Friday, Jun 13, 2003
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By Atul Aneja
Unlike in the past, the show of defiance mostly by young people on the streets of Teheran has a new flavour. This week's protests, for instance, have not spared Iran's moderate leader, Mohammad Khatami, from attack. Slogans shouted by the protestors have targeted both the hardliners led by Iran's supreme spiritual leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, as well as Mr. Khatami. Iranian students had staged a major three-day protest in July 1999 against the hard-line establishment's decision to close a pro-reform newspaper. Those protests were widely seen as an expression of support for Mr. Khatami. Authorities in Teheran are now worried that despite the altered nature of this week's demonstrations, the anger on the streets of the Iranian capital could peak on July 4, the fourth anniversary of the 1999 protests. The timing of the demonstrations has also caused concern among the hard-line leadership. This is because this week's protests are surfacing at a time when the United States, after the Iraq war, has repeatedly warned Iran to change course. The U.S. has accused Iran of interfering in Iraq, developing nuclear weapons and harbouring Al-Qaeda terrorists. A show of internal disarray at this time, therefore, will send negative signals, which can encourage Washington to intensify its political pressure on Teheran. Besides, these protests are being staged at a time when the friction between the moderate elected Government of Mr. Khatami and the unelected but powerful clerical establishment has touched a new high. Mr. Khatami has been seeking more effective powers, but is being blocked by hardliners in the supervisory Guardians Council and the Expediency Council. Most pieces of legislation passed by Iran's elected Parliament pass into the hands of the Guardians Council for approval. In case of deadlock between the two, the Expediency Council intervenes to remove the logjam. Mr. Khatami wants this arrangement altered, as, in his view, it has often blocked meaningful reforms. Iran watchers point out that the recent protests are an expression of frustration among the Iranian youth against the unending tussle between the reformers and the hard-liners. Iran's clerical hierarchy, however, sees it as the manifestation of a U.S.-inspired plot, which is meant to destabilise the Islamic revolution. Iran's Intelligence Minister, Ali Yunesi, on Wednesday asserted that the protests were "organised by foreign media and satellite television channels'' — a reference to the pro-monarchist media based in the U.S. The son of the deposed former Shah of Iran, who resides in the U.S., is frequently projected in the U.S. media as a successor to the present Islamic regime in Iran. On Sunday, Ayatollah Khamenei, had urged students to foil what he said was a "devilish'' U.S. plot to destabilise the Islamic Republic. "The United States is trying in various ways ... to tell the Iranian public that our decision-making bodies are confused,'' he said. The last major student-led protests in Iran took place in November and early December 2002.
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