The Pendulum in Iran: Bombs and Tear Gas

There is only one flaw in the drive from spanking Teheran Airport to the hotel in affluent, tree-lined North Teheran — the visitor gets little sense of the enormous history of this land. It was some thirty years ago that the last Shah was celebrating the five thousand year anniversary of the Persian Throne. Shortly afterwards, kicked out of his own country, he would launch on a peripatetic global sojourn which saw him being expelled from a number of countries — who may have been beneficiaries of his largesse in the past, but now did not want to antagonize Iran’s new ruler, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeni; the Shah finally died of a broken heart. Iranian society meanwhile swung like a pendulum from overt Westernism, almost hedonism, to spartan conservatism.

If one wants to unravel what is happening in Iran today -- as Presidential candidates Ahmedinejad and Mousavi along with millions of impassioned followers duke it out, the police uses tear gas to suppress protesting mobs, and a suicide bomber kills one at Ayatollah Khomeini's tomb -- one has to understand history both distant and recent. After years of conservatism, symbolized so vividly by the black hijab clad Iranian female, the pendulum may be stirring to swing back again as affluent and youthful Iranian’s at least are saying: “No more.” One of the center’s of the swing is the sprawling campus of Teheran University from where Reza Esmael, 23, has just graduated with a coveted degree in Computer Science — a subject where Iranian graduates compete easily with the World: “My friends and I just cannot wait for this Iranian isolation to end. It is hurting our economy and our business. Also there are so many job opportunities in USA and elsewhere which we would love to take up, but we cannot.” Reza and his friends, fluent in English and the ways of the international pop culture, may not be that up-to-date with realities of the global financial meltdown and evaporating jobs — but one get’s the point.

A drive down to poorer sections of Teheran or out to the countryside, though present a different picture. These are under-reported areas where few Western journalists venture. Here there is widespread support of the policies of Ahmedinejad and one comes across some maniacal admirers of his ascetic lifestyle. Agha Baigy, 43, is a farmer who does not speak English like Teheran University Student, Reza; he is a fervent supporter of the former Iranian President: “Ahmedinejad sleeps on a mat and does not even own a car. He is humble and honest and has compassion for the poor. He looks after them. And he has the courage to stand up to the USA. He is like the old Imams of Islam. We all voted for him in my village.”

Yes Iran is divided and the pendulum may be swinging back to more globalism, but there is little evidence of mass unrest or violence that one can see. The police has discharged tear gas and wielded batons to contain mobs, but these measures are identical to those used in Western capitals to contain unwieldy mobs protesting visits by President Bush or globalization summits. The biggest challenge for local authorities is putting out scores of garbage bin fires that seem to be the favorite arsonist ploy of university students though causing no human or material damage. The Internet has slowed causing Internet Social Networks to wrongly report site-blocking. SMS and mobile service has also been spotty as authorities strive to contain communications of Mousavi supporters.

There is wide spread allegation of election rigging and a growing chorus of voices ask for a re-election — joining them is Iranian Nobel Laureate, Shirin EbadiShirin Ebadi. Lending credence to this claim is the fact that the “Referee” -- Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Husseini Khamenei is not viewed by Mousavi supporters as impartial and above board. Both Mousavi and Khamenei were key lieutenants of the Leader of the Iranian Revolution Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei and have a history of mutual conflict since that time. Mousavi was a radical hardliner back then, but he has softened over time and become more liberal — an evolution most attribute to the influence of his relatively liberal wife, Zahra Rahnavard, who campaigns with him. To many Iranians, particularly the educated younger lot, she is the breath of fresh air which will blow the pendulum back to moderation and modernism.