Right now, the dreams of one of the youngest populations in the world are slipping away. After 45,000 people were killed in the Bam earthquake (an earthquake of the same magnitude killed less than 10 in California) the hard-line clerics have already planned to repatriate citizens to disaster areas, endangering thousands more. Their stated justification: faith in Allah will protect Iran.
Iranians are more than skeptical. After Iran left its people to die under rubble rather than accept Israeli aid, America relaxed sanctions for a 90-day period and sent aid to the country. Upon the arrival of the Americans, there was an outpouring of affection; Iranians hailed the Americans as their saviors, crying “finally” in joy. Throngs of people grabbed onto the volunteers, begging them not to leave.
What was the Iranian government’s response? While aid was lifted into the country, Syria sent empty crates into Iran marked as aid. The Iranian government then filled those crates with weapons and shipped them back to Syria for use by the terror proxy Hezbollah, who just days ago continued its assault on Israeli citizens and soldiers by shooting a rocket at IDF soldiers who came “several yards” into Lebanon to remove mines the UN was aware of, but refused to deal with.
In sum, after rejecting Israeli offers to save Iranian lives, the clerics sent weapons to killers hell-bent on murdering Israelis. Syria, for their part, claims Hezbollah is justified in their attacks because Israel still occupies the Sheba Farms, quite an absurd claim considering the virulently anti-Israel UN declared Israel completely out of Lebanon three years ago.
When the clerics are not sending Iranians to their death, or supporting the murder of their would-be rescuers, they are busy subverting their own democratic facade. Recently, Iran’s Guardian Council disqualified thousands of Reformist politicians in an attempt to engineer a stop to their embarrassing defeats. In protest the reformers, now in defiance of reformist President Khatami, have sat in on parliament, resigned their positions, and called on the democratic sentiments of the nation’s students.
So far only 200, or five percent, have been reinstated. In fact, few of the 80 already sitting members who were banned have reinstituted. In the meantime, just as occured when student protesters started to disappear last year, the clerics have made use of ultra-conservative vigilantes. Already five protesters have been beaten, intimidated, and subject to death threats. Hard liners have shown little interest in cracking down on activities that support their own interest.
Violence will likely spill into the streets if the increasingly apathetic students take up the cause of the reformers. Iranians show open contempt for their government; while the Americans above were mobbed by well wishers, the clerics were spit on. Iranians largely agree with Bush’s designation of the Mullah’s leadership as “evil” and have asked why Iran spends billions dollars for nuclear weapons while letting its own die under rubble or suffer beatings for demanding democracy.
Why is this of interest? Because the resolution of the Palestinian issue, the war in Iraq, and the war on terror in general all hinge on what happens in Iran. Regardless of what you felt about the war beforehand, the American presence in Iraq is spurring on domestic pushes for Iranian democracy. To pull out now, to hand the reigns to the UN, would leave Iranian reformists exposed. Even if you were against the American occupation in Iraq, leaving Iraq now might start a chain of events that leaves more Iranians under rubble. But it likely won’t be because of an earthquake.