Iran's Media Could Make It Happen, If We Let It
By Abbas Djavadi, RFE/RL
Speaking at a conference of Islamic countries'
national radio and TV networks, Iran's President Mahmud Ahmadinejad recently
said that the media are the main tool Western powers use to overthrow other
governments. "Nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons are just a distraction.
Today, the enemy's main weaponry is the media," he said.
Ahmadinejad is right in his recognition of the media's crucial role. The heavily
manipulated Iranian presidential election of June 12, in which the authorities
hastily declared him the winner, could not have sparked massive nationwide
protests without information and communication between those millions of people
who felt that their votes had gone astray.
But Ahmadinejad's fellow Iranian citizens will have a hard time comprehending
the wisdom of blaming Western media for reporting about an election that was
intended to whitewash the regime, but which ultimately shattered its legitimacy
because information about the manipulation of the vote could not be suppressed
as it used to be in the "good old times." Now Ahmadinejad and his main mentor,
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, primarily rely on rule by force -- that
of the Revolutionary Guards and Basij.
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It is true that for years the Tehran regime has
been jamming and blocking U.S.- or U.K.-funded radio and TV stations such as
Radio Farda, Voice of America, and the BBC, and their websites. Filtering of the
Internet was extended to Facebook and Twitter a few months before June 12. But
how would Ahmadinejad explain the fact that well before the election, the
authorities also started to ban reformist and relatively independent newspapers
and to close their websites? And shortly before the election, they started
disrupting the whole SMS messaging system and later almost all mobile phone
systems that could enable Iranian citizens to communicate "politically
dangerous" information to one another.
Start Spreading The News
A listener from the central Iranian city of Isfahan complained to me last June
that Radio Farda did not immediately report a protest action they had staged in
front of Isfahan University. "We stage the protest meeting during the day and
sit in the evening of the same day to hear the news about it from Radio Farda
and watch it on BBC Persian TV," he said. "We will win only if the news is
spread and more people are drawn into the protests."
After 30 years of the Islamic republic, millions of Iranians finally dared to
speak out and to go out on to the street to protest. From radio and TV to the
Internet and mobile phones, all platforms of communication still available
decisively helped, and still help Iranians challenge the regime.
True, Ahmadinejad has been declared president, and Khamenei continues to defy the opposition, which has been swelled by a growing number of clerics and groups that have traditionally been silent or supported his unlimited rule. But ever since June, all signs indicate that the postelection protests were not a one-time outburst that could be decisively suppressed. The Iranian people have changed for good, and nothing will be as it was a year ago.
Now, for one moment, imagine a second round of massive protests nationwide and the effects they might have if, unlike five months ago, Iranians had better access to communication tools for the exchange of information. If they could freely follow international radio and TV programs, and had unimpeded use of, and access to, the Internet and mobile phone systems.
I believe we have not drawn the appropriate lessons from June's presidential election in Iran and the media's capacity to play a role in bringing about change in Iranian society and government. We are certainly not acting as though we have learned those lessons.
Recently, Reuters reported that the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors "is covertly testing technology in Iran and China that lets residents break through Internet censorship imposed by their governments." If confirmed, that could be good news.
Maybe there is no need for either military actions or tougher economic sanctions that are widely thought to be counterproductive or ineffective. Providing Iranian people with tools of better communication and information would do the job, in concert with other political and economic components.
Help the Iranians communicate and exchange information and let them handle the situation themselves.
Abbas Djavadi is associate director of broadcasting with RFE/RL in Prague. The views expressed in this commentary are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL.
Copyright (c) 2009 RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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