Azadeh Moaveni to speak at Madison Civics Club
An insider’s view of Iran
An insider’s view of Iran
Ever since the Iranian revolution in 1979, Iran has been controlled by a radical fundamentalist Islamic government that has been basically controlled by a
line of religious clerics beginning with the Ayatollah Khomeini. Yet much of the economic and social life of Iranians is secular. “I think Iranians have been more
secular than other parts of the Middle East in the last century. If anything convinced them that secularism is undoubtedly a wonderful thing, it was the revolution.
From Egypt to Morocco to Saudi Arabia, you have significant percentages of the population who are believing in and are feeling attracted to Islamist groups.
They want more Islam in government. They are angry with their secular dictatorships. And in Iran, you have the opposite. You have a religious dictatorship and
so people are yearning for and are very committed to having a more secular government structure. I think that is reflected in so many different ways such as the
modern and liberal lifestyle led in Iran and how the middle class has become so much more that way and so fond of American culture. America is the symbol of
the prosperity that a democratic-secular way of life can bring. Iranians are fascinated with America. Their interest in American popular culture and products
reflects that.”
It is perhaps ironic that many of the policies of the Bush administration, while purporting to have the aim of making Iran more democratic, have actually
driven Iran more into the clutches of the hard line Islamic factions. “I think it is really sad that policy has been so botched over the last several years,” Moaveni
said. “For example, after September 11, Iran put forward a very sincere public apology. It was the only country in the entire Islamic world, in the Middle East,
where people held a candlelight vigil for the victims of September 11. The Iranian government went out of its way to facilitate the U.S. attack against the
Taliban and its military incursions and operations in Afghanistan. They granted right of fly over; they opened up their ports. It was unprecedented how much
help they gave to that U.S. campaign given the fact the countries were essentially formal enemies. And what happened? George Bush created an Axis of Evil
and put Iran on it. This was a shock. It was a slap in the face of the Iranian regime because they had so put themselves out there being conciliatory and paving
the way for the U.S. in Afghanistan. That is one of many instances and that just ends up strengthening the hardliners. All of the moderates who had backed those
policies were ripped to shreds internally because the hardliners then said ‘Look, you told us to be conciliatory and look what happened. We were right. We told
you all along that you have to be defiant with the West. And that’s the only tactic that is going to get you anywhere.’ There is also the example of this
Congressional funding to support Democracy in Iran. That’s sort of a sugar-coated regime-change program. And it has had the effect of just completely leading
to a crack-down and the end what were Iranian civil society and NGO groups.”
Now that the Obama administration has taken the reins of foreign policy, Moaveni sees some glimmer of hope for an improvement in U.S.-Iranian relations.
But that in and of itself may not be enough. “There are elections in Iran in June,” Moaveni said. “And those I think will be very important too because if
Ahmadinejad gets re-elected, that’s going to have an impact on the prospect for better ties with the U.S. If a moderate gets elected, it will mean a very different
thing. So I think it depends on what happens there.”
Peace may have a chance if the right conditions prevail.
Azadeh Moaveni will be the keynote speaker at the Madison Civics Club luncheon on February 21 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, with a
question and answer period and book signing following her speech. Luncheon tickets are available to the general public for $25.00. For reservations, call 608-
233-2316.
line of religious clerics beginning with the Ayatollah Khomeini. Yet much of the economic and social life of Iranians is secular. “I think Iranians have been more
secular than other parts of the Middle East in the last century. If anything convinced them that secularism is undoubtedly a wonderful thing, it was the revolution.
From Egypt to Morocco to Saudi Arabia, you have significant percentages of the population who are believing in and are feeling attracted to Islamist groups.
They want more Islam in government. They are angry with their secular dictatorships. And in Iran, you have the opposite. You have a religious dictatorship and
so people are yearning for and are very committed to having a more secular government structure. I think that is reflected in so many different ways such as the
modern and liberal lifestyle led in Iran and how the middle class has become so much more that way and so fond of American culture. America is the symbol of
the prosperity that a democratic-secular way of life can bring. Iranians are fascinated with America. Their interest in American popular culture and products
reflects that.”
It is perhaps ironic that many of the policies of the Bush administration, while purporting to have the aim of making Iran more democratic, have actually
driven Iran more into the clutches of the hard line Islamic factions. “I think it is really sad that policy has been so botched over the last several years,” Moaveni
said. “For example, after September 11, Iran put forward a very sincere public apology. It was the only country in the entire Islamic world, in the Middle East,
where people held a candlelight vigil for the victims of September 11. The Iranian government went out of its way to facilitate the U.S. attack against the
Taliban and its military incursions and operations in Afghanistan. They granted right of fly over; they opened up their ports. It was unprecedented how much
help they gave to that U.S. campaign given the fact the countries were essentially formal enemies. And what happened? George Bush created an Axis of Evil
and put Iran on it. This was a shock. It was a slap in the face of the Iranian regime because they had so put themselves out there being conciliatory and paving
the way for the U.S. in Afghanistan. That is one of many instances and that just ends up strengthening the hardliners. All of the moderates who had backed those
policies were ripped to shreds internally because the hardliners then said ‘Look, you told us to be conciliatory and look what happened. We were right. We told
you all along that you have to be defiant with the West. And that’s the only tactic that is going to get you anywhere.’ There is also the example of this
Congressional funding to support Democracy in Iran. That’s sort of a sugar-coated regime-change program. And it has had the effect of just completely leading
to a crack-down and the end what were Iranian civil society and NGO groups.”
Now that the Obama administration has taken the reins of foreign policy, Moaveni sees some glimmer of hope for an improvement in U.S.-Iranian relations.
But that in and of itself may not be enough. “There are elections in Iran in June,” Moaveni said. “And those I think will be very important too because if
Ahmadinejad gets re-elected, that’s going to have an impact on the prospect for better ties with the U.S. If a moderate gets elected, it will mean a very different
thing. So I think it depends on what happens there.”
Peace may have a chance if the right conditions prevail.
Azadeh Moaveni will be the keynote speaker at the Madison Civics Club luncheon on February 21 at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, with a
question and answer period and book signing following her speech. Luncheon tickets are available to the general public for $25.00. For reservations, call 608-
233-2316.
Azadeh Moaveni
Photo Credit: Mehrdad
Daftari
Photo Credit: Mehrdad
Daftari
By Jonathan Gramling
Ever since the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979 and the taking of hostages at the U.S. Embassy, U.S.-Iranian relations have
been frozen in time as inflaming rhetoric and actions from the Islamic government and successive U.S. administrations have kept
all diplomatic relations severed and economic sanctions in place. Yet, according to Azadeh Moaveni, it hasn’t extinguished the
influence that over 100 years of American-Iranian relations where many Iranians studied at American universities created. And
Moaveni is convinced that Iran could become America’s biggest ally in the Middle East.
Moaveni, the keynote speaker at the February 21 meeting of the Madison Civics Club, was the Time Magazine correspondent in
Iran for over a decade, has published two books about Iran and is coming out with her third book ‘Honeymoon in Tehran,’ a
memoir about her most recent time spent in Iran.
While most American opinions of Iran have been hardened by the rhetoric of the leaders of Iran and the U.S., Moaveni
knows a much more complex and surprisingly pro-American side of Iran. “Even though the Iranian government is such a
caricature of itself and especially so this most recent administration, I am always so surprised when I realize how most Americans
seem to think that Iranians back the government and hate Israel and are anti-Semitic and have all of these radical right-wing
attitudes about the West that couldn’t be further from the case,” Moaveni said during a phone interview with The Capital City
Hues from her home in London, England. “I think Iran is the one country in the Middle East where you could say with total
accuracy that it doesn’t reflect by and large — were talking the majority, the masses, not just an educated or wealthy elite — its
government and is at odds with its government. They want the polar opposite and are very disapproving of the government
policies that get the most attention such as the support for military groups and the defiant posture toward the West. I think Iran is
this last bastion of actual positive sentiment and pro-Americanism in the Middle East still today, something that most people in
the States don’t realize.”
Ever since the fall of the Shah of Iran in 1979 and the taking of hostages at the U.S. Embassy, U.S.-Iranian relations have
been frozen in time as inflaming rhetoric and actions from the Islamic government and successive U.S. administrations have kept
all diplomatic relations severed and economic sanctions in place. Yet, according to Azadeh Moaveni, it hasn’t extinguished the
influence that over 100 years of American-Iranian relations where many Iranians studied at American universities created. And
Moaveni is convinced that Iran could become America’s biggest ally in the Middle East.
Moaveni, the keynote speaker at the February 21 meeting of the Madison Civics Club, was the Time Magazine correspondent in
Iran for over a decade, has published two books about Iran and is coming out with her third book ‘Honeymoon in Tehran,’ a
memoir about her most recent time spent in Iran.
While most American opinions of Iran have been hardened by the rhetoric of the leaders of Iran and the U.S., Moaveni
knows a much more complex and surprisingly pro-American side of Iran. “Even though the Iranian government is such a
caricature of itself and especially so this most recent administration, I am always so surprised when I realize how most Americans
seem to think that Iranians back the government and hate Israel and are anti-Semitic and have all of these radical right-wing
attitudes about the West that couldn’t be further from the case,” Moaveni said during a phone interview with The Capital City
Hues from her home in London, England. “I think Iran is the one country in the Middle East where you could say with total
accuracy that it doesn’t reflect by and large — were talking the majority, the masses, not just an educated or wealthy elite — its
government and is at odds with its government. They want the polar opposite and are very disapproving of the government
policies that get the most attention such as the support for military groups and the defiant posture toward the West. I think Iran is
this last bastion of actual positive sentiment and pro-Americanism in the Middle East still today, something that most people in
the States don’t realize.”