When American bombs were raining down on what is
left of Afghanistan last November, fellow Muslims in the neighbouring Islamic
republic of Iran took out to the Streets. Contrary to our expectations
in the West, they did not rally to denounce the 'Great Satan' - the
name given to America by the late Ayatollah Khomeini. Instead, ordinary
Iranians, in one of the most extraordinary shifts in the geopolitical landscape
since September 11, challenged their own hard-line Islamic clerics
who swept Shah Mohammed Reza Pahlavi from power in 1979.
Tens of thousands of men and women also demonstrated, in several cities,
after World Cup-qualifying soccer matches. Instead of the expected support
for the national team, the protesters could be heard chanting, "We
love you, America!" After smashing banks, public telephones, street lighting
and bus stops, hundreds were arrested.
The man emerging as an important figurehead of the nascent rebellion
is none other than the late shah's son, the 41-year-old former fighter
pilot Reza Pahlavi, who has spent the last two-decades in exile.
When he was 14 years old, his father, was diagnosed with lymphoma. As
a result the teenage prince had to over-mature prematurely. He was snatched
away from the culture in which his peers would normally immerse and thrust
into a monarchical apprenticeship, which included state missions to Egypt
and England.
A mere four years later his father died in Egypt. Reza Pahlavi struggled
to fight back tears, as tearful distressed Iranian nationalists gathered
around him in Cairo to wtiness him taking the oath of responsibility as
legal claimant of the Iranian throne.
In 1980, when the Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein tore up the treaty he
signed with his father five years earlier, Prince Reza sent a telegram
to General Velayatollah Felahie, the Chief Commander of the Iranian
armed forces, offering to serve in the Iranian airforce as a fighter pilot
to defend his nation. The Ayatollahs turned down his offer, as his presence
would have contradicted their Orwellian re-writing of Iran's history.
Twenty two years later, Prince Reza Pahlavi, looking more and more like
his father, still offers his service to his nation. He looked, a little
more tired, than the last time I met him, early last year, in the same
modest central London hotel. The staff clearly adore him and welcome the
growing number of supporters, from among London Iranian community.
Despite his cold-generated cough, the prince spoke enthusiastically
for almost two hours, about his vision of Iran and the progress of his
campaign for democracy in Iran, whicj he discussed in an interview with
the Middle East last year.
Commenting on what his mother Empress Farah Pahlavi, told London Arabic
daily Asharq Al-Awsat two days earlier - that her son wants to return
and serve his country like any ordinary citizen- the Shah in exile sys
the important thing is that the people of Iran are given the right to chose
how they wish to be governed. Whether the future for Iran involves a republic
or constitutional monarchy, is not the issue at this time, he says. The
first aim shold be for the wishes of the Iranian people to be recorded
in a free and fair election.
"My mission in life, from the day I started 21 years ago, remains the
same, " said the man who most Iranian liberals in exile, as well as an
increasing number of Iranians at home, consider him to be the hope of salvation
from what many describe as its current nightmare.
He outlines his vision for a comprehensive strategy to give Iranian
people freedom of choice and real democracy, in his book, " Winds
of Change: the Future of Democracy in Iran" published feb 2002 in
Washington by Regency Publishing Inc., which he dedicated to the memory
of all Iran's fallen heroes and patriots.
" My goal is to reach a stage when the Iranian people can go to
a national referendum and vote their conscience and vote for their
future. That day, the day the Iranians go to the polls, is the end of my
mission in life. What they want to do afterwards is entirely up to
them and I stand ready to serve them in whatever capacity that they see
fit. "
"It is simply important that believers in secular democracy come together
to achieve that goal."
Prince Reza's opinions are shared by growing numbers of people inside
the Islamic Republic, where, increasingly,the rallying cry is for secular
democracy.
In 1997, when the voters elected philosopher Mohammed Khatami, thought
by the West to be the most liberal candidate the ayatollahs could stomach,
the idea of an Islamic democracy - although unworkable in practice - held
great promise. With his talk of a 'dialogue of civilizations' Khatami caught
the imagination of the Iranian public and Western journalists. John Lancaster
of The Washington Post called him 'yatollah Gorbachev', prompting
debate as to whether he would usher-in Iranian Perestroika, or he
was just a reformer, not a revolutionary. Many Middle East specialist now
say he is neither; Khatami was, after all, trained in the conservative
seminaries of Qum and is part of the regime, a point Reza Pahlavi capitalises
on to , warn us - western, journalists and governments- against a trap
that we might fall into and " betray the Iranian people, who deserve better
as they themselves have scratched the surface of Khatami's reforms and
uncovered the truth."
" This good cop, bad cop game was a carefully designed tactic by the
Islamic regime to confuse the outside world into some kind of an appeasement,"
he said.
He dismisses the idea of a moderate Khatami intent upon bringing about
real change. Any change, syas Reza pahlavi, would be superficial to help
lift US sanctions or improving trade to serve the interest of the ruling
elite, and not for the benefit of millions of impoverished Iranians.
"There is no such thing as a moderate in this [theological Islamic Republic]
system." He takes a leaf from Europe's own painful history book:
" we saw it with Nazis, some people were arguing that Ribbentrop was more
moderate than Himmler but they were [both] Nazis at the end."
In that sense, Says Prince Reza, Mr. Khatami loyalty is to the regime,
his allegiance is to the constitution, the only written constitution
in the world that rejects popular sovereignty. "We see, under this so-called
moderate system and reformist president, parliamentary members being incarcerated;
most of the Iranian newspapers shut down, and political prisoners.
The popular rhetoric is really aimed at confusing the outside world. The
struggle in Iran today is not about the moderate camp versus the radical
camp," he went on, "rather it pits the forces of state despotism
and religious fundamentalism against a nation that demands democracy, rejects
militant fundamentalism and relgious domination and repudiate the concept
of a supreme leader who rules over the others by a divine law."
In evaluating the progress of his year campaigning and calling upon
his people to use " non violent means and general civil disobedience
to force change," Reza Pahlavi cited few examples from inside Iran, in
addition to Last November demonstrations.
The candle-lit vigil held by many Iranians, men and women of all ages
and all walks of life, on the night of September 11 for the American victims,
was a liberal phenomenon using western Christian symbols, like candles,
in defiance of the regime and risking arrest by the revolutionary guard.
"Iran," commented the prince," is the only country in the area where
the majority of the people show sympathy to the West but the regime is
hostile to it." It is important for the world, he said, to separate
the Iranian people from their unpopular ruling regime.
He cited several examples, such as Iraq and Afghanistan: " when
the Taliban left Kabul, we immediately saw women taking
off their Buqas, the radio began broadcasting music and songs. Similarly,
when the East German government fell and the Soviet system fell, there
was great rejoicing. "what was the true sentiment of those nations
before the change ?` he asked, " this is exactly what you would see in
Iran... as a matter of fact we see it today."
He says September 11 was, and should be an eye-opener for the
west and particularly for America. " The tragedy caused the decision
making circles in the west to evaluate its short-termism and began consider
its long term interests."
" Who in the west, before September 11 , gave any thought
to the suffering of the Afghani people? Afghanistan was not on any list
of western priority, let alone Western public opinion"
The 11 September events were a painful lesson to be digested by
the west, he sai. " Eradicating terrorism needs detailed long term strategy
and continues efforts."
He warns that terrorism will not disappear by jailing people like Carols
the Jackal, killing bin Laden and destroying the bases of Al-Qaedah and
Hizbullah. " It is essential to deal with the root- causes, confronting
regimes that supports terrorism, and addressing the factors that create
the culture, exploited by twisted-mind clergy and the likes of bin Laden
to brainwash the young into becoming suicide bombers."
Interestingly, he reminded historians how the Islamic suicide-bomber
phenomenon, only emerged with Ayatollah Khomeini's revolutionary doctrine.
Prince Reza believes thatthe painful lessons of history show that true
democracy is the only basis for any lasting political solution." By spreading
democracy and ending social, political, and economic injustice, by encouraging
religious tolerance, social justice and fighting poverty in our Muslim
countries, we can secure our societies and protect them against the
tied of fundamentalism and terrorism recruitment movements," he explained,
while listing the ingredients of his long term recipe for eradicating terrorism
from the Islamic world.
The Iranian regime responded to September 11 events with typical ambivalence;
condemning the terrorists, after the vigils were held by the people
but saying that the United Nations, not the United States, should lead
any war on terrorism.
Yet the truth, which is recognised by Reza Pahlavi, is that ordinary
Iranians aren't much bothered by events in Afghanistan, even though Iran's
hard-line media plays up reports of civilian casualties.
His contacts inside Iran, which he claims continued since the family
left the country in 1978, are growing in size, providing him with news
of what is going on there. His website, Prince Reza confirmed, had scored
several million hits, mainly from inside Iran, during the 10 months
since we last met, and he has also recieved hundreds of thousands of personal
e-mails from inside the coutry.
"The people of Iran can use a much-needed boost of support from the
free world," Reza Pahlavi said in a speech at Yale University, Just
five days before the demonstrations in which participants chanted his name
in Iran last November. "They especially look to America as a beacon of
hope, expecting her not to let them down by cutting a deal with the rulers
of Iran for short-term gains."
A report in The Wall Street Journal last November indicated
that the young Iranians, who form majority of the population today, were
curious and somewhat intrigued by the man whose father died in exile years
before they were born, and of whome the have only recently learned details.
"He [Reza Pahlavi] says we need freedom. He says we'll be like Europe,"
as 17-year-old Afshin Sadeqi, one of the teenage multitudes in Teheran's
streets last November told Hugh Pope and Peter Waldman of The
Wall Street Journal. The young student had never heard of Reza
Pahlavi until last October, when he saw him speaking on videotape. "We
didn't know who he was," Mr. Sadeqi says. "But as soon as we heard him,
we felt it was our own words that we couldn't say. He said them beautifully."
The protesters' taunts directed at Iran's clerical leadership were astonishing,
the WSJ report continues, particularly these: "We love you, America,"
and "We love you, Reza Pahlavi."
"Until a month ago, nobody knew who Reza Pahlavi was," says Mr. Havaji,
a 38-year-old civil engineer. "We Iranians want to be players in the global
village, and his [Westernised] character fits this picture very well. When
he says we just want to be normal again, this touches everybody. Our society
has decided to become a secular democracy."
Reza Pahlavi described to me how the Clergy regime, after such reports
were published, sent their police around the houses confiscating
satellite dishes.
His advice to his fellow Iranians, on his website and via his broadcast
is to smash their dishes to stop the corrupt elements of the regime reselling
them their very own ' confiscated' dishes back a few months from now at
inflated prices. Such advice rang true with th local people and revealed
Prince Reza not only as a man who cares, but one who knows exactly what
goes on Iran, despite living in exile.
Taking a few sheets of paper out of the inside pocket of his smart suite,
where he scribbled many notes in Farsi, Prince Reza's eyes lit up; he
grinned from ear to ear as he translated a selection of the slogans used
by demonstrators against the regime in several demonstrations held in late
January - one of which coincided with a visit by UN Secretary General Kofi
Anan - and others chanted by students demonstrating in support of their
teachers, who also demonstrated for better conditions a day earlier.
" The Taliban faces has to be extinguished " was one of the slogans
comparing the clergy to the Taliban, " Leave Palestine alone and attend
to our needs," said another; " your media is not saying enough about us,"
critocised another. Yet more, including " You incompetent must resign"
and, " enough we are tired of 20 years of betrayal," could hardly have
been more direct in their criticism.
`
Prince Reza will be looking to a variety of Iranian groups for support
to bring about democratic change; they include the intelligentsia, the
professional class, an increasingly alienated large sections of the
clergy including many Islamic scholars, weary of the theological autocratic
elite who, they belive, have isolated them from the people. Last but not
least, he will be looking for the support of the bazaaris or merchant-
class, whose desertion of his father dealt a fatal blow to his ruling regime.
Mr. Pahlavi, says Franklin Foer in The New Republic, has
carefully crafted his appeal to Iranian youth, by far the country's most
dynamic political force. His comments are laced with references to their
frustration, which he seems to have adroitly adopted as his own.
Reza Pahlavi said that "the message from [Iran's] 50 million young
is that an investment in the people of Iran and their rightful struggle
for secularism and popular sovereignty is the best guarantee against continued
regional instability and radicalism emanating from Teheran."
He also championed women's rights, regarded as the Islamic
regime's Achilles' heel. When asked about women's rights by a caller from
Iran in a recent two-hour interview on satellite TV, he said, "Women's
rights are human rights ... Under the clerics, however, the Iranian women
have suffered the most by having been subject to the most humiliating social
restrictions and laws."
Several reporters who have visited Teheran in recent months cited
another sign of Reza Pahlavi's sresurgence: The Islamic government
fears him. His recent statements condemning the regime's human rights record
have evoked apoplectic responces from ayatollahs in the government-run
newspapers. The mullahs have even vigorously protested former King Zahir
Shah's return to Afghanistan because, Iran watchers argue, they worry it
might set a precedent for Pahlavi. While there are several other
opposition figures, according to analysts, those reporters come back saying
many people started perceiving Reza Pahlavi as the only credible
alternative to the ruling regime.
Cyrus Kadviar, a London based Iranian businessman says that the young
today hear their parents talk about the days of the late Shah, about the
prosperity and the choices they had, choices of which todays youth are
deprived. " They simply tell their children that the older generation,
made a terrible mistake, by getting rid of the Shah, which they now
regret."
Mr Kadivar too heard from his father how in 1960 the Shah
was very close to his people, as his 'white revolution' gave the Iranians
hope of fast progress, prosperity and generous welfare, and there was no
sign in the horizon, at that point, of the flood that was to drown the
nation 17 years later. Distinguished Journalist and historian Dr Ali Nouri
zadeh, says the years of Reza's growing up, were associated, in the minds
of the Iranians, with the years of prosperity and progress.
He recalls how, in November 1960, thousands of Iranians flooded the
streets around the " Mother and Child Maternity hospital, within
minutes of Teheran radio announcing that Empress Farah, the third
wife of the Shah, has given birth to a healthy male, named Prince Reza.
"The late shah had separated from his first wife, Princess Fawziyah
of Egypt, after giving birth to one daughter Shahenaz, then he had to
divorce Sorya who couldn't medically have children, the people of Iran
have been waiting many years for the birth of a son to succeed his
father to the throne to secure the continuity of the monarchy. Prince Reza's
birth was greeted by much rejoicing." Dr Nouri zadeh said.
Four decades later, Iranians are again gathering in the streets, calling
out the name of Prince Reza. Could the Iranians be waiting for a
rebirth of Reza Pahlavi to start another white revolution, this time based
on full democracy?
