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Demystifying Iran, a complex country of contradictions (Column: Bookends)
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By Vikas Datta Winston Churchill once described Russia as a "riddle, wrapped in a
mystery, inside an enigma" - which is what most people recall - but he
also went on to say "...but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian
national interest". This quote also seems valid for another long
misunderstood country: Iran.
What do we make of this perplexing
country where crowds shout "Death to America" but was the only Islamic
one in West Asia to have spontaneous memorials on 9/11? One proud of its
long and illustrious history and culture but where the president lives
on a street named after Louis Pasteur?
A country with a fairly
open, modern society despite the presence of significant conservative
and religious elements including clerics most dogmatic (but also
considerate and pragmatic), a democracy with anti-democratic features
like prior vetting of electoral candidates and an unelected leader with
unimaginable powers, one where women are subject to a most restrictive
dress codes (still managing to be fashionably chic!) but also comprise
over half of university students, and are very visible in the workforce,
with cultural traits that societies used to directness deem evasion and
hypocrisy but the Iranians themselves (and many other peoples) term
"good manners".
There is no dearth of books on Iran - histories,
analyses, travelogues, memoirs and so on - by both Iranians (natives and
diaspora) and foreign writers. For a comprehensive history, take
British diplomat-turned-scholar Michael Axworthy's "A History of Iran:
Empire of the Mind" (2008) and "Revolutionary Iran: A History of the
Islamic Republic" (2013). For modern Iran, the distrust of West
(especially their governments) can be understood from American
journalist Stephen Kinzer's "All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and
the Roots of Middle East Terror" (2008) and the 1979 Islamic
Revolution's context and success from Roy Mottahedeh's "The Mantle of
the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran" (1986).
Some incisive
autobiographical accounts include Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis"
(2000), Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi's "Iran Awakening: A Memoir of
Revolution and Hope" (2006) - along with Azadeh Moaveni, who herself
wrote: "Lipstick Jihad: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America and
American in Iran" (2005) and "Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and
Danger in Iran" (2009).
But for a perceptive account of what
makes Iran tick, what do its people believe, what role Islam and clerics
play in life and society, then the best person to turn to is
Iranian-American journalist and author Hooman Majd.
The grandson
of an ayatollah, a relative of former president Seyyed Mohammad Khatami,
and otherwise connected in a way to the establishment, Majd has a
stated goal to shed light on the elusive "truth about Iran" and his
three works go a long way in meeting his objective - though a definite,
personal point of view (and to be fair, he never claims otherwise).
The
first "The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran" (2008)
is a masterly examination of Ahmadinejad and his presidency as well as
key principles of the Iranian psyche including "haqq" or rights,
"gholov" or boastful exaggeration and "ta'arouf" or equally boastful
politeness and self-deprecation. With its woman taxi drivers and
dispatchers, opium-smoking clerics, T-shirt-clad teenagers, and fibre
optic internet connected seminaries, the book dispels many stereotypes.
Of these, the most revealing one can be the conservative Ayatollah
Lankareni's response to a young overseas follower confessing a "sin":
"Repent, and don't do it again."
Majd follows up with "The
Ayatollahs' Democracy: An Iranian Challenge" (2010) about the
controversial 2009 presidential elections, the protests that followed
and the internal political dynamics - all framed in various versions,
including opposites, of the supposed dictum of Hassan-i-Sabbah, the
founder of the feared Hashshashins (or the Assassins): "Nothing is True,
Everything is Permitted."
"The Ministry of Guidance Invites You
to Not Stay: An American Family in Iran" (2013) is more personal, about
their experiences when he, with his American wife and infant son, moved
to Iran for a year in 2011.
What Majd brings out is that Iran
should be considered in its own, rather than as part of a "Muslim world"
or the Middle East and is more sophisticated and affluent than some
people think, knowledge of the Shia faith and its ethos is crucial to
understanding the country and this will remain a part of politics and
society, the regime does enjoy quite a bit of support, no sudden
political change seems likely - the only thing youth want is more social
freedom and their elders, more economic stability.
Time these are understood in dealings with Iran (and the last by its leaders)!
(02.08.2015
- Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are
personal. He can be contacted at vikas.d@ians.in)