Few words to friends and compatriots

One evening, as the disaster in Iran was unfolding, the British Broadcasting Corporation, long despised by Iranians for providing Khomeinists a platform to air their venom against the Iranian government, aired a commentary which left a lasting impression on the minds of its more alert Iranian listeners. The British commentator observed that with the fall of the Iranian Monarchy, Iran would be placed in that category of backward Third World nations where she belongs, never again aspiring to embrace modernization and development.

The tragedy that befell Iranians was made possible by a long nurtured alliance of self-styled “communists”, “Islamic Marxists”, “Mossadeghists”, “democrats” and other opportunists with radical Shiite clerics led by Ayatollah Khomeini. Although the success of the Islamists in the takeover and subsequent control of Iran tends to overshadow the role of their “former” partners (other partners will presently be noted) in this ongoing disaster, the equal or greater role of the latter should not be overlooked; unless, that is, we’re looking forward to equal or greater disasters.

Questions as why the Islamic Republic came to be and how it has managed to sustain itself for the past 26 years, although different questions, require alarmingly similar explanations. The similarity of these explanations stems from the fact that the disaster and the failure (ours) they account for, respectively, are the natural consequences of, if not the same, then of similar determinants and factors, including social, political and cultural trends.

Finding explanations and solutions often requires that we look beyond the Mullahs and the Islamic Republic. Often, it is required that we look at ourselves. It has been my experience that with a broader, inclusive outlook, which will inevitably take the role and responsibilities of the exiled community (ourselves) into consideration, we shall grasp a better understanding of the factors and processes that pushed and have kept our civilization in the deep, black abyss in which it finds itself.