PAHLAVI: He does not seek to end the Islamic republic. He wants to preserve it. Faced with conflict, he sides with the regime. Khatami talks about “liberalization” because Iran’s youth, women in particular, expect it. But he has not implemented it. The problem is with the regime itself and the Constitution. If a candidate has the slightest criticism, they are not allowed on the ballot. The election is a farce.
Understand what it means to be under a regime that has stopped at nothing to repress opinion. Two years ago disenchanted youth were frustrated by Khatami’s failure to implement any of his campaign promises. The regime’s response was to attack universities and throw students out the windows. When I left Iran in the summer of 1978, few signs of mass reaction were palpable. Yet in less than six months we saw what happened. Where Iran is today is not much different from the year preceding the revolution.
The regime might crack down as a last resort. But that’s a declaration of war on the people, and at that point the people are going to want to defend themselves. I think a majority of Iranians believe strongly that this theocracy is unacceptable. And the biggest allies we have are the majority of the clerics in Iran, who from the very first day were opposed to this very setup. They know the best interest of the religion and the clergy today is the resumption of the traditional role of religion in society–apart from politics.
Absolutely. Would I be accepted? Let the people decide.
Ask the young people who listen to Jennifer Lopez, or wear jeans, or are very much in tune with American pop culture. This is a country where 70 percent of the population were not even born at the time of the revolution, or were maybe 5 or 6 years old, tops. Today these young people surf the Web in the cybercafes of Tehran. They know what’s going on in the outside world.
The pace of progress might have been too fast. Some people might suggest that while the intelligentsia was becoming increasingly eager to see rapid progress and liberalization, traditional elements in society were becoming a little bit paranoid and confusing modernization with Westernization.
Every time you have excess authority and abuse of privilege, you have a problem. There were abuses of power and privilege. I certainly do not condone them.
Contrary to all the negative campaigning against my family, we did not inherit a colossal fortune. I have barely enough to cover my own livelihood. But there are also many dedicated Iranians who have the financial ability to support such movements.
For someone considered by millions of people an heir to the throne, and who may one day play that role, the fact that I was blessed with the opportunity to see the world from the point of view of a normal citizen has been a gift. No matter how I would have studied it, it’s another thing living it.
I’m raising them as people who have belief. I tell them that my religion is Islam. But I’m trying to teach my children the value of free choice and personal responsibility. Religion is a private issue, not to be imposed on anyone.
The state has to be based on secular democracy. Beyond that, for Iran and countries like it, a constitutional monarchy has served as a symbol of unity and stability. It could be again.
