Kamangir (Archer)

Oligarchy of Loosers

Kamangir | April 20, 2006 | Category Iran

Hasan Rouhani was Iran’s chief negotiator on nuclear affairs. When Ahmadinejad took over the power, like many other moderate figures, he was replaced with a more “devoted” man. Since then, he has always been criticizing Ahmadinejad’s policies which he thinks has resulted in making Iran isolated in the world. He gave a more thorough analysis of the Islamic republic’s attitude with the world in his speech today (see). I have selected some parts of his talk. He says “we have always had a worry in our minds about the foreigners”. For example “in the espionage nest (official name for US embassy in Tehran according to the Islamic Republic literature, Persian: لانه جاسوسی) affairs we could have talked with Americans and solved the problem. However, we got emotional and lost the time till when we got ready to negotiate with the states but it was too late then”. He sorrows “in hard situations we can not decide fast and make decision partly based on our emotions”. He also expresses “during the war, after we got Khoramshahr back, we were powerful. So, we could have begun negotiations. Though, we denied and at the end we were forced to do what we did”. He concludes “we do not want to talk with foreigners and feel that they would fool us. Even we hear heads of the state asserting it. I do not agree with this. I think this is because of our pessimism”. It seems that inside the Islamic Republic key politicians are realizing that one of the main essences of the Islamic revolution “No to West! No to East! Islamic Republic!” (a key slogan of the revolution according to mullas, Persian:نه شرقی نه غربی جمهوری اسلامی) leads to more than necessary hostility with the world. I am not sure if they are prepared to return the pace. Another point in his talk is the usage of “we”. He is talking about “we did this” and “we failed that”. Basically, the Islamic Republic is very much like an oligarchy; Iranians vote but the candidates are filtered through severe chambers of clerics. So, he can talk about “we” because there are always the same people here and there in the government. Isn’t it funny? Not if you were an Iranian, though.

Persian phrases:

روحاني با بيان اين‌كه هميشه يك نگراني عمده پشت ذهن ما نسبت به خارجي‌ها وجود دارد، در عين حال به بحث لانه‌ي جاسوسي اشاره كرد و گفت: در بحث لانه‌ي جاسوسي يك راه اين بود كه با آمريكايي‌ها بنشينيم و مساله را فيصله دهيم، اما ما به جاي اين‌كه به مذاكره با طرفمان بپردازيم، در اين مساله احساسات را وارد كرديم و آن قدر قضيه را كش داديم تا رسيديم به مقطعي كه حاضر شديم بعد از تحميل جنگ، با آمريكا بنشينيم، اما آن زمان ديگر دير بود.
دبير سابق شوراي عالي امنيت ملي ادامه داد: ‌شايد اگر زودتر حاضر به چنين كاري مي‌شديم، راحت‌تر به توافق مي‌رسيديم و منافع كشورمان بيشتر لحاظ مي‌شد. اما متاسفانه بايد گفت كه ما هميشه در مقاطع سخت نمي‌توانيم تصميم‌گيري سريعي داشته باشيم و احساسات را در تصميمات دخيل مي‌كنيم.
روحاني ادامه داد: در زمان جنگ نيز زماني كه در موضع قدرت بوديم و خرمشهر را پس گرفته بوديم، باز هم نتوانستيم تصميم بگيريم كه هم‌زمان با دفاع مقدس با دشمن سر ميز مذاكره بنشينيم و بحث كنيم، اين قضيه را عقب انداختيم تا به جايي رسيديم كه ديگر راهي جز قطعنامه و مذاكره برايمان باقي نماند و آن زمان بود كه مذاكره با عراق را انتخاب كرديم و البته آن هم خيلي دير بود .
دبير سابق شوراي عالي امنيت ملي دليل تمام اين قضايا را بدبيني‌هاي عميق كه به گفته‌ي وي در پس ذهن‌ها وجود دارد، عنوان كرد و گفت: ما همواره نمي‌خواهيم با خارجي‌ها به ويژه دشمن بنشينيم و هميشه احساس مي‌كنيم اگر اين كار را بكنيم، سرمان كلاه رفته است، همان طور كه شاهد بوديم برخي عزيزان از تريبون‌هاي عمومي اعلام كردند كه هر وقت ما با خارجي‌ها مي‌نشينيم، سرمان كلاه مي‌رود كه البته من اين قضيه را قبول ندارم و معتقدم اين نگاه هم ناشي از بدبيني است كه به آن دچار هستيم.

War Zone Playground

Kamangir | April 20, 2006 | Category Iran

Children playing with the ruins of a tank in south west of Iran. In a trip a couple of years ago, I saw many scenes like this there, remembering the tough days Iran and Iraq were engaged in a war. This is one of the photographs selected as the best photos of the Persian year 1384 (2005) (see). I have selected a few other too and I will post them here gradually.