DATE=11/10/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41815
TITLE=IRAN / AN OVERVIEW CQ
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=TEHRAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
///// ED'S: THIS IS THE FIRST IN A SERIES OF BACKGROUND REPORTS
ABOUT IRAN. /////
INTRO: WINDS OF CHANGE ARE BLOWING IN IRAN. RELIGIOUS LEADERS
WHO HAVE CONTROLLED POLITICAL LIFE SINCE THE REVOLUTION NEARLY
20-YEARS AGO HAVE BEGUN TO ALLOW A GREATER DEGREE OF OPENNESS IN
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL LIFE. BUT THERE IS CONSIDERABLE RESISTANCE
FROM CONSERVATIVE CLERGYMEN, WHO STILL WIELD A GREAT DEAL OF
POWER. CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB VISITED IRAN RECENTLY AND FILED
THIS REPORT.
TEXT: IRAN IS CHANGING, MOST PEOPLE AGREE. BUT SOME IRANIANS
CALL THIS CHANGE ONE STEP FORWARD, ONE STEP BACK, BECAUSE OF ITS
HALTING NATURE. OPINIONS VARY CONSIDERABLY ON WHETHER THE CHANGE
WILL BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE.
THE RECENT ELECTIONS FOR THE COUNCIL OF EXPERTS THAT CHOOSES
IRAN'S SUPREME RELIGIOUS LEADER IS AN EXAMPLE. THE VOTING ITSELF
WAS VIEWED AS DEMOCRATIC, BUT MOST OF THE REFORMIST CANDIDATES,
INCLUDING ALL THE FEMALE CANDIDATES, HAD BEEN STRICKEN FROM THE
LISTS BY A COUNCIL OF CONSERVATIVE RELIGIOUS LEADERS THAT REVIEWS
THE RELIGIOUS QUALIFICATIONS OF ALL CANDIDATES.
AS A RESULT, IT WAS NOT MUCH OF A CONTEST. MANY CANDIDATES RAN
UNOPPOSED. MORE THAN ONE-HALF THE ELIGIBLE VOTERS DID NOT BOTHER
TO VOTE, INCLUDING THIS COUPLE INTERVIEWED IN A PARK IN TEHRAN.
/// ACT - WOMAN AND MAN - IN FARSI / WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION
///
WOMAN: I DID NOT PARTICIPATE, AND THE ONES THAT I
WANTED WERE NOT CANDIDATES.
REPORTER: AND YOU, SIR?
MAN: I DID NOT PARTICIPATE.
/// END ACT ///
IRAN'S REFORM-MINDED PRESIDENT MOHAMED KHATAMI, URGED IRANIANS TO
VOTE, EVEN THOUGH HE SAID MANY GOOD CANDIDATES WERE UNFAIRLY
DISQUALIFIED. HE SAID IT WAS IMPORTANT FOR REFORMISTS TO HAVE
SOME REPRESENTATION ON THE COUNCIL. THEY WON ABOUT ONE-SIXTH OF
THE SEATS.
MANY POLITICAL GROUPS BOYCOTTED THE VOTE.
/// OPT /// THE LEADER OF A MAJOR STUDENTS ASSOCIATION,
TABORZADI, IS AMONG THOSE WHO BOYCOTTED. HE SAYS THIS WAS NOT AN
ELECTION, BUT RATHER A REFERENDUM ON THE DEGREE OF SUPPORT FOR
THE CONSERVATIVES. HE SAYS THE FACT THAT MOST VOTERS DID NOT
PARTICIPATE, SHOWS THAT IRANIANS WANT CHANGE.
/// OPT // TABORZADI ACT - IN FARSI / WITH ENGLISH TRANSLATION
///
THE ISLAMIC REVOLUTION WAS A VERY IMPORTANT EVENT FOR
US. BUT UNFORTUNATELY IN RECENT YEARS, THE ISLAMIC
REVOLUTION HAS NOT BEEN GOING THE ROUTE IT WAS SUPPOSED
TO BE. AND THIS IS BECAUSE RECENTLY THE REPUBLIC HAS A
DISCREPANCY (PROBLEM) WITH A REGIME OF ONE PERSON.
/// END ACT ///
MR. TABORZADI SAYS HIS GROUP DOES NOT OBJECT TO A RELIGIOUS
FIGURE AT THE HELM OF THE COUNTRY, BUT HE SAYS IT WANTS IRAN'S
TOP LEADER TO BE CHOSEN BY A DIRECT VOTE OF THE PEOPLE. /// END
OPT ///
SHORTLY AFTER THE ELECTIONS, THE KHATAMI GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCED
MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD IN IRAN FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE
THE REVOLUTION. THESE ELECTIONS, IN WHICH ONE-MILLION CANDIDATES
ARE EXPECTED TO VIE FOR 200-THOUSAND SEATS ON MUNICIPAL COUNCILS,
WAS ONE OF MR. KAHATAMI'S CAMPAIGN PROMISES.
SOME IRANIANS SEE THIS AS A MAJOR STEP FORWARD. A LEADING LAWYER
AND ADVOCATE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN IRAN, MEHRANGUIZ KAR, SAYS THE
LOCAL ELECTIONS WILL PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN AND
NON-RELIGIOUS LEADERS TO OBTAIN A VOICE IN THE POLITICAL SYSTEM.
/// KAR ACT ///
THIS ELECTION IS VERY IMPORTANT FOR PARTICIPATION AND
FOR GETTING DEMOCRACY IN IRAN, BECAUSE THERE IS NO
OBSTACLE FOR BEING A MEMBER OF THESE LOCAL COUNCILS.
AND MEN AND WOMEN AND EVEN MINORITY PEOPLE CAN BE ACTIVE
IN THIS ELECTION.
/// END ACT ///
OTHER IRANIANS ARE MORE CYNICAL. THEY SAY THE USUAL VESTED
INTERESTS, FEARFUL OF LOSING POWER, WILL SEEK TO CONTROL THE
PROCESS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
/// OPT /// THE STRUGGLE IS ALSO ENJOINED AT THE CULTURAL LEVEL,
WHICH IN IRAN IS AT LEAST AS IMPORTANT AS POLITICS.
IRAN'S VIBRANT FILM INDUSTRY, WHICH SINCE THE REVOLUTION HAS BEEN
STRICTLY CENSORED FOR SEX, VIOLENCE, AND PERCEIVED STATEMENTS
AGAINST ISLAM AND THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT, HAS BEGUN TO DEAL WITH
TOPICS THAT PREVIOUSLY WERE TABOO.
ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR FILMS IN RECENT MONTHS ("GLASS AGENCY"),
DEALS WITH THE DESPAIR OF A VETERAN OF IRAN'S COSTLY WAR WITH
IRAQ. FOR THE FIRST TIME IT SHOWS SOME OF THE NEGATIVE
AFTER-EFFECTS OF THE WAR.
BUT A LEADING IRANIAN FILMMAKER, DARIUSH MERJUI, WHOSE LATEST
FILM APPEARED ONLY RECENTLY AFTER BEING BANNED FOR SEVEN-YEARS,
SAYS THE OUTCOME IS STILL IN DOUBT BECAUSE THE FILMS APPROVED
UNDER THE KHATAMI GOVERNMENT HAVE YET TO APPEAR.
/// OPT // MERJUI ACT ///
IT HAS NOT CHANGED THAT MUCH AND ACTUALLY IT HAS NOT
SHOWN ITSELF YET IN REGARD TO THE FILMS BECAUSE ALL
THESE FILMS THAT WE SEE THIS YEAR, THEY WERE MADE LAST
YEAR, OR TWO-YEARS AGO. MAYBE IN TWO-YEARS, WE WILL SEE
THE ACTUAL REFLECTION OF THIS CHANGE. BUT SO FAR, ONLY
IN THE GENERAL ATMOSPHERE YOU SEE THAT CERTAIN THINGS
ARE HAPPENING.
/// END ACT // END OPT ///
ONE AREA WHERE VIRTUALLY EVERYONE NOTES CHANGE IN IRAN IS IN THE
NEWS MEDIA, WHERE A WIDE-RANGING DEBATE HAS BEEN LAUNCHED ON
POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CHANGE. DURING THE RECENT ELECTION
CAMPAIGN, SEVERAL NEWSPAPERS QUESTIONED THE MANNER IN WHICH THE
SUPREME LEADER IS CHOSEN. THEY ALSO QUESTIONED WHETHER HE SHOULD
BE ALL-POWERFUL.
FOR THIS AND OTHER POSITIONS, A NUMBER OF THE NEWSPAPERS WERE
CLOSED AND SEVERAL OF THEIR EDITORS WERE DETAINED FOR WEEKS.
FINALLY, THE DUALITY IS REFLECTED IN STATEMENTS ABOUT RELATIONS
WITH THE U-S GOVERNMENT, WHICH THE IRANIAN GOVERNMENT CALLS --
THE GREAT SATAN. ON THE ANNIVERSARY OF THE TAKING OF THE U-S
EMBASSY IN TEHRAN 19-YEARS AGO, PRESIDENT KHATAMI DELIVERED A
SPEECH CALLING FOR RECONCILIATION WITH THE U-S GOVERNMENT AND
URGING IT TO MAKE GREATER EFFORTS TO REBUILD TIES.
THE DAY BEFORE, IN A SPEECH MARKING THE SAME OCCASION, SUPREME
RELIGIOUS LEADER ALI KHOMENEI DELIVERED A DIFFERENT MESSAGE. HE
SAID NORMALIZING RELATIONS WITH THE U-S GOVERNMENT WAS NOT A TOP
PRIORITY AND THE LACK OF TIES ACTUALLY BENEFITS THE IRANIAN
PEOPLE 100-PERCENT.
THESE CONFLICTING MESSAGES MEAN CHANGE WILL COME SLOWLY TO IRAN
AND WILL BE STRONGLY MARKED BY THE COUNTRY'S DEEP NATIONALISM.
(SIGNED)
NEB/SB/DW/RAE
10-Nov-98 9:47 AM EST (1447 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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