Free Republic

Like many in the world, Daniel Shayesteh closely watched this week’s U.S. visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.But his is a different vantage point.Three decades ago, the Iranian-born Shayesteh, 53, joined forces with those supporting Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni to topple the Shah of Iran and install Islamic rule.“Generally speaking, my background is radical Islam,” he says.No more. After fleeing Iran because of a falling-out with the religious regime, Shayesteh says he underwent a conversion to Christianity.He now travels internationally to raise awareness about what he calls “the dangers of Islam,” and he puts Ahmadinejad squarely in that category.“He is just...

Daniel Shayesteh was not long graduated from the University of Tehran when on Nov. 4, 1979, 500 students siezed the American embassy in the capital of Iran. He sympathized with their cause and indirectly supported it, but refrained from bullying the Americans. Not because it was wrong, but because he felt that westerners needed to be kept unaware of the deep hatred Muslims held for them. Mr. Shayesteh, 50, grew up in northern Iran, along the coast of the Caspian Sea. Once a Qur’anic teacher and scholar, Mr. Shayesteh earned a doctorate in international business in Turkey.