far, be the pioneers of the movement of Secularism in the Middle East. A conscientious look at the news attests to this highly paradoxical fact: while the shells of Taliban were being ransacked for terrorists in Afghanistan, [amongst thousands of members of this cabal], not a single Iranian was found whereas the number of members from such countries as Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, various Persian Gulf States, and even the Secular Turkey was manifold. Furthermore, despite the negative connotations about Iranians that are rampant in the Western Media , majority of whom fall in the trap of regarding the current regime as the true representative of Iranians, people in Iran, who braved the baton-wielding vigilantes protecting the regime, were amongst the first to demonstrate their sympathy for the United States and its people by holding candle-lit vigils subsequent to the outbreak of the heinous incident in September 11 in the U.S.. Moreover, despite what the regime has been instilling into the minds of Iranians with respect to the United States, a recent poll conducted by an independent polling institution revealed the fact that three fourths of the Iranian population endorsed rapprochement with the United States unconditionally. Evidently, this is illustrative of the fact that Iran arguably boasts the most pro-American population in the Muslim World.

On the other hand, despite the incessant American intervention throughout the twentieth century, (as a result of which, the prospect of Democracy in Iran was stymied), President Bush’s characterisation of Iran as part of the “axis of evil”, and America’s discriminative stance towards Iranians, Iranian people have shown the guts of displaying their sympathy for the United States at every available opportunity despite the threat of the vigilantes in Iran, who have many times brutally suppressed such agitations. Yet, all Iranians could attain in their pursuit of Democracy has been an upsurge in discrimination and further humiliation. For instance, personalities like Abbas Kiarostami, who is reputed to be one of the most proficient film directors in the world with a multitude of international awards and Googoosh, the pre-revolutionary pop icon in Iran who made her first debut recently in Canada after a silence of two decades, have born the brunt of the discriminative American Policy in their efforts to promote their art, on which certain strictures are imposed in Iran, in the United States. Their applications for visa were spurned by the American Embassy. As a result, Googoosh, who was scheduled to give a concert addressing thousands of fans, who had already purchased their tickets, had to cancel her concert and Kiarostami, who had been invited to the U.S. to as a guest, spurned to go in the face of the atmosphere of increased clampdown against Iranians, which has not only targeted ordinary people, but also popular and prolific artists. Yet, President Bush, in his addresses to Iranians, has many times spelled out his infinite support for the establishment of Democracy and the fact that Iranians were yearning for the same rights and freedoms enjoyed by the citizens of the developed and Democratic Nations. However, although in theory he seems to be in favour of the re-emerging Democratic Movement in Iran, in practice, he has demonstrated his ineptitude at differentiating between ordinary Iranians and the ruling elite, who have been repressing Iranians in the same manners for more than two decades.

In fact, the recent crackdown launched by the INS in Southern California targeting people of Middle eastern descent, whereby hundreds of Iranian-Americans have been apprehended for alleged links to terrorism (or more precisely for simply being Iranian), is indicative of George Bush’s lack of knowledge about Iranian-Americans, who have successfully contributed to the prosperity of America. In fact, with an estimated number of approximately 2 million, Iranian-Americans are comprised of successful artists, engineers, doctors, lawyers, and professors. With respect to the alleged links to terrorism, the trends have demonstrated the fact, both in Iran and abroad, that Iranians are the most lukewarm and uninterested when it comes to fundamentalism or fundamental tendencies.

In conclusion, given the precarious political and social situation in Iran, which is characterised by a remarkable skirmish between students and the ruling elite, The U.S. should not follow the discriminative policy of targeting ordinary Iranians, who are fighting for the acquisition of Democracy, a painstaking task that has proven quite mammoth and bloody over the decades. In fact, by alienating Iranians, who could be the greatest ally for the United States in the Middle East, George Bush is making an irreversible flaw.

About the author:
Vahid Isabeigi is a 21-year-old engineering student from Ottawa, Canada. "I have, thanks to my interminable interest in Politics, have also penned several other articles that have been featured in other Iranian Sites."