Dolf's Blog
Integral thoughts about development, humanity, spirituality
Ey Iran (Part 2)
6 July 2007
Having come back from Iran (see: April 27 2007 Entry) , the obvious question people ask me is: How was it?
Remarkably easy, actually.
Of course, Iran is not the country that is depicted as Axis of Evil, nest of terrorists, etc. that western media are sometimes making it. That is also an obvious pain point with the Iranian people which they are very eager to correct. Their second question (after the token "Where are you from?") is almost always, "What is your opinion about Iran?". They are very sensitive to the image of Iran abroad (which they have easy access to via the Internet) and very proud of their national history, culture, education (most people in Iran are very well educated), etc.
The next remark, and they are very open about this, is then typically an expression of their disgust with their government. Except for the Mullahs in sacred places, I met nobody who had anything good to say about the Iranian government.
And that's the whole issue: the people are willing to become part of the international community. It's just the government that sucks. And no, they did not elect their own government (elections in Iran are always highly fake, as candidates are screened by the Mullahs beforehand, so no free choice exists and fewer and fewer people even bother to go to the elections anymore). They are stuck with it.
Solution? Well, I think the US government has proven their inability to change regimes using bombs (see Afghanistan and Iraq). Diplomacy with people like president Ahmadinejad does not seem a fruitful path either, given his stubbornness. A new revolution is in my opinion what is needed. For revolution you need leaders, though. And revolutionary leaders is what is missing in Iran. Once someone can unite the people and let them throw over their own government relatively peacefully (similar to breaking down the Berlin wall in 1989), it's done. So will the true leader please stand up? In the mean time, enjoy the pictures: Iran Pictures
