IDEAS

That is old news ...(to kj)

my freing KJ, for once I agree with you. That is an Old news .... (that has not yet penetrated the dark corners of your mind).
BTW, KJ, Iranians have had great scientific achievements many of which are the result of reverse engineering the existing technologies, reinventing the wheel is not the way to go.
Of course if you had not deprived Iran from your Brain you could have reinvented the wheel all over again!

5 million drugh addicts in

5 million drugh addicts in Iran:

Officially there are 1m drug addicts in Iran but international health workers estimate that the figure is much closer to 5m, in a country of 70m people.

While much is known about the problem in neighbouring Afghanistan, and particularly about the explosion in opium production since the US-led invasion seven years ago, Iran’s significant drug challenge is below the radar.

But Iran shares a long border with Afghanistan, which produces 90 per cent of the world’s opium, and as much as half of that is smuggled through Iran, partly for export and partly for consumption by people such as Mr Fatehi.

Iran’s addicts spend $3bn (€2.1bn, £1.5bn) – the equivalent of 15 per cent of Iran’s annual oil income – on drugs each year and their problem has led to a multitude of social ills, including an increase in HIV infections. There are about 70,000 HIV/Aids sufferers in Iran, about 60 per cent of whom were infected by sharing needles.

But just as Iran is a victim of its geography, Mr Fatehi, 37, was in some ways a victim of his success.

“I dropped out of school and started selling socks and stockings,” he says at the Persepolis centre, a non-governmental treatment centre in a gritty suburb in southern Tehran where he goes every day for methadone, an opiate-replacement therapy.

“I was making very good money so I hired someone to run the business for me. I had a lot of free time to go to my friends’ houses and have fun, but one of them introduced me to opium.”

He progressed to heroin, crack cocaine and crystal meth and was an addict for more than a decade, until he finally sought help three years ago.

“Physically I’m clean now but mentally I’m not. I can’t imagine not having any substances in my life,” he says. “But this medicine has helped me a lot.”

The Persepolis centre is one of a handful of pioneering institutions that treats drug users. It focuses on harm reduction – giving fresh syringes and condoms to addicts – and provides methadone to about 250 people a day, a fifth of whom are women.

“Many addicts catch other diseases such as HIV or hepatitis so we teach them how to inject cleanly and to uphold healthy practices,” says Gaila Darvishany, one of the centre’s managers. Volunteer workers dole out plastic cups of methadone and change the dressings on the wounds of crack users who have accidentally burnt themselves.

The government is trying to stem the flow of drugs into the country, a struggle that has led to the killing of more than 4,000 police officers in the course of drug control operations since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran has built what Roberto Arbitrio, the head of the United Nations office on drugs and crime in Tehran, calls an “Iranian Great Wall” of ditches and fences along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Iran is a natural bridge between Afghanistan and the ‘Balkan route’ to Europe. Plus, to the north there is the Caspian Sea and the Russian market, and to the south is the Gulf, increasingly a route for hashish,” Mr Arbitrio says.

“But this is not a situation where you’ve got a guy coming across the border with a suitcase containing 1kg of heroin,” Mr Arbitrio says. Traffickers in 4WDs carry Kalashnikov machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, travelling “like an army” and using guerrilla warfare, he says....

//www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f4d997ac-d665-11dc-b9f4-...

Note the misleading title of the article...the article doesn't tell readers that the IRGC runs the drug industry in iran...

5 million drugh addicts in

5 million drugh addicts in Iran:

Officially there are 1m drug addicts in Iran but international health workers estimate that the figure is much closer to 5m, in a country of 70m people.

While much is known about the problem in neighbouring Afghanistan, and particularly about the explosion in opium production since the US-led invasion seven years ago, Iran’s significant drug challenge is below the radar.

But Iran shares a long border with Afghanistan, which produces 90 per cent of the world’s opium, and as much as half of that is smuggled through Iran, partly for export and partly for consumption by people such as Mr Fatehi.

Iran’s addicts spend $3bn (€2.1bn, £1.5bn) – the equivalent of 15 per cent of Iran’s annual oil income – on drugs each year and their problem has led to a multitude of social ills, including an increase in HIV infections. There are about 70,000 HIV/Aids sufferers in Iran, about 60 per cent of whom were infected by sharing needles.

But just as Iran is a victim of its geography, Mr Fatehi, 37, was in some ways a victim of his success.

“I dropped out of school and started selling socks and stockings,” he says at the Persepolis centre, a non-governmental treatment centre in a gritty suburb in southern Tehran where he goes every day for methadone, an opiate-replacement therapy.

“I was making very good money so I hired someone to run the business for me. I had a lot of free time to go to my friends’ houses and have fun, but one of them introduced me to opium.”

He progressed to heroin, crack cocaine and crystal meth and was an addict for more than a decade, until he finally sought help three years ago.

“Physically I’m clean now but mentally I’m not. I can’t imagine not having any substances in my life,” he says. “But this medicine has helped me a lot.”

The Persepolis centre is one of a handful of pioneering institutions that treats drug users. It focuses on harm reduction – giving fresh syringes and condoms to addicts – and provides methadone to about 250 people a day, a fifth of whom are women.

“Many addicts catch other diseases such as HIV or hepatitis so we teach them how to inject cleanly and to uphold healthy practices,” says Gaila Darvishany, one of the centre’s managers. Volunteer workers dole out plastic cups of methadone and change the dressings on the wounds of crack users who have accidentally burnt themselves.

The government is trying to stem the flow of drugs into the country, a struggle that has led to the killing of more than 4,000 police officers in the course of drug control operations since the 1979 Islamic revolution.

Iran has built what Roberto Arbitrio, the head of the United Nations office on drugs and crime in Tehran, calls an “Iranian Great Wall” of ditches and fences along the border with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Iran is a natural bridge between Afghanistan and the ‘Balkan route’ to Europe. Plus, to the north there is the Caspian Sea and the Russian market, and to the south is the Gulf, increasingly a route for hashish,” Mr Arbitrio says.

“But this is not a situation where you’ve got a guy coming across the border with a suitcase containing 1kg of heroin,” Mr Arbitrio says. Traffickers in 4WDs carry Kalashnikov machine guns and rocket-propelled grenade launchers, travelling “like an army” and using guerrilla warfare, he says....

//www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f4d997ac-d665-11dc-b9f4-...

Note the misleading title of the article...the article doesn't tell readers that the IRGC runs the drug industry in iran...

anonymo 7: That is old news.

anonymo 7: That is old news. Khamenie is basically afraid of the IRGC and Ahamdinejad's faction. I won't be surprised if Iran becomes a military dictatorship by a coup against the mullahs orchestrated by the IRGC and Ahmadinjad's hojatieh. This is where things are heading as I see it.

Barking up the wrong tree...

Kj, says: "...Obviously, you don't think Iran deserves much better than the mullahs...so much love for Iran"

My extremist friend KJ, you are barking up the wrong tree. First of all, these days Mullahs are not quite in charge, secondly among Mullahs just like other Iranians are those who are corrupt that those who are not corrupt. Look at this good article in La Times

//www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-f...

my friend KJ, you extremists are out of touch with many realities of Iran.

Anonymo 7: If you were

Anonymo 7: If you were really proud of Iran and being Iranian, you would be outraged at what has been happening in Iran for the past 28 years. Scientific Achievement??? All those fake, reverse-engineered junk? I'm sorry, if your really loved Iran, you would educate yourself about Iran's past and present. Obviously, you don't think Iran deserves much better than the mullahs...so much love for Iran.

On issue of forgiveness: All the kleptocrats in Iran must donate their wealth to rebuild south of Tehran and all other disenfranchised communities,,,the money will be used to build schools, vocational and academic, libararies, hospitals, and also business loans and other assistance in making the mostazefin financially independent wher they learn a trade and open their businesses instead of having to spy for the regime to make ends meet.

Toppling the regime!? (re: KJ)

KJ says: "What's at stake for you if the regime is toppled?"

Some 20+ years ago when I was a 22 year old extremist idiot I would have given you a thumb up and said let's go for it. However now I ask what/who is/are your alternative to IRI?

well said Xerxes (re: KJ)

Mr. Kj, I must also add that in Iran I saw reconciliation going very well. Unfortunately despite what you think I am not very well connected with Iran since I don't get a chance to visit as often as I like.
KJ, by the way many Iranians that I know go for not only visiting their families but also visiting Iran, many of them show their pictures in a website called iranian.com.
You see, unlike you Mr. KJ many of us are proud of our other home despite our disagreements with IRI (in my case I disagree with their neglect of middle class Iranians).
I am specially proud of scientific achievements of Iranians.

Anonymous4now

I can't vote on that site since there is no other option listed. My "no" might mean "yes" to MKO, I can't vote like that. We did that once, it was wrong then and it is wrong now.
I still believe we need to realize our part of the equation in the Iranian dilemma, and our focus should not be the prescription of democracy for the Iranians inside the country. We just need to make the path smooth for them to do what they see fit. Making noise about the sanctions to the US admin and working to show the atrocities of the regime if necessary by working for human/women Rights issues. Leave the root for the Iranians inside to decide. It's only fare. If the path of opposition was define as such, I think we would experience a different Iran today. But whenever you catch the fish from the waters, it's fresh!

to: anonym 7 Wishful

to: anonym 7

Wishful thinking...those plane loads of Iranians want to see their families after years of seperation...it has nothing to do with reconciliation...dream on...You must be very well connected to the regime. What's at stake for you if the regime is toppled?

well said Xerxes

Xrexes, whether these extremists like it or not Iranians are already in a reconciliation path. Those planeloads full of Iranians that visit Iran testify to that, my Bahaii friend who visits Iran more than me testifies to that ... that Iranian Jewish guy (Mosses Bab) whose video was posted in Iranian.com testifies to that, I can go on and on with that....
Those of us who really care about Iran (and US for that matter) need to strengthen reconciliation, push IRI for redistribution of wealth in Iran (this is a tough one), advocate removal of sanctions (as you stated) .....

To: Anonymous 4 now: Please

To: Anonymous 4 now:

Please read these article and give him your feedback. Thanks.

//www.forward.com/articles/12643/

//hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2008/02...

Xerxes

I think we are all in agreement that justice must be served.  I don't think anybody said anything about revenge or inhumane acts such as cutting limbs off.  But serving that justice is the disincentive for this regime to give up authority to reform.

I personally think everyone of the officials must be kept alive in prison and allowed to buy their freedom (down to a minimum prison sentence) based on findings of how much they have pocketed.  Those who have committed torture and murder must never again see the daylight.

In the mean time, go to the following website and vote for or against the IRI (a repeat of the 1979 vote).

//www.channelonetv.com/

Xerxes Xerxes Xerxes

Xerxes Man

What on earth are you talking about?

Who said anything about taking revenge and killing the opposition
where in my responses I have said anything about revenge? I for one believe and
always believed that we have enough of killing and revenge.

But that does not mean that a criminal like IRI leaders and
their cronies should go unpunished.

You seem to have totally lost the plot. Our argument was about IRI’s legitimacy as a
government and whether there is any hope of reform for this retarded system or if
we on can compare such back warded dictatorship with the governments of Europe after their revolution.

As I made it clear to you for various reasons I do not believe
such comparison could be drawn and for its very nature the IRI is incapable of
reform

RE:Anonymous99

Let's agree that IRI is evil. Are you trying to tell me that in the future of Iran, in your vision, again, one group will be the "khodi" and others "naa-khodi"? and in "your" future Iran I would be naa-khodi. Would you kill people like me? Minds like mine for crime of speaking, being different than you? so your solution is a secular IRI? OK thanks but no thanks.
Note to all, That's what I am always referring when talking about the "ideology" (lack of) from "opposition". We can't get anywhere with this mind set!
We have to help the Iranians inside the country, that's it, that's our part. The Iranians will do the rest.

Why your thoughts "Areyo Barzan" is dangerous

When you start your ideology with revenge and plan the killings after you are in, the killings will be the least of the Iranian problems. Haven't you learned from our previous lesson (revolution)?
If the Iranian people succeed then those who are hated and proven that are guilty will pay according to the humane laws put in place. You must realize that not only IRI is wrong in many ways, the people are not right either. We have to mature as a society, and that takes time and afford. It won't be easy and we will have obstacles. But once there, no country, person or situation can take that back from us. Our traditions need to adjust and become modern, based on the Iranian traditional base (Religion, language, art = culture). I think we will have time for "revenge" but I don't think it's necessary. As long as we still think similar to pre revolutionary ideas about Iran, we have not moved forward and possibly not ready for democracy. Then I agree with you, we should not forget about the crimes of IRI and begin the prosecution process immediately, whether in or out of Iran!! But then what?

Anonymous347

Dear Anonymous347

As you know I do not see any hope in the future with IRI  or its reform and I think trying to reform IRI
is an effort wasted.

However we should learn to listen to the other point of view
and counter it with logic.

The fact of the matter is that there are still quiet a lot of
people who think like these guys and are trapped in IRI’s spin. Only by raising
such issues and analyzing it in such open firms we can change peoples mind and perceptions.

The problems in today’s Iran is that there are not a lot of
people who dare to challenge such retarded points of view and those who do are
often being harassed by IRI and its cronies

If some people still want to put their hops on the IRI it is
their choice but we need to learn to shift peoples political views by using logic
and pointing them into the flaws in their argument.

Of course at the end of the day there would still be people
who would believe what they want to believe and all the logic in the world
would not be able to shift their opinion but this is the challenge that we must
engage with, for the sake of those who might be able to see the light and
change their way of their thinking.

If we are going break this vicious circle of exoticism and
spin and if we are going to turn the country around we need to learn the art of
debate and persuasion.

Noting is sacred and no idea or opinion should be banned
from being heard. If some of these ideas are stupid then it is we who need to
expose them and in the end those who put such ideas forward make a full of
themselves. But by excluding them we simply make them a martyr and you would
surprised to know how many naive suggestible people still exist in Iran
who are more than ready to fall for a martyr underdog.

We need to speak the truth

We need to speak the truth about the IRI and get justice for millions of victims of IR who have been silenced forever by the butchers-in-chief.

Xerexes: I hate to break it to you, Iranians are not like Americans. They don't forget easily. We don't need morally and ethically bankrupt and despicable people like you to be either be hopeful or pessimistic about future of Iran. We don't need people like you in the future Iran, period. You're scum of the earth, spineless load of filth from a cesspool of IRI...

Just an observation

Has this guy (oazadi) reached puberty yet? Just wondering....

Dear Aryeo I agree that

Dear Aryeo

I agree that that we should stop all these petty and frankly quite childish infightings among us and try to come up with a no-strings attached genuine solution to our 29-year-old problem, nonetheless, based on my observations having read most of these ongoing debates and discussions, the majority on this site seems to be with those who see hope in the IRI establishment and its future (and of course they give all sorts of flaky excuses and reasons to justify their views and warped logic) and you seem to respectfully disagree with all of them! Please enlighten me and make me understand as to how you guys or anybody for that matter are benefitting from these futile discussions?

oazadi, well said last point

You said it very well in your last paragraph. If we equate personalities with regimes we will not find light at the end of any tunnel. I personally don't equate US (regime) with these liars (see (US) Center for Public Integrity //www.publicintegrity.org/WarCard/ . I am an optimist I think US is not Bush et all and Iran is not Rafsanjani ....

anonymous347

Well anonymous347

I wish for once you people have made up your mind

If people outside Iran stopped commenting and caring about Iran or stopped looking for a solution to our problems, you and others like you would be among  the first lot to accuse them of being a sell out and forgetting about their country and fellow countrymen.

Now that they are caring about the situation in Iran and are trying to get involved and find a solution, you are patronizing them for their choice of where to live

So which do you want it.

Isn’t it about height time that we Iranians inside and out of the country stopped fighting amongst ourselves, put and end to this childish tit for tat and started acting like mature adults

If we are going to pull this thing off and bring about a change we need the help opinion and incite of every one and any one. And if we want to avoid the danger of handing the country to another dictator all opinions should be involved respected and thoroughly analyzed

Iranians outside Iran have also valuable experience and knowledge about how the other societies over came the problems that today’s Iran is struggling with. Also because unlike us they are not bugged down with everyday’s problems of life in this country, by looking from outside they can have a better overall perspective that we Inside Iran are missing. In the same way that we inside Iran have more knowledge of everyday problems of the country and its people and the immediate needs

Needless to say that there is only one lot that benefit from this division and petty fighting and that is IRI

I wish for once

I wish for once all these benevolent "very hopeful" solution advisors would move back permanently to Iran and prescribe their "limited options" and solutions to people right there instead of sitting out in the relative comfort of the West advising from afar.

So Xerxes !?

So Xerxes Lets see if I got it right. You are willing to forget all the crimes of the IRI and sweep their murders tortures and stealing under the carpet on the false hope that some day, they might wake up and say OK until now we have stolen enough and murdered enough. Our greed and hunger for power has been totally satisfied in every way, so it is now time for reform and to become good again. To actualy say that we think it is  now time to return the power to the people and reform to become good responsible politicians Well !! Dream on Mate ;-)Where have you been all these years?When they have their hand on a vast oil reserve and the wealth of a nation what kind of incentive can persuade them not to steal and embezzle.Do you even read the history or just take other peoples word for granted as long as it is fanciful and well structured.

When you accept the comparison of the Iranian regime with the French government after the revolution, have you ever stopped to think that one essential factor is missing from Iranian political arena, which is freedom of speech and political activity.

Where in the history after British or French revolution their government have executed the members of political opposition and murdered the opposition leaders and activists even out of the country in the name of national security, just to ensure its own survivor. Where in the democratic history of Europe and North America all the candidate of an election had to be appointed and approved by one man on the condition of them taking an oath of legion to him and his system.Which government in the French and British history have paid foreign mercenaries (Palestinians and Lebanese) to kill and maim people and student activists in order to suppress their uprising and objection to the injustice that is happening in their doorstep The existence of various political views which were always apposing the government policies and its norms together with freedom speech and political activities without any fear of prosecution imprisonment and execution was and still is the essence of western democracy and its gradual steady evolution and progress.This is the major factor that is absent from the political atmosphere in today’s Iran and until this essential factor is restored the rest is noting but mambo jumbo and wishful thinking. Now if you want to wash you hand of your responsibility, hide your head in the sand, close your eye to the fact on the ground and wish for a miracle that someday, somehow these murderer dictators might change their ways then by all mean be my gust.

But please do not come here and pretend that you are better than those who are giving their life for freedom of their fellow countrymen and do not try to portrait a demon that is IRI as an angel in making

It just doesn’t wash

Anonymous4now

I disagree. I don't think they even need to mention the crimes. It will be forgotten, just the same that President Bush crimes in Iraq will some day be forgotten. I hope that you are wrong because the options are truly limited. I am very hopeful...

Thank you Anonymous111

As much as I want to be happy about having caught a spinner in his own web, I, like you, am saddened to see educated Iranians, some 30 years later, still falling for this kind of clap trap.    

Anonymous-4-now: Brilliant.

Anonymous-4-now: Brilliant. Unfortunately, the Iranian society is frozen in an dire ignorance...This author is the product of that society...the information they receive is all propganda and revision and re-writing of history...garbage in-garbage out. Do they even understand the irony? The Islamic thinkers manufactured by the Islamic republic are so detached from the realties of the world. They live in a parallel universe of their own. How can we have any hope for change when supposedly educated Iranians congratulate each other on a piece that could have easily been written by a mentally retarded person on someone on illicit drugs??

Iranian Regime: How

Iranian Regime: How Tyrannies Survive?
//libiran.blogspot.com/2006/09/david-ignatius...
The Islamic Republic regime of Iran is a tyranny.

For the purposes of this writing, the detail mechanisms of the IR tyrannical rule in Iran's conditions do not matter so much. They do matter, however, when one is devising specific or tactical policy plans, which is beyond the scope of this piece. Instead I limit myself to the general mechanisms of the tyrannical rule, which should be adequate for planning strategic policies.

A tyranny sustains its rule internally through a cycle of repression and misinformation to keep the society closed. This could go on indefinitely if people would or could still produce efficiently and live happily under tyrannical rule. However, a direct consequence of tyranny is that it cannot possibly employ the society's various internal capacities effectively. Against exponentially mounting economic and social hurdles, a tyranny invariably needs a mechanism through which it can supply the needs of the society from external sources without compromising the powers of its rulers. This is the most important function of a tyranny's foreign policy. It is also its Achilles' heel.

Foreign Policy Objectives: The Case for Democracy

What should the objectives of the foreign policy of a free country, or collectively, of the free world be toward a tyranny? This is a contentious issue. Understandably, any foreign policy does and must pursue the interests of the people for which the policy has been devised. I argue that the foreign policy that best serves the interests of the people of a free country is one that promotes and seeks the establishment of a democracy anywhere in the world. Most importantly, it must seek the replacement of tyrannies with democracies.

There are many moral and practical reasons for my argument. Instead of going through them in detail, I present one reason that is often mistakenly used in opposition: security. By its nature a free country's first task must be the protection of the lives and freedoms of its citizens. This raises the issue of security as an important foreign policy objective.

However, lasting and reliable security can only be negotiated and acheived with democratic countries.

A tyranny may tactically accept or even initiate security agreements, but the purpose of such agreements is to supply its needs without compromising its tyrannical rule. So, it may soon calculate that the current security agreements are not enough or necessary for its survival, at which point it would see no need to honour them.

A democracy, on the other hand, has no such incentive and even strong disagreements between democracies never create direct security problems for the parties. More importantly, democracies have every incentive to find a solution for their disagreements and continue to cooperate with each other on many levels seamlessly and often quietly even though they might vocally disagree on a few issues. For recent examples of the two cases one may look at the relationship between US and Pakistan or Saudi Arabia, on the one hand, and the US and France or Germany, on the other.

In short, a tyranny, even a friendly one, is always a security threat. A democracy, even one that disagrees with us, is never so.

//libiran.blogspot.com/2006/09/david-ignatius...

IRI and reform

IRI will not accept reform because any meaningful reform will hold the current officials of the regime accountable for the crimes they have committed, and that will not be acceptable and permitted by this regime! This regime is holding onto power by brute force and will not give up without violence.  

This is age old Safsateh.

This is age old Safsateh.  It is funny how every one of the threads on Iranian.com has a master of Safsateh making circular arguments with fancy words for which they have no depth of understanding.  It is clear you have not been able to break free from the ideas imposed on you by your brain washing masters.  I have no doubt in time you will be able to overcome this confusion and analyze the information fed to you and come up with a more logical conclusion.  You write:

  اینک اگر سیر تحول غرب را به وضعیت تاریخ معاصر ایران مانند کنیم در خواهیم یافت که دو دوره سلطنت مطلقه پهلوی اساسا نمایی از حاکمیت دولت مدرن ملی بودند که زوال آنها موجب زایش یک دولت محافظه کار سنتی یا به تعبیری بنیاد گرا شد. این دولت مدرن نه تنها ارتجاعی نیست چون بخشی از فرآیند مدرنیزاسیون است، بلکه غیر مدرن هم نیست. اساسا جمهوری اسلامی پدیده ای نه پدیده ای واکنشی به جنبش مدرنیزاسیون ایران است، بلکه در دل جریان های روشنفکری ایران به وجود آمد.  

What the hell did you just say?  How did you navigate from the failure of the seemingly modern nationalistic authoritarian government of the Pahlavis which facilitated the birth of a conservative, traditional, fundamentalist government, to calling that new government, a modern government?  What is so modern about the 1400 year old concept of khelafat? What standards are you using for branding this conservative, traditional, fundamentalist government, modern?  How can you be conservative, traditional, fundamentalist and modern at the same time?  

Further you assert it is not reactionary.  Then why the heck did it mandate an upheaval and did not try to reform the previous government?  If it were a grass roots evolutionary movement, then why did it resort to a revolution, and the undoing of the established government, to get to power?  Why is it liquidating its opposition to ensure its own survival?  If that is not reactionary, then what is?    

Then you argue that this modern government is not only not reactionary because it is the result of (reaction to?) modernization, but it is not opposed to modernity either!!?  What the heck are you on?   Did you think about what you wrote down?  How can this not so reactionary government be the result and a consequence of modernization (reaction to the failure of modernization) and not be opposed to modernization?  Do you understand the paradox you have created?       

You then continue:  The IRI is a phenomenon, not a reactionary phenomenon to modernization (why?  How did you establish this?), but born of the Iranian intellectual Movement.  I have no doubt you have no understanding of what you are saying and are only regurgitating what’s been hammered into your head.    For 30 years the IRI has tried to legitimize itself by enforcing the incoherent ideas you express here, by brute force, and it has apparently made you into a mouthpiece for that ideology.     They prepared you well for a life of dominion over the naakhodies, but seem to have lost you to the decadent imperialist West, which will in time undo your programming.   The Iranian nation was fooled into this revolution by the potent propaganda machine of the left and the conspiracy of the Islamists who had been planning this revolution, at least, from the beginning of the seventies.  The political ignorance of the Iranian population handed the Islamists a victory on a silver platter.  There were the so called thinkers like Shariati who gave them the appearance and legitimacy of intellectualism, in the minds of a nation that did not want to bother to think for itself.  But the nation is 30 years older and wiser and people are much better informed to be fooled by safsateh.