Ahura who?

Recently there has been a buzz in Iranian satellite TV stations about a middle-aged man claiming he is Iran's savior. Dr. Ahura Yazdi is an aeronautics engineer who on October 1, 2004 is planning to go to Iran along with 50 chartered airplanes filled with patriotic Iranians all ready to take their country back. Whether a savior or a delusional schizophrenic, Dr. Yazdi's promises have also reaffirmed another fact [Also see: “Free Iran on October 1st” Coincidence?].

After supporting a man with empty promises twenty five years ago, Iranians have once again shown that they have not yet learnt their lesson.

The well groomed Yazdi has been telling Iranians for the past few months about his plans. Apparently he has hired 50 chartered planes are ready to land in Iran on October 1st. The image is reminiscent of Ruhollah Khomeini's arrival at Mehrabad Airport in February 1979 and the beginning of the Islamic Republic.

Their similarities, however, end right about here. Khomeini had the support of the majority of Iranians, faced a demoralized army and had the green light from Western nations. The problem with Yazdi's promises is that they are simply just words and defy all the principles of logic.

He claims that on October first he plans to go to Azadi Square in Tehran and join millions of rejoicing Iranians in celebrating freedom of Iran. At this point all the ruling Mullahs have either disappeared or have joined the movement of the people.

The response to his plans have been quite mixed. Some think that he is a pure charlatan. Others see it as pure humor. In fact one person called and said, “We will come with you but you have to tell us what's for lunch on the day of arrival; if it's chelokabab, we're there”.

Many Iranians, unfortunately, believe in the man and think that on October 1st, there will be regime change in Iran. When asked exactly how he plans to overthrow the regime, he usually dodges the question stating that the mullahs will be leaving voluntarily.

Yazdi recently had a press conference and despite the hype he tried to create around this event — saying that it will be attended by major foreign journalists — only a few Iranian journalists turned up. No CNN, BBC or…

My personal feelings? The man is suffering from periodic or chronic hallucinations and desperately needs psychiatric help. Of course to him all of this is real but to many others who can think logically, it may be a handful to remove a regime just with roses.

There is one, although sad and worrisome, lesson that can be learnt from all this. The thousands or even millions of Iranians who have embraced this ridiculous idea have shown that after being ruled by a dictatorial regime for twenty five years, they are still not ready to think rationally and are unable to choose the right direction for their country.

This movement has shown that Iranians are an easy sell to basically every kind of promise no matter how ridiculous it would sound. I wonder why we are still striving for democracy!

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