Why the West has trouble understanding Iran’s political language

The outcome of the presidential election in Iran will have a resounding effect across the Middle East and the whole world. While the West dubs the poll unrepresentative, little is done to understand the nature of Political Islam which governs the nation.

The previous 2009 elections came amid a large-scale opposition
campaign to review the voting results — but that was before the
Arab Spring, while the future elections have dovetailed with a
crisis of the revolution in Egypt, a war in Syria and a wave of
unrest in Turkey.

In 2009, the Muslim world saw the US as its archenemy, and Iran —
mostly as a friend: it persevered in its nuclear program,
disagreed with Americans, advocated Palestine’s interests and
backed both Hamas and Hezbollah. However, with the Syrian
conflict now in full swing, the Muslim world has been virtually
forced into a Sunni vs. Shia standoff.

This makes the upcoming vote a turning point for Iran, the Middle
East and the whole world.

Now that the US has already panned the elections as fraudulent,
will the opposition resort to the methods it used back in 2009?
Will it lead to an upheaval in the country? Will the US offer a
helping hand to the opposition? We shall find out very soon.

Few in the West have any idea at all of the Iranian political
landscape.

To make matters clear, they have labeled the contenders
‘conservatives’ and ‘reformists’ — a deeply flawed
classification.

The leading reformist, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who was
disqualified from the presidential race by the Guardian Council,
and ex-president Mohammed Khatami, who reportedly decided not to
run, are high-ranking Muslim clericals.

‘Conservatives’, on the contrary, hold strongly secular views. It
is Khatami who once introduced the idea of the Dialogue of
Civilizations as a response to Samuel Huntington’s Clash of
Civilizations. But when he met the Spanish Queen, he made a point
by refusing to shake her hand.

Another reformist, Ayatollah Rafsanjani, leads an important
clerical council in the country. His son is a pistachio tycoon,
but the ayatollah still lives a modest lifestyle not far from
Imam Khomeini’s house in an ex-slum called Jamaran.

An Iranian conservative, President Ahmadinejad in many ways owed
his victory in the previous polls and his popularity to his
unassuming attitude. When he was a city mayor, he wore a casual
jacket and lived in a poor neighborhood. At the same time, a
university professor, he could easily plunge into discussing
philosophical matters, shocking the political elite into a
stupor.

Conservatives in Iran are against the very symbol of what the
West calls a conservative regime — putting clericals into high
offices.

Now the outcome of the Iranian election is pretty unpredictable —
for a number of reasons.

Political preferences of Tehran’s residents and the rest of the
country are very divergent: while in the capital the politically
active intellectuals would like to see a ‘consensus candidate’ at
the helm, Iran on the whole is dominated by adherents of the
Islamic Revolution — which stands for refusing to cooperate or
enter into any agreements with the West. That’s why Tehran is by
no means a thermometer of nationwide sentiments.

Iranians are a highly disciplined nation. And it’s not only about
how millions instantly respond to political issues. It’s also
about a high voter turnout and observers from all the candidates
at the polls. I saw all of this with my own eyes in 2009.

Contrary to what the Western media say, an Iranian does not face
a ballot of eight unfamiliar contenders.

Each candidate has a strong background and his own supporters.

A two-week debate offers all the runners an opportunity to answer
questions on their vision of economy, politics and culture.

And while a Western viewer will say the debate would do better
with a healthy amount of squabbling and wrangling, Iranians are
happy with what they have. In Iran, they do not make a show of
the elections. The debate enables a politically vocal majority to
make their ultimate choice.

Nature of ‘political Islam’

But there is one more thing to remember. Most Iranians are
constantly in touch with influential scholars, men and women
alike, who know the sharia law and the Quran very well. In one
family, husband and wife may well sign up to different schools of
thought.

During the holy month of fasting and on holidays, Iranians invite
these spiritual teachers to visit them and talk to their friends
and family.

Such intellectual exchanges constitute a very important part of
life in Iran — one that people abroad are unaware of. They’re not
religious events or chatting over a cup of tea, or philosophy
clubs — it’s just that people are constantly seeking intellectual
discussion.

The scholars themselves have regular contacts with other scholars
from their schools of thought and ayatollahs. It’s important to
understand that in this respect there’s no uniformity in Iran —
there are various schools of thought that don’t agree with either
Imam Khomeini’s or Rahbar (The Supreme Leader of Iran) Khamenei’s
ideas. (However, people who run for president have to more or
less fall in line with Khamenei’s stance.)

There’s a consensus among the Iranian population on several key
issues, such as the fact that the Islamic Revolution offered a
new path for the people; that Iran has a right to its nuclear
program and development; and that women’s rights are more
respected in Islam than in Western law, which is inferior to
Sharia law. The rest, like mullahs’ role in politics, the
necessity of theocratic rule, the right to protest and dissent,
and various cultural and behavioral phenomena, are considered to
be topics open for debate. In Iranian people’s experience and
tradition, it is necessary to regularly discuss such issues with
scholars in order to comprehend them more fully.

A scholar is a central figure for seminars of this kind, but he
or she is not a priest and definitely not a deity.

These ties between people — strong, but unseen by the outsiders —
pervade Iranian society, strengthening it.

That’s what the Iranians mean by “political Islam”. It existed
before the Islamic Revolution, secured its success, allowed
dozens of millions of people to receive education and accounted
for the country’s rapid progress in scientific and technological
spheres.

It’s impossible to tell which school of thought a person adheres
to simply by the way they look. For example, public servants of
any kind all wear strict hijabs or ordinary suits, but that
doesn’t mean they all follow the same school of thought. It
doesn’t even mean they are religious or indicate which party they
support.

Foreigners assume that Iranian women that wear make-up and have
their hair done are somehow protesting against the regime, and
find themselves at a loss when they see these same women in
mosques. And they are completely stupefied when they see women in
strict hijabs taking part in demonstrations. Iran is, indeed, a
mystery.

Illegitimate and unrepresentative or..?

So who will be elected the country’s 7th president in the 11th
presidential elections heavily depends on this complex mechanism
— political Islam. The US State Department has already declared
the election illegitimate, claiming that the candidates “do
not represent the people”.

Let’s try to determine if that is the case. It should be
mentioned that Iranian politics is an exotic and unusual thing
for Western people. In order to make sense of it, it is important
to know about a politician’s origins, his occupation before and
after the Iranian Revolution, his status, which is far more
challenging than distinguishing between the Western bipartisan
systems, where the differences between the parties boil down to
their stances on taxes, abortion and gay rights.

The so called “conservatives” include five candidates:
Saeed Jalili, Ali Akbar Velayati, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf,
Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, and Mohsen Rezaee.

Saeed Jalili

Experts say Saeed Jalili is most likely to win. But predictions
don’t always work in Iran. In 2005, analysts didn’t even notice
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the first round, but in the second round
he beat Rafsanjani himself.

Saeed Jalili is 47 years old, making him the youngest of the
eight candidates. He was born in Mashhad, a home of many Shia
holy places. Many revolution minded students came out of this
city. He is the main negotiator for the nuclear program, so
Iranians hear his name all the time, since the media in Iran and
all over the world follow this topic closely.

In 2007, he became secretary of the Supreme National Security
Council, making him the chief negotiator for Iran’s nuclear
program. With the country’s nuclear policy a topic of intense
interest at home and abroad, he is a household name in Iran.

Jalili holds a Ph.D in political science and philosophy from Imam
Sadeq University in Tehran.

During the war, he served as a member of the Basij volunteers of
the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution, which
certainly wins him some points with the people. He was senior
director of policy planning in the office of Iran’s Supreme
Leader, and also served as Deputy Foreign Minister.

He didn’t announce his candidacy until very recently. Despite
being a member of the Front of Islamic Revolution Stability, he
will run as an independent candidate.

Experts say that even though he never was a policy maker per se,
he has a strong political will and knows what tough confrontation
is like. But this won’t win him people’s votes. However, the fact
that a number of registered candidates withdrew in favor of
Jalili, shows that he has a serious chance to win.

In the first round of debates, Jalili promised to stand strong
against “the arrogant Western countries”. The Iranian
people can identify with this, they understand his stance and
promise to avoid the policy of compromise. While the West sees it
as “entrenched conservatism”, for the Iranians this
represents the continuity of Iran’s resistance policy, which most
of the people support.

Jalili also commented on a very important issue: “We registered
850 thousand new marriages in the last year, so we need to come
up with a housing program in order to accommodate the needs of
these new families.” So basically he is going to focus on making
sure that young couples can afford to buy or rent a place. In
Iran, this is considered a high priority issue.

He also mentioned renovation of old buildings. Few people outside
Iran know that Iranians blame the shah for destroying Tehran’s
historic streets. Apparently only the Mahdi is allowed to “make
streets straight”, so basically the shah played the Mahdi.

Ali Akbar Velayati

Some experts had declared Ali Akbar Velayati as the most likely
winner.

Velayati is 67 years old. He was born in a small village outside
Tehran. He studied pediatrics in Tehran and Johns Hopkins
University in the US. He was arrested when he was 17 — this was
during the rule of Mohammad Reza Shah.

In the last two years he initiated a number of summits for Arab
Spring leaders, which Iranians call “Islamic Awakening”. He was
able to bring together representatives of many different groups —
from Taliban to Salafi groups, HAMAS and Hezbollah. Politicians,
charismatic leaders, journalists from all over the world, female
activists, and even revolutionary poets have come to his summits.
Thanks to Velayati’s efforts, Iran has stayed the leader of the
Arab revolution.

He used to be a Minister of Foreign Affairs, and today he is the
foreign affairs advisor to the Supreme Leader of Iran.

Velayati is part of the “2+1” coalition (Velayati, Ghalibaf, and
Haddad-Adel). There is still a possibility that they will
withdraw in favor of Jalili. Velayati has already endorsed him.

Bagher Ghalibaf

One of the most vibrant and hard-boiled contenders is Mohammad
Bagher Ghalibaf.

Ghalibaf, 51, was also born in Mashhad to a Kurdish father. In
Iran, contrary to what Western propaganda is saying, the
national/ethnic issue is a minor one, so all the attempts to use
it to spur turmoil have failed. Khamenei, for instance, is
Azerbaijani.

Previously, Ghalibaf used to stand at the helm of the Iranian
police. After that, he headed the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps
and was the Iranian Army Commander. Since 2005, he has enjoyed
skyrocketing approval ratings as the Mayor of Tehran.

After he announced he’d be running as an independent candidate, a
video went viral on the Internet showing Ghalibaf order troops to
open fire on student protesters at Tehran University in 2003.
Another similar video soon followed.

Ghalibaf has gone hard on his political rival Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, who won the 2005 elections. In an interview to
Iranian news agency Tasnim he said, ‘Since when has the Holocaust
become a leading issue of our foreign policy? Iran has never been
against Judaism.’

That was his response to Ahmadinejad repeatedly raising this
topic in public.

The truth of the matter is that Ahmadinejad has never spoken
against Judaism or Jews and welcomed numerous rabbi delegations.
Iran rejects Zionism as a fundamental ideology for the state of
Israel, believing that it runs counter to Judaism.

Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel

Gholam Ali Haddad-Adel is unlikely to oppose the coalition.

Adel, 68, comes from Tehran. His daughter is married to the son
of the Supreme Leader of Iran. In 2004-2008, he was the first
secular Speaker in Parliament. He is a member of the Expediency
Discernment Council (resolves differences between the Parliament
and the Council of Guardians, headed by Rafsanjani) and the High
Council of Cultural Revolution. Odds are that he will withdraw
from the race to back the 2+1 coalition candidate.

With his degree in Physics (the most respected profession in
Iran), he also holds a PhD in Philosophy from the Tehran
University and is a prolific author. He served in various posts
like Vice Minister of Culture and Vice Minister of Education.

Mohsen Rezaee

Mohsen Rezaee’s chances to win remain slim, in spite of his
revolutionary past.

Rezaee is 58 and comes from Khuzestan. He was born into a
semi-nomadic family of Lurs — a Persian ethnic group living in
the Southwestern Zagros Mountains.

Shortly after the war with Iraq began, at the age of 27 he became
the youngest commander to lead the Islamic Revolution Guards
Corps, when his predecessor was killed in a terrorist attack. A
hero of the war, he resigned from his post in 1981. For several
years, he worked as Secretary of the Expediency Discernment
Council.

Before the Revolution, he studied engineering at the Iran
University of Science and Technology. In 2001, he earned a PhD in
Economics.

In 2006, Argentina issued an arrest warrant for Rezaee and six
more Iranians in connection with a 1994 suicide
bombing of a Jewish cultural center in Buenos-Aires. Rezaee’s
son, Ahmad, defected to the United States and reportedly told
officials that his father was behind the attack. Argentina has
never asked Iran to extradite Rezaee.

This invalidates his presidential bid: in spite of his enormous
popularity, a future president cannot be blacklisted by the
Interpol or face a risk of arrest abroad.

Hassan Rouhani

The reformists have promised to unite behind one presidential
nominee by June 8. As Aytollah Rafsandjani is no longer running
for office, there are three possible candidates left.

Hassan Rouhani is considered to be the conservatives’ main rival,
but he is a cleric and as such will not be able to provide
serious competition.

Hassan Rouhani is 64. He was born in Sorkheh. He used to be a
member of the Assembly of Experts, as well as the Expediency
Council and the Supreme National Security Council. He
has been the head of the Center for Strategic Research since
1992. He also took part in negotiations regarding Iran’s
nuclear program.

He is an independent candidate, but the reformist leaders, former
president Mohammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani, have supported
his bid.

During the debates on the economic situation he raised the
unemployment issue, saying there are 3 million unemployed people
in Iran, 800,000 of whom hold college degrees.

Last week, during Rouhani’s campaign rally in Jamaran Mosque,
several of his supporters were arrested. Saeedollah Badashti, the
head of the youth branch of Rouhani’s followers, and others were
arrested for chanting slogans in support of Mirhossein Mousavi
and Mehdi Karroubi — the opposition candidates who led
demonstrations after 2009 presidential election. Both of them are
currently under house arrest.

“With your support, we will open all the locks which have been
fastened upon people’s lives during the past eight years. You,
dear students and heroic youth, are the ones who support economic
recovery and improving living standards. We will restore our
country’s dignity,” Rouhani said.

Mohammad Reza Aref

Mohammad Reza Aref is 61. He was born in Yazd. He was
Vice-President under Khatami, from 2001 to 2005. He is an
electrical engineer and a professor at the University of Tehran
and Sharif University of technology. Currently
Mohammad Reza Aref is a member of the Supreme Council of Cultural
Revolution and the Expediency Discernment Council.

The polls show that Aref could become a successful candidate, but
since the key reformist politicians have supported Rouhani he is
likely to withdraw from the race.

During the debates Aref blamed Ahmadinejad for the country’s
economic and political problems. He is in favor of privatization,
which, in his view, is the only way to ensure economic growth. He
hasn’t stop at criticizing Ahmadinejad, however, and proceeded to
say that all of Iran’s problems are the conservatives’ fault.
Nevertheless, he promised that as president, he would not
tolerate criticism towards his predecessors, i.e. Ahmadinejad,
Khatami, Mousavi and Rafsanjani.

The least known candidate is Mohammad Gharazi, who is also likely
to withdraw from the race.

During a press conference before the debates Gharazi said, “I
have no money or campaign managers, but I have an anti-inflation
strategy”.

Gharazi is in Rafsanjani’s circle — he was Minister of
Communication under Rafsanjani and Minister of Petroleum under
Mousavi. He hadn’t been very politically active, so his bid for
presidency was quite unexpected, and quite unexpectedly approved.

Out of 75 million Iranians, just over 50 million have a right to
vote in the upcoming presidential election that will be held on
Friday, June 14. Polling stations have been set up in schools,
mosques and colleges. All the candidates will have their
observers at every polling station.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.

This article originally appeared on: RT