Iranian Alert -- January 21, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

Finally, an English translation of:
Plan For The Removal of The Islamic Regime.

This is an english translation of part of the plan of action proposed by BestOfIran.com during the 6 hour satelite broadcast on Sunday January 18th. Further english translations will be released by them shortly.

National “Black-Out” In Iran is the New “Silent Referendum”
For Unity and Solidarity Iranians are planning to Turn Off lights on every Thursday night (9.00-9.30 pm)

Why A National “Black-Out” Will End an Era of Horror, Terror, Torture, Murder, Human Right’s violation and theft of our National Wealth in Iran.

Since Feb. 1979, according to an international plan, a theocratic regime has been imposed on the Iranian people and our country. Most of the silent Iranians from the very first day, and by passage of time, almost 95% of the Iranians believe that this Islamic Regime is an Unwanted regime that doesn’t feel any responsibility with respect to the Past, Present and the Future of Iran and Iranians.

Shortly after the end of the imposed Iran-Iraq war, the majority of the Iranians who are living in Iran, started to oppose this barbarian regime that kills, tortures and murders the people simply by the verdicts of the uneducated mullahs that are dressed as judges. Amazingly, such a barbarian regime that doesn’t have even have one positive point in its past 25 years of governing Iran, has remained stable in its position and none of the international bodies have decided to act against it on behalf of the Iranian people. We feel that our compatriots who have shown their strong and powerful will to the world- have decided and will act in order to bring down this regime and weaken the support of their European supporters.

We want and we will act individually based on a global cooperation and decision. This means that, up to a critical point, we should act individually in order to minimize the possibility of the regime’s interference and after reaching that point we will gather as a united community in order to bring down this filthy regime.

A long study has shown that “Silent Referendum”which could take place by a “Black Out” at a pre-determined time and interval, will result in unity of the Iranian people. Base on declaration of the IOT members and their approval, since Jan. 22, 2004 (2 Bahman Mah 1382) all Iranians who believe that this regime should be removed from power, will turn off all their lights at home and workplaces (if private & possible) for half an hour from 9.00 9.30 pmon Thursday nights. No one should wait for others in order to follow him. Every Iranian should feel that he or she is a leader in this movement and should speak with at least two people in order to convince and ask them to do so. Now let’s see why this action is important in bringing down the regime:

1- The Islamic regime has caused the people to be fearful of each other and there are no other better tactics or instruments by which the Iranians could show their opposition to the world. Turning off the lights at a determined time and interval, will result in the unity of the Iranian nation inIran and abroad without any danger of being traced.

2- By turning off the lights in a pre-determined time and interval, the people will start to notice each others’ neighborhoods and will slowly start to build up unity among groups in different regions of each city.

3- If every one tries to convince 2 other people to participate in this “Silent Referendum” Campaign, then within 6 months we will see that more than 80% of the lamps will turn off as the best opposition signal of the people in each city. After this critical point, other plans will be announced that finally will result in a national unity. It is at this point that the Iranian people will be able to rely on each other for future tasks.

4- Also at the midst of that critical point, or even sooner than that, the Iranians that are living in Iran will invite the foreign diplomatic missions to witness such a huge opposition of the people against the present regime.

5- By Turning Off our lights on every Thursday night (9.00-9.30 pm) we will conduct weekly referendums in order to show the world that we don’t want this regime and that we want the cooperation of the UN for a free referendum in Iran.

If we want to be free of this regime, we should turn off our lights on every Thursday 9.00 – 9.30 pm, as a vote against the legitimacy of the present Iranian government. No one should wait and it is our duty to convince others to join us in this campaign.

The Committee of Domestic Compatriots

http://www.activistchat.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1084

http://www.bestofiran.com/frontend/index.asp

On Iran's Political Track, No Moderation Can be Seen

January 21, 2004
Ha'aretz
Zvi Bar'el

"Kill the butcher from Cairo," the conservative Iranian newspaper Jumhour-i Islami, which is close to Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shouted this week. The "butcher" refers to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who, according to the paper, persecuted and also killed Islamicists in Egypt, and also maintains close ties with Israel.

The article comes at a time when Tehran and Cairo are on the verge of resuming diplomatic ties: Khaled Islamabuli Street in Tehran, named after the killer of President Anwar Sadat was renamed at Egypt's behest and is now called Intifada Street; and new trade agreements have been signed between the two countries.

Two days after the newspaper report, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher announced the resumption of ties between the two countries had been postponed "due to the circumstances in Iran." In Egypt, they understand that such sharp remarks appearing in an important Iranian paper are not an expression of freedom of speech, a concept that Egypt frequently refers to when its official papers criticize Israel or the United States. They suspect, with good reason, that such remarks are being directed from above.

But that is not the only reason the renewal of ties was postponed; Egypt wants to see how the current crisis between conservatives and liberals in Iran is resolved before it lands in the middle of the Iranian bazaar with a historic political gesture, such as renewing diplomatic ties. "We don't want to appear as if we are influencing political processes inside Iran at such a sensitive time," a senior Egyptian official explained last week.

Did the U.S. administration have a hand in the matter? The senior official denies this and cites the comments of the State Department spokesman who viewed favorably the meeting in Geneva around a month ago between Mubarak and Iranian President Mohammed Khatami and the plans to resume ties between the two countries.

Double-edged power struggle

Delaying the resumption of ties between Egypt and Iran is symptomatic of the nervousness surrounding the upcoming elections for the Iranian parliament on February 20. This is a double-edged power struggle: The conservatives want to recapture the parliament from the liberals who have been in control and also gain momentum for the presidential elections to be held in another year and a half - Khatami will not be able to run because, according to the constitution, a president may not serve more than two terms.

In the past year, the conservatives swept to victory in the local authority elections due to a political error by the liberals, who decided to boycott the elections because of the mass disqualification of their candidates by the Guardian Council, which is controlled the conservatives. As the parliamentary elections approach, the liberals will not want to repeat that mistake.

Ostensibly, the conservatives' behavior should not be much of a surprise. Prior to the previous parliamentary elections in 2000, many candidates were also disqualified. However, unlike those elections, where only 10 percent of the total number of candidates was disqualified, this year the Guardian Council dared to disqualify nearly half of the candidates.

The Guardian Council consists of 12 members, half appointed directly by Khamenei and half appointed by the parliament from a list presented to it by the court system, which is also controlled by Khamenei. Four years ago, the Iranian parliament decided to disqualify two candidates from membership in the committee and flexed a threatening muscle in front of the conservative establishment. This year, the Guardian Council showed the parliament who has more power.

Khatami: The presentable puppet

However, the power under discussion is not the kind of absolute conservative power that people tend to think of, just as "reformists" does not necessarily reflect a desire for Western-style democracy. There is also some kind of system of checks and balances in Iran. So, for example, you can see women wearing tight-fitting clothes and symbolic hair coverings that do not hide their hair; cafes where couples meet are not unusual; a billiard hall has opened in the holy city of Qum; card dealers on the streets are no longer afraid of the moral police; at the entrance to the police "welfare office" in Tehran, there are no longer hundreds of parents massed after the weekend to bail out their children who were detained by the moral police; watching satellite television stations is no longer cause for fear and even smoking in public during the month of the Ramadan no longer incurs a punishment.

All of these are "concessions on a personal track," as Iranian spokesmen put it. "On the political track," no moderation is visible. Three years ago, in one of his frank public statements, President Khatami said that "after three and a half years as president, I don't have enough power to implement the law, which is my greatest responsibility ... basically the president cannot stop the trend toward violence or enforce the law."

This not only Khatami's claim regarding himself, but also the claim against Khatami of Iranian citizens, who granted him decisive victories in two election campaigns. "Khatami has become the presentable puppet of Iran, but it's doubtful whether he is even able to wear the fine clothes that are put on the puppet," says an Iranian now living in Los Angeles. "There is very deep disappointment with his behavior as president and as someone who was given a mandate to change the face of Iran. If Khatami now feels that his policies are being torpedoed, then he should resign, create a political storm and smile shyly and continue in his position."

The arguments against Khatami are no longer about the fact that he is incapable of carrying out the reforms, but that he is no longer even effective as a "protest banner." After his arguments against the conservatives three years ago, it was not expected that he would run in 2001 and thereby indicate that Iran was in a deep crisis. But he continued in office. He did not resign, not even after the Guardian Council - the same council that disqualified the candidates and is responsible, among other things, for checking that laws enacted in parliament do not contradict religion - disqualified two laws intended to grant him wider powers. One law was to have taken away the Guardian Council's authority to disqualify candidates; the second law sought to grant the president the right to cancel legal decisions that are contrary to the law.

He also did not resign last summer after severe student protests, in which the students called on Khatami to resign along with Khamenei. And now, when he festively announced that if the conservatives do not allow proper elections because of the numerous disqualifications of candidates, he would resign - "If they have to leave [the parliament], we'll all leave" - no one believes him. In the meantime, Khamenei has entered the picture quicker than he himself had planned.

First he said he would intervene only after all legal means were exhausted, that is, when the disqualified candidates' appeals to the Supreme Court were completed. But the concern was that the crisis would trickle down into the street and Khamenei hurriedly "suggested" that the Guardian Council take another look at the disqualifications and in the event, he determined, candidates have already served in parliament should not be disqualified. The result is that the Guardian Council is now reconsidering all of its disqualifications.

Student silence

Khamenei again proved who can resolve crises and who is in control. It seems the reformists are also displeased with his involvement, which may perhaps prevent political scuffling that could be embarrassing for them. Previously, the reformists could rely on the student unions to mobilize masses of students to protest against the religious establishment. This time it turned out that the students had to be prodded. The heads of the student unions announced that at this stage they are not getting involved. Some student spokesmen even said there was no point in fighting any more on behalf of Khatami or the parliament because they are unable to bring about change.

The public at large in Iran is not aware of the dimensions of the crisis in Tehran. Government papers blocked mass publication of information and government radio and television stations concealed most of the details of the dispute. Foreign correspondents who have recently visited Iran say that in cities far away from Tehran, they did not even know about the crisis.

In such a situation, the reformists could not rely on the public joining their struggle. "Especially when Khatami's government and his fellow reformers have also turned out to be worthless when it comes to matters that are absolutely their responsibility and in their jurisdiction," says an Iranian activist who was asked to comment on recent events via e-mail. The hottest topic, he says, is the tragedy in the city of Bam where over 40,000 people were killed in an earthquake. Who prevented this government from preparing equipment, buying drugs or preparing alternate living arrangements for the victims?" he asked. "Are Khamenei and his conservatives guilty of that as well?"

These charges are reminiscent of the serious charges Turks leveled at their government after the big earthquake in 1999. According to the Iranian activist, the anger at the government over the fiasco in Bam is so great that people considered reformists said they no longer want to hear about "large reforms, democracy or human rights, when those who speak of these fine values are incapable of saving human lives."

It is possible that these reactions, the students' indifference and the overall disappointment with the reformists created a sense among conservatives that they can cross the accepted lines and make wholesale disqualifications of parliamentary candidates. The conservatives, and especially the spiritual leader, Khamenei, also want to let the world know that only they can carry out genuine reforms, including all foreign policy matters. Khamenei was the one who permitted the signing of an additional protocol of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and even sent his emissary, the head of the National Security Council, Hassan Rowhani, to conduct the negotiations, as opposed to a representative of the Khatami government.

Khamenei is the one who approved changing the name of Khaled Islamabuli Street at Egypt's request and he is the one who approved accepting American aid for the victims of the Bam earthquake.

The question is, will Khamenei also be the one to conduct negotiations to renew ties with the U.S? At the end of the week, Khamenei's ally and fellow conservative, Hassan Rowhani, said in an interview with the French paper, Le Figaro, that ties between Iran and the United States will be renewed one day and the trick will be in choosing the appropriate time. The same Rowhani also said that after the IDF's withdrawal from the Shaba'a Farm there would no longer be any justification for Hezbollah's existence as a military organization. Even Khatami has not voiced such statements.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/385190.html

Mujahedin-e Khalq Plan D.C. Fundraiser

January 21, 2004
The Hill
Sam Dealey

House Administration Chairman Robert Ney (R-Ohio) will ask Attorney General John Ashcroft today to investigate a charity event for ties to an Iranian terrorist group backed by Saddam Hussein.

The event, to be held Saturday at the Washington Convention Center, is billed as a “night of solidarity with Iran.” The organizers, led by the Iranian-American Society of Northern Virginia, hope to raise $140,000 to help survivors of the earthquake in Bam on Dec. 26, which killed 30,000 people.

But a number of sponsoring groups have strong ties to the Mujahedin-e Khalq (MEK), and the fundraiser may violate the prohibition on providing material support for global terrorism.

“I intend to ask the attorney general to investigate this,” said Ney. “The MEK is hiding behind earthquake victims; you’ll find those are false groups. They’re not supposed to operate, and I don’t know what they’re going to do with the money. I just think it smells.”

An MEK representative in Washington did not return repeated calls for comment.

Spokesmen for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI said they were not aware of Saturday’s event and declined to comment on the sponsor groups.

An official with the Iranian-American Community of Northern Virginia declined to provide any details on the participating groups.

“It’s about solidarity with victims of the earthquake in Iran and to support the Iranian Resistance and call for referendum in Iran,” said the official, who would not give his name.

The Iranian Resistance is a pseudonym for the MEK.

The official said all of the money raised would be donated to the American Red Cross, but the Red Cross has backed out of the event.

“The American Red Cross will not be accepting donations from this fundraiser,” said spokeswoman Jacki Flowers. “Given the political undertones of the event, we just could no longer field donations because of the potential to compromise our neutrality.”

The MEK is an Iranian opposition group formerly based in Baghdad but with a continuing strong presence in the United States, primarily for fundraising and efforts to reverse its terrorist designation, first imposed in 1997.

The U.S. intelligence community alleges the MEK was responsible for the deaths of at least six American servicemen and civilians in Iran during the mid-1970s and actively participated in the 1979 U.S. Embassy seizure in Tehran. Having fallen afoul of Khomeini, in 1986 the group took refuge in Baghdad under Saddam Hussein.

In addition to its periodic hit-and-runs inside Iran, intelligence sources say, the MEK took part in Saddam’s grisly suppression of the Kurdish and Shiite minorities.

Saddam’s backing of the MEK was used as one justification for the Iraq war, and coalition forces viewed the MEK as enemy combatants. Last fall, federal law enforcement raided several MEK-related organizations in the Washington area.

Of the 23 organizations listed as sponsors for the event, 17 are known MEK front groups or linked to prominent MEK members and activists. None appears to be registered with the Internal Revenue Service or state agencies as legitimate businesses or charities.

The MEK has often created fictional philanthropic and social organizations to convey legitimacy. In a 1994 dossier on the group, the State Department noted that “many of these member groups are actually shell organizations, established by the [MEK] in order to make [it] appear representative and … popular.

“Likewise,” the report continued, “the [MEK] has formed associated groups with benign names, such as the ‘Association of Iranian Scholars and Professionals’ and the ‘Association of Iranian Women.’”

Among the groups sponsoring the earthquake benefit is the Association of Iranian Women USA. The group is also known as the Association of Iranian Women, and is headed by Behjat Dehghan, whom intelligence sources have identified as a prominent MEK member in the United States.

Other sponsors of the event that have been identified in media reports as MEK front groups include the Iranian Society of South Florida, the Iranian-American Society of Texas, and the National Committee of Women for a Democratic Iran. Ramesh Sepehrrad spearheads the latter group. Intelligence officials say Sepehrrad is a major MEK organizer in Washington.

A number of the sponsor groups are known to have strong MEK sympathies. They include the Iranian-American Cultural Association of Missouri, Colorado’s Iranian-American Community, the Society of Iranian Americans in Dallas and the Association of Iranian-American Scholars in Southern California.

A website for US for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran, yet another program sponsor, is www.defend-maryam-rajavi.org. Maryam Rajavi, president-elect of the MEK, was arrested in Paris last year on terrorism charges. The group’s site was registered to Hamid Azimi, once president of the Southern California Society of Iranian Scholars and Professors, another MEK front group.

A prominent member of US for Democracy and Human Rights in Iran is Saeid Sajadi, who is also known to law enforcement as an MEK member. He is also president of the Iranian-American Solidarity Society of Kansas City and the Society of Iranian-American Medical Professionals. Both groups have strong MEK sympathies; neither is registered as a legitimate professional organization.

At least one group that is not affiliated with the MEK – Loyola University of Chicago — says it was fraudulently listed as a sponsor.

“Absolutely not,” said university spokesman Bud Jones. “In no way does Loyola University of Chicago support this group or the event. That would be totally inaccurate.”

The Iranian-American Society of Northern Virginia would not comment on Loyola’s sponsor status.

Other groups that do not have apparent ties to the MEK but are listed as sponsors are the Justice Matters Institute, the Women’s Institute for Freedom of the Press and the Women’s Freedom Forum. Spokespeople for the groups could not be reached immediately for comment.

La Leche League International, another sponsor, withdrew its support upon learning of the possible MEK ties.

Following the earthquake, the Bush administration temporarily lifted sanctions on donations by Americans to Iran, which is listed as a state sponsor of terrorism.

“This sounds to me like the MEK is trying to feed on and exploit that legitimate concern of Iranian Americans for their own political purposes,” said Ken Timmerman, publisher of the Iran Brief newsletter.

http://www.thehill.com/news/012104/terrorists.aspx

THE CABINET IS SERIOUS ABOUT RESIGNATION

TEHRAN 21 Jan. (IPS)

Hojjatoleslam Mohammad Ali Abtahi said Wednesday that entire government of the beleaguered Mohammad Khatami is ready to resign if the Council of the Guardians did not review its decision to stop reformist candidates to enter the next elections for the Majles.

"Many ministers, vice-presidents and governors have already handed in their resignations, Mr. Abtahi, a vice-president for Parliamentary and Legal Affairs told reporters at the end of a cabinet meeting.

Asked whether Khatami would join them in walking out, he said: "If it is supposed to go, then we shall go all together", implying that the decision would also comprise the President himself.

However, Mr. Khatami, now in Switzerland where he is addressing the World Economic Forum at the posh mountain resort of Davos, has ruled out the government mass resignation, saying he (still) hope that a solution would be find with the Council of the Guardians.

Though Mr. Abtahi did not say which one of the officials have resigned, but according to some reports, at least six ministers have submitted their resignation, in the expectation that in case the next Majles is controlled again by the conservatives, Khatami would be forced to reshuffle his government, introducing new ministers acceptable to new lawmakers.

"All those who have tendered resignation are very serious", Abtahi told journalists, but considering numerous similar threats by reformists in recent years, including Mr. Khatami, few Iranians take the resignation warnings seriously.

Khatami has largely struck a conciliatory stance over the election row, saying he hopes negotiations will yield a satisfactory compromise.

He said a political crisis could still be averted if the Council of the Guardians (CG) followed the advice of the leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i who has urged a thorough revision of the disqualifications.

"The framework set by the leader is very good and can save the country from the crisis", he told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting, adding that however, until now, we have seen no action from the Guardians".

The 12 members CG, that is controlled by the conservatives, has barred almost half the 8,200 candidates to the next Legislative elections due on 20 February, including 80 incumbent reformist lawmakers, some of them outspoken critics of the ruling conservatives.

According to the CG’s spokesman, the Guardians have so far studied the case of only 200 of the disqualified candidate.

"These methods (of the Guardian Council) can harm the principles of the (Islamic) revolution and democracy and turn the election into a sure thing", Abtahi, a close aide to Khatami, said.

But many Iranian analysts say even if the reformists, both lawmakers and government officials resign, nothing drastic would be changed.

"Not only it is too late for resigning, but it would also be wrong to think that such dramatic action could reconcile the people with the reformists", Mr. Ali Keshtgar, a veteran analyst and Editor of the monthly "Mihan" (Homeland) told Iran Press Service.

In an open letter published Wednesday in the Iran-Emrooz (www.iran-emrooz.de) internet newspaper, the human rights activist Hoseyn Baqerzadeh called on the reformists to "join the people by demanding national referendum for changing the present Constitution.

"The 20 February elections would not be very different from other elections held in Iran. It would be unjust and unfair. The majority of the candidates would have no right to stand and the great majority of Iranians denied the right to elect their candidates freely. Seen from a human rights angle, such elections are condemned in advance and taking part in them is equivalent to confirm violation of human rights principles", he wrote.

"By conciliation and compromises with the ruling power, you (reformists) have lost your political credibility and are no more able to attract the people’s confidence. So, forget the next elections and join the bulk of the people demanding radical changes in the regime’s political structures", Mr. Baqerzadeh added.

ENDS DISQUALIFICATIONS 21104

http://www.iran-press-service.com/articles_2004/Jan_04/iran_disqualifications_21104.htm

MULLAHS DREAM OF EXPORTING THE KHOMEINIST REVOLUTION

by Amir Taheri
Gulf News
January 21, 2004

Together they form the largest bloc in the Iran parliament where, with their allies, they command a two-third majority. So, why are 80 members of the 290-member Islamic Consultative Assembly, the Iranian parliament, behaving like an opposition and threating mass resignation?

The reason is that the next general election, to be held on February 20, could end the parliamentary career of many of them, not because of rejection by voters but because they won't even be allowed to stand.

A couple of months ago Richard Armitage, the number-two at the US State Department described the Iran as "a sort of democracy". Well, he was sort of right if by democracy we mean the holding of regular elections without bothering about their quality and purpose.

In a normal democracy, anyone who does not have a criminal record and meets basic qualifications such as citizenship is allowed to stand for elected office. But this is not the "sort of democracy" that Iran has had since the mullahs seized power in 1979.

In Iran, all candidates must be pre-approved by a body known as the Council of the Guardians of the Constitution, a 12-man, mullah-dominated organ appointed by the "Supreme Guide" and answerable to him. These "guardian angels", as they are known not without irony, can decide who is a good Muslim and who is not. Good Muslims are allowed to stand for elections, and bad Muslims are pushed aside. But even that is not the end of the story.

Good and bad

A man regarded as a good Muslim and allowed to stand as a candidate may be re-classified suddenly as a bad Muslim after the election. In that case "the guardian angels" have the power to cancel the election, kick the newly discovered bad Muslim out of parliament, and even send him to jail. The same man could enter one parliament as a good Muslim but be excluded from the next as a bad one.

The story does not end there either. Even a parliament composed entirely of good Muslims cannot legislate as it deems fit. The "guardian angels" have the power to annul any piece of legislation they do not like. The current crisis started when the Guardian Council rejected the applications of 2004 men and women, among them scores of incumbents, who wished to stand in next month's general election.

By doing so, the "guardian angels" have already determined the shape of the next parliament, making sure that it would be dominated by a new majority. And that has outraged the present majority. But what are the key points of difference between the two sides? The short answer is: not much.

For purposes of simplification, the western media refer to the two sides in Iran as "reformists", supposedly led by President Mohammed Khatami, and "conservatives", whose leader is identified as another mullah, Ali Khamenei, the Islamic Republic's "Supreme Guide".

The terms "reformist" and "conservative", however, mean little, if anything, in the current context of Iranian politics. The supposedly "reformist" bloc has controlled the presidency for the past six years and parliament for the past four years. And yet it has implemented absolutely no reforms of any significance.

Nor has it even proposed such reform. For its part the "conservative" faction bases its ideology not on the need to conserve anything but on the necessity of exporting the Khomeinist revolution first to other Muslim countries and then to the entire world. The so-called "conservatives" have a coherent discourse that one may like or dislike.

Put simply, it runs like this: Islam is the only true faith, all other religions have either been abrogated by God or were man-made concoctions from the start. Today, the only country in the world that has a truly Islamic system is Iran.

It is, therefore, Iran's duty to help replace all other regimes in the Muslim world with truly Islamic ones. Once that has happened, a powerful Islamic bloc should be formed, led by the Iranian "Supreme Guide", to convert the whole of mankind to the Khomeinist version of Islam, if necessary, by war.

In the meantime, no deviation from the established rules should be tolerated inside Iran. Women should cover their heads, and men should grow beards. The "polluting" culture of the west should be kept out. Such ideas as pluralism, democracy and human rights, all inventions of the Jews and the Crusaders, must be kept out of the Dar Al Islam (The House of Islam). Elections should still be held, but only as a periodical re-confirmation of the people's devotion to the system.

The discourse of the so-called "reformists" lacks similar clarity. Khatami, for example, has become a master in the art of ambiguity and double-talk. When addressing the Europeans he talks of reason and science and cites Aristotle and Hegel. But when talking in Iran he claims that women should cover their heads because their hair emanates a dangerous ray that drives men wild.

As far as foreign policy is concerned the "conservative" faction is not suicidal. It knows that it cannot take on the "Zionist-Crusader" bloc, led by the US. It admits that it can never develop friendly ties with the "Zionist-Crusader" bloc but is prepared to accept a period of peaceful coexistence in the name of détente.

The so-called "reformist" faction, however, is bedevilled by its contradictions. It knows that women's hair does not emanate deadly rays. But, at the same time, it opposes the repeal of the law imposing the hated headgear.

The so-called "reformist" faction knows that it is possible to be a Muslim without growing a beard. But its members grow substantial beards and continue to spread the lie that those who shave will end up in Hell. What is happening in Iran today is a power struggle between two factions within the same Khomeinist establishment.

The so-called "reformist" faction is not objecting to the principle of vetoing candidacies by the "guardian angels". It is objecting to the fact that its own members are vetoed.

The so-called "reformist" faction is not calling for a constitutional amendment either to abolish the Council of Guardians or to lift its veto over candidacies. What it really wants is to gain control of the council for itself and use it as a means of preventing its rivals from standing for election.

Fail to understand

What is astonishing is that many in the democratic world still fail to understand the reality of the Iranian situation. The European Union, for example, has just appealed to the "guardian angels" not to veto so many candidacies. The EU is only asking for a reduction in the dose of the poison, and not an end to the poisoning of a nation's political life.

Even if the Council of Guardians allow all the so-called "reformists" to stand as candidates, the forthcoming election would still be far from democratic. The reason is that no one who is not a Khomeinist of one sort or another is allowed to stand for election to anything.

As long as the current constitution remains in force the Iran shall remain, at best, only a "sort of democracy", and, at worst, a tyranny that holds fraudulent elections to confuse the EU and people like Richard Armitage.

Amir Taheri is an Iranian author of 10 books on the Middle East and Islam. He's available through www.benadorassociates.com

http://www.benadorassociates.com/article/1364

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