VISITOR
به زبان فارسی
PICTORY
LATEST MUSIC
SEARCH
Back From Iran
15-Jul-2010
"I just got back from Iran."
In today's America, that's a conversation-stopper. Those of us able to say it become temporary objects of fascination, like our grandparents would have been if they had visited China or the Soviet Union in the 1950s. Traveling to Iran makes one seem like a bold adventurer on a dangerous foray into enemy territory.
The reality is more prosaic. Although few Americans visit Iran, there is in fact no legal obstacle to doing so. I accompanied a group of American tourists on a thousand-mile, two-week trip through the country. We met no government or opposition leaders, but we were free to talk with ordinary Iranians, and did so at every stop. Because the government has made it difficult for Western journalists to work in Iran, traveling the country this way may now be the best way to gauge its people's mood.
The first thing that strikes Americans who visit Iran is how amazingly pro-American its people are. Nowhere else in the Middle East, nowhere else in the Muslim world, and almost nowhere else on earth do people so unreservedly admire the United States. Opinion surveys confirm this phenomenon, and I remembered it from previous visits. Nonetheless it was disorienting, in the heart of the purported axis of evil, to to be surrounded, as I was at Imam Square in Isfahan, by giddy female college students shrieking "We love America so much!" At a Persian garden in Kashan, I met a solemn elder whose only English phrase is "America very good," and who pronounced it with grave reverence.
Pro-American feeling in Iran is due mainly to Iranians' admiration for what the United States has achieved. Americans have what many Iranians want: democracy, personal freedom, and rule of law. Their desire for these blessings is not abstract or transitory. It is the product of their century of striving toward liberal democracy. Since the Constitutional Revolution of 1906, generations of Iranians have assimilated democratic ideals. Today their society is the opposite of their regime: open, tolerant, and eager to engage with the world. There is more long-term potential for democracy in Iran than almost anywhere else in the Muslim Middle East.
Pro-American sentiment in Iran is a priceless strategic asset for the US. A military attack would liquidate or at least severely weaken this asset. It would probably turn the most pro-American population in the Middle East into anti-Americans, further undermining the US position in the world's most volatile region.
The second thing I learned in Iran is that last year's explosion of anti-government protest is finished, at least for the moment. Governments use repression against protesters for the simple reason that it usually works. It has worked in Iran. Many people are unhappy -- it is impossible to estimate how many -- but no one I met predicted more upheaval soon. Life is reasonably good for most Iranians, and a possibly stolen election is not enough to force them from their homes to face beatings and arrest.
This suggests that if there are to be any negotiations with Iran over the next few years -- the amount of time it may take for the Iranian nuclear program to mature -- they will have to be with the current regime. Postponing a broad negotiating offer in the hope that the regime may fall is unrealistic.
Finally, I was struck -- though not surprised -- by the unanimity with which Iranians, even those who joined last year's protests and fervently support the reform agenda, reject help from the US or any other outside power.
"Many people don't like the regime, but they don't want the Americans to come and rule us," a shopkeeper in the Shiraz bazaar told me. "They would rather live under a regime they don't like than a regime placed in power by foreigners."
This sentiment is widespread and powerful in Iran. The reason is to be found in modern history. For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, Iran was ravaged by foreigners who subjugated its people and looted its resources. Whenever Iran has sought to modernize -- whether by building a steel mill in the 1930s or by nationalizing its oil industry in the 1950s -- outsiders have intervened to block it. This has made Iranians as sensitive to foreign intervention as any people in the world. It leads them to reject political forces that they see as sponsored, supported, or encouraged from abroad.
Some Americans would like to see Congress and President Obama embrace Iran's democratic movement vigorously and publicly. But not even the movement's own leaders want this support. Far from helping them, an endorsement from Washington would stigmatize them and de-legitimize their cause. Americans often assume that their support for like-minded friends in the world is helpful. In Iran, it would not be.
"Bush was very bad," mused a math teacher I found sitting beneath a fig tree in the town of Rayen. "Obama is a little better. But Iranian people believe that when America and England look at Iran and Arab countries, it is only because they want to steal what we have."
Sobering realities shape Iranian politics: There will be no regime change soon, and there is little the West can do to hasten it. Nonetheless, Iran may have more democratic potential than almost any other society in the Muslim world. Seventy percent of Iranians are under the age of 30. Change will come, but at Iran's pace, not America's.
In the meantime, centrifuges will keep spinning at Iran's nuclear plants. This looming crisis cries out for creative diplomacy, but Washington remains frozen in the paradigm of confrontation.
First published in HuffingtonPost.com.
AUTHOR
Stephen Kinzer is an author and newspaper reporter. He is a veteran New York Times correspondent who has reported from more than fifty countries on five continents.
RECENT COMMENTS
IRANIANS OF THE DAY
| Person | About | Day |
|---|---|---|
| نسرین ستوده: زندانی روز | Dec 04 | |
| Saeed Malekpour: Prisoner of the day | Lawyer says death sentence suspended | Dec 03 |
| Majid Tavakoli: Prisoner of the day | Iterview with mother | Dec 02 |
| احسان نراقی: جامعه شناس و نویسنده ۱۳۰۵-۱۳۹۱ | Dec 02 | |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Prisoner of the day | 46 days on hunger strike | Dec 01 |
| Nasrin Sotoudeh: Graffiti | In Barcelona | Nov 30 |
| گوهر عشقی: مادر ستار بهشتی | Nov 30 | |
| Abdollah Momeni: Prisoner of the day | Activist denied leave and family visits for 1.5 years | Nov 30 |
| محمد کلالی: یکی از حمله کنندگان به سفارت ایران در برلین | Nov 29 | |
| Habibollah Golparipour: Prisoner of the day | Kurdish Activist on Death Row | Nov 28 |
Beyond Iranestan (to Amir jaan)
by marhoum Kharmagas on Sun Jul 18, 2010 09:09 AM PDTAmir jaan, I see that you are even more desparate for attention than Patient X. Let me ask you the question then:
Suppose you fascists get your way and turn Iran into Iranestan (as Marhoum Shah said), then, will you be able to dominate the Middle East, and steel nicely and easily from then on?
amir....
by shushtari on Sun Jul 18, 2010 09:02 AM PDTdamet garm that was awesome!!!
and I TOTALLY AGREE- WHY ARE THESE BACHE AKHOONDS LIVING IN THE BELLY OF THE GREAT SATAN????! MAYBE IT'S THE JOHNNY WALKER OR THEY CAN'T W8 FOR THEIR 72 VIRGINS!
Dadash Magas,
by AMIR1973 on Sun Jul 18, 2010 08:45 AM PDTHazrate Molla, suppose Abdol-AIPAC Amir-Majnoon, Doctor Abdol-sheytan Sheeshaki (where X=..), Dr. Monfoor Kazem-AIPAC-pour (from Jebheye Israeli), and Abdol-Israel Faghat (Only"****") ... get their way and their masters turn Iran into Iranestan (Shan's terminology) ..., is their problem going to be solved?
Huh? Dadash Magas, next time please take your morning dose of Haldol before gracing us with your deep insights. It will quiet down the voices in your head and help you spell those difficult English words, like "nope" and help Dadash Mola learn the difference between "serf" and "surf" :-)
BTW, based on their command of English, what would you say is the literacy rate of America-residing/America-hating IRI hoodlums? .-)
Anti-western 5th Column in the West
by AMIR1973 on Sun Jul 18, 2010 08:39 AM PDTAnd comments such as the one below is a sample of what we've been receiving from the Zionist groupies all along. But they cannot shut us up. We will be heard for the sake of Iran and Iranians.
The anti-American IRI goons living in America can bark and howl all they want, but there will be no "hands off" the ruling rapists of the IRI as long as they continue killing Iranians, stealing, torturing, and supporting anti-American terrorist thugs. You have to love Islamist hoodlums for invoking the freedom of America to justify their support for the anti-Iranian, anti-freedom Rapist Regime ("for the sake of Iran", of course :-). Yes, the West-residing IRI Groupies are free to keep up their propaganda, but law enforcement should keep an eye on this Islamist 5th Column as they have already killed thousands of innocent civilians in the U.S. on 9/11, as well as in the U.K. and Spain.
"Brother Taleb" said Hazrate Shotor...
by khaleh mosheh on Sun Jul 18, 2010 08:20 AM PDTاین دغل دوستان که میبینی مگسانند گرده شیرینی
Brother Kharmagas,
by Mola Nasredeen on Sun Jul 18, 2010 08:12 AM PDTWe were saying: "Iranians, even those who joined last year's protests and fervently support the reform agenda, reject help from the US or any other outside power."
And comments such as the one below is a sample of what we've been receiving from the Zionist groupies all along. But they cannot shut us up. We will be heard for the sake of Iran and Iranians.
"This is what we've been saying all along"
by fooladi on Sun Jul 18, 2010 08:04 AM PDTAnd I thught what you've been "saying" was the after effect of too much lobia in the abgoost served to you nightly by your ameh joon. :)
Brother Kharmagas,
by Mola Nasredeen on Sun Jul 18, 2010 07:58 AM PDTI agree with many points in Mr Kinzer's analysis of the political situation in Iran and I support it. He indicates among other things:
"Finally, I was struck -- though not surprised -- by the unanimity with which Iranians, even those who joined last year's protests and fervently support the reform agenda, reject help from the US or any other outside power."
This is what we've been saying all along. Hands off Iran! Let Iranians sort things out for themselves not Israel, Israeli Lobby or their lackies. That's all, is it too much to ask?
Ajab Ashi shod
by Doctor X on Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:14 PM PDTOnlyiran: You're welcome and keep up the good work.
Well then. I guess we are ready to wrap things up here? Unless there is more definitions/meanings are about to come out the Chah?:)
I seriously believe we have covered all grounds, all the key areas. I am sure those who have the talent, have noticed how some people have a tendency to veer around the issue and start from etymology, on to Safe noonvaei and then a quote from Haji websterollahe Jabal ameli, on what a syncophant means. Such thoroughness. Such deligence on reminding us 'round the clock of our AIPACNESS, which is second to non.
Wow. I am amazed at the brilliance and excellence in budget management seen in here. So, That is where all that money goes to.
I will be damned if i complain again about Budget deficit in iran, and poor economy, and high unemployment rate and ... (watch. Someone is gonna come out and say No there is actually a surplus) now that i know that Beytolmaal is being put to use to the benefit of iranian people and their welfare and letting their voices heard.
Can you say "job creation"?:)
Amir: LOL. 36 V's ha??:))) I think they should worry about asset allocation and divorce proceedings. I doubt those poor ladies will stay with these fellas for long.
Amir-Rigi (to Mola)
by marhoum Kharmagas on Sat Jul 17, 2010 09:12 PM PDTAlso you may find sycophant defined as:
" A servile self-seeker who attempts to win favor by flattering influential people (*)"
Needles to say that Amir-Rigi very quickly proved that the definition you found applies very well.
(*) AIPAC in this case.
Thanks Dr. X
by Onlyiran on Sat Jul 17, 2010 08:49 PM PDTI just try to keep things "REAL" (as in inject reality into the discussion and bring this clan of IRI automatons out of their hallucinations) and point out their hypocrisy to them.
Thanks again for the compliment.
The Magas and the Mola: A Love Story
by AMIR1973 on Sat Jul 17, 2010 08:36 PM PDTI always thought the akhoonds were shepeshoo, but it turns out that West-residing Islamist hoodlums are more like flies. Maybe, the two of you Islamist nutjob lovebirds can share one suicide belt when you board that bus in Tel Aviv one day soon: that means 36 virgins a piece (just like your early days in Qazvin :-)
Just think how much illiteracy can come out of this union...
Brother Kharmagas,
by Mola Nasredeen on Sat Jul 17, 2010 08:43 PM PDTI had to google the word sycophant to find out what you mean by calling these Zionist groupies sycophants this is what it means according to wikipedia:
"Etymology
First attested in 1537. From Latin sycophanta (“‘informer, trickster’”) from Ancient Greek συκοφάντης (sukophantēs), itself from σῦκον (sukon), “‘fig’”) + φαίνω (phainō), “‘I show, demonstrate’”). The gesture of "showing the fig" was a vulgar one, which was made by sticking the thumb between two fingers, a display which vaguely resembles a fig, which is itself symbolic of a cunt (sykon 'vagina' also meant vulva). The story behind this etymology is that politicians in ancient Greece steered clear of displaying that vulgar gesture, but urged their followers sub rosa to taunt their opponents by using it." //en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sycophant
Brother Kharmagas remember lines at our noonvaies. There were always those who would come late and expected to get their bread before anybody else and leave (deer omadan, zood mikhan beran). This crowd is them.
Disdain for Iranians!
by G. Rahmanian on Sat Jul 17, 2010 08:26 PM PDTStephen Kinzer does not fail to portray what he is here to promote.
The likes of Kinzer feel nothing but disdain for Iranians. Although he says Iranians want democracy, he doesn't believe Iranians deserve democracy or democratic freedoms. Otherwise he wouldn't say, "Life is reasonably good for most Iranians, and ..." under IR.
Onlyiran
by Doctor X on Sat Jul 17, 2010 08:15 PM PDTLOL!
Zadi toye nafesh. You should start writing scripts for Parazit.
Actually "Mola"
by Onlyiran on Sat Jul 17, 2010 07:33 PM PDTYou are in a much better position to fight for your cause in Gaza that we are to fight for our cause, which is getting rid of IRI (and its leaches like you). Let's say that we take your advice and go to Iran to fight. First, we will have to clear the "vezarat etellaat" "list" at the airport which you and other IRI supporters have helped the IRI compile againts us. Next. all we will have to fight the heavily armed IRI goons will be rocks. Obviously, we will not get too far.
You, on the other hand, can use your Great Satan (or "ZOG", as IRI's frequent guest of honor David Duke calls it) issued passport and travel to Egypt. From there, you can smuggle yourself from one of the many tunnels into Gaza, where you can present yourself to the Hamas army and tell them that you're there to fight the good fight. I'm sure that they will then provide you with a Kalashnikov (or a suicide vest, as the needs of that time dictate) and you will either be at the Israeli border, or on a bus in Tel Aviv in no time.
So, what's your excuse for not doing so?
PS- I do have to say, though, that if your presentation to Hamas is anything like your writings here, they will realize in 30 seconds (like we have) how full of it you are and will send you right back where you came from. :-))
Did somebody call my name?
by mola in boshkeh on Sat Jul 17, 2010 07:28 PM PDTKhar-Magas'es fly around shotor's tail!
I "strongly" disagree with you Molla!
by marhoum Kharmagas on Sat Jul 17, 2010 07:24 PM PDTMola says: "We are tired of all you Zionist groupies nagging and whining all day
long here like a broken record player repeating the same old stuff day
in and day out boring us to tears. "
Mola, I "strongly" disagree with you, sycophant (*) is a better adjective for a number of these guys, BTW have you noticed their kaftaar style of debate?
#Jenaabe Mola, ma besyaar mokhleseem
(*) that is AIPAC sycophant
Booo!
by Mola Nasredeen on Sat Jul 17, 2010 07:19 PM PDT....
Mola: "Put your money where your mouth is-go to Gaza and fight"
by Onlyiran on Sat Jul 17, 2010 05:27 PM PDTHere, I corrected your comment for you. In your case, it should read:
"We are tired of all you [IRI] groupies nagging and whining all day long here like a broken record player repeating the same old stuff day in and day out boring us to tears. You're expecting others to [fight] for you on the streets of [Gaza and on flotillas] get arrested and beaten up and maybe imprisoned [or killed] while you sit at your comfortable home and bore everybody to death with your non stop whining and name calling. "
See you on the next flotilla buddy.
Amir
by Doctor X on Sat Jul 17, 2010 03:56 PM PDTThis is one is a serious call for ZioJihad. I mean he means buisness. he is literally telling you how to do it.
They have even come up with this new contraption, WHERE THEY CAN HEAR US WHILE WE WRITE COMMENTS here:)))) to the point that they get bored to tears. This is some scary shit, I tell you.
Brother Kinzer is on the side of mullas, with usual zer zer !
by pastor bill rennick on Sat Jul 17, 2010 03:21 PM PDTTens of millions of Iranians go the bed every night wishing and hoping that US of A would send its B1's, B2's, B52's etc. full of high precision ordnance and level the mullahs and their killing machinery.
Our church contacts in the Islamic Republic tell us that even some of the Revolutionary Guard brothers ans sisters also wish America would do something or drop something on them to relieve them from such misery.
Mr. Stephen Kinzer is full of zer zer!
Are you happy now?
by AMIR1973 on Sat Jul 17, 2010 02:58 PM PDTOkay, you are literate and know how to spell simple words.
You are not a hypocrite for supporting an anti-American terrorist regime, while living in America.
Your Jihad against the Jews will succeed (how about putting your money in your own mouth and boarding the next flotilla)?
Gaza really is Beautiful.
Happy now?
But, if you expect everyone to be a West-residing IRI Groupie like you, then tough sh*t--in the U.S., there is freedom of speech and Islamist hoodlums can do nothing to stop that. Too bad for you :-(
Put your money where your mouth is go back to Iran and fight
by Mola Nasredeen on Sat Jul 17, 2010 02:51 PM PDTKinzer start his article with this sentence: "I just got back from Iran." And I ask you: Where have you been lately?
We are tired of all you Zionist groupies nagging and whining all day long here like a broken record player repeating the same old stuff day in and day out boring us to tears. You're expecting others to demonstrate for you on the streets of Iran get arrested and beaten up and maybe imprisoned while you sit at your comfortable home and bore everybody to death with your non stop whining and name calling.
Mola: Are you back for more? :-)
by AMIR1973 on Sat Jul 17, 2010 01:43 PM PDTGet off your computers and join the "resistance" inside Iran, Jondollah is waiting for you to recruit you. Or better yet, get a job." Advised Hazrate shotor to Zionist groupies.
I have a feeling you're on your computer too: the Aftabeh 1000. It seems that your Jew-obsession has temporarily given way to a Jondollah-obsession. In case you're still too blind, dumb or illiterate (I vote for the last as demonstrated by your command of basic English, e.g. "serf" the web :-), Jondollah are a bunch of Islamist terrorists--just like your IRI and its sponsored thugs in Beautiful Gaza. Islamist terrorists are the last people in the world who deserve support--why would anyone want to support Islamist hoodlums like you?
Hope to hear from you soon .-)
"more hot air from red hot nobodies,
by Mola Nasredeen on Sat Jul 17, 2010 01:32 PM PDTget off your computers and join the "resistance" inside Iran, Jondollah is waiting for you to recruit you. Or better yet, get a job." Advised Hazrate shotor to Zionist groupies.
Mola should take his own "advice"
by AMIR1973 on Sat Jul 17, 2010 11:02 AM PDT1. Go to Palestine and join Hamas (or the next best thing, board the next flotilla heading to Beautiful Gaza). There will be a special someone on the ship to say "Welcome Aboard" :-)
2. Join IRI's "military" and kill civilians, torture, and steal (i.e. turn all Islamist on us)
3. Design his own video game which teaches players the difference between "surf" and "serf" .-)
I can see now why you're a "failed taleb"--that literacy thing never quite worked out for you, huh :-)
Let's hope he is on a flotilla sailing to Gaza
by Louie Louie on Sat Jul 17, 2010 10:13 AM PDTthen we know he really means his .....
Righteous Mola(s) Dictionary For Sale
by Demo on Sat Jul 17, 2010 09:46 AM PDTSample Words:
Justice Lover = Iran Hater; Truth Seeker = Terrorist; Freedom Fighter = Traitor
One thing that this article fails to portrait is
by MM on Sat Jul 17, 2010 09:44 AM PDTWhat this article fails to portrait is the fact that many visitors, who are used to freedoms in the west, have the greatest time in the first 1-2 weeks due to parties with friends and family, but afterwards, the IRI reality checks in and they cannot wait to get out. Also probably true for the same people in Iran who envy the ways of the west.