At AEI Ayatollah Khomeini's Grandson, calls Iran's revolution a failure

Washington Files ^ | 9/30/03 | William Armbruster

[Persia]

Washington -- Hossein Khomeini, grandson of the late Ayatollah Rohallah Khomeini, who led the Iranian revolution, called "freedom and democracy a basic means of life and living."

During a September 26 appearance at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, he said there is no one in Iran at present to lead the Iranian people's struggle for freedom.

Referring to the Iranian Revolution, he stated that "25 years ago the Iranian people hoped for freedom."

"An important goal for the revolution was the creation of democracy and freedom," the younger Khomeini declared. "This was not achieved. There are no freedoms in Iran."

He discussed the reasons for the acceptance of religious authorities as political rulers, pointing out that, at that time, "the religious leaders had legitimacy."

Now, he went on, "The Iranian people have experienced theocracy. They have come to understand that religion and government cannot be one and the same."

He denied the necessity of religious training for governmental positions, declaring, "Democracy is compatible with all the basic values of Shi'ism and Islam." He pointed to the earliest Islamic traditions that "Faith is free and individuals can follow or not follow a particular religion as they wish."

"If everybody was supposed to become a Muslim, God Himself would have turned everybody into Muslims," he pointed out.

He introduced the current political issues, saying, "At the present time, the question is how we can get to democracy and freedom in our communities in the Middle East." He said that Iran "is ready but there is no leadership" to bring the country to freedom. He speculated that if there were "a center for leading Iranians..., maybe then a movement would be started in Iran."

Khomeini expressed his surprise and admiration that "The United States, in a world of cold, heartless thinking, could go to Iraq and free that country." He doesn't "see any kind of material reason for the United States to go to Iraq and free that country." He called the U.S. liberation of Iraq "really a blessing for the people of Iraq and I admire that."

He thinks the United States is paying more attention to Iran because "Iran is intervening in Iraqi affairs extensively."

He said his current round of speeches and presentations has "stressed and asked for all free societies in the world to think and be concerned about those countries in the Middle East if they want to be in peace and security here."

"They should try to create hope in these people in the Middle Eastern countries."

He compared Iran, where some are economically well off, with Indonesia, where people are not as well off economically but now have hope due to the recent introduction of democracy. The lack of hope in Iran has caused young Iranians (70 percent of the country is less than 30 years old) to be depressed, he said. The oppression they face causes frustration, which leads to melancholy in some and extremism in others, he added.

"Establishment of freedom and democracy in Islamic countries is the guarantee of international peace and security," Khomeini said. He explained that the psychological imbalance in oppressed peoples leads to hatred. "Religious radicalism has nothing to do with religion," Khomeini declared. But it comes from psychological imbalance "due to lack of freedom and democracy in these societies," he said. This needs to be taken very seriously in the free societies, he explained. Otherwise, he added, they will not be left in peace in their own countries.

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