Tehran (AsiaNews) Growing tension in the Middle East; accusations of backing Hezbollah; international attention focused on Iran all this generates a mix of government pride and fear among the people, of vainglory of the mullahs and pessimism of ordinary people.
There is no let up in threats of UN sanctions to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions. Meanwhile, the state radio, the usual mouthpiece of the regime, has already announced that Iran will not accept the demands and proposals of the international community about its nuclear plans. On Friday, 28 July, at the main prayer of the Islamic Republic in Tehran, ayatollah Ahmad Khatami solemnly declared: "Mankind should start thinking about a new United Nations, because the current organisation is dead and produces nothing."
On a political level, nervousness and fear is there: the nuclear rhetoric was complemented by regular protestations of innocence about backing Hezbollah: there is only "spiritual, moral and diplomatic" backing, nothing military or financial. People are not rejoicing about the "victories" of the Shiite militia over the Zionist army, because they fear the escalation of the war spilling over into Iran.
The importance of Tehran on the regional and international chess board, from religious and political points of view, is misleading. In 29 July, hojjatoleslam Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie, Information Minister [in other words, the Secret Services ed], stated: "Iran has today reached the zenith of its power and majesty, domestically and abroad, despite efforts by enemies to keep it in a backward position." The speech continues with heightened rhetoric: "Islamic Iran is now in a high position and radiates in the world, including the Islamic world. Iran is the most powerful and zealous nation on earth."
To an outside observer, all this propaganda seems to be blind arrogance. The economy of the country is going pretty badly: trade and traffic are still working, but there are very few investments. To buy petrol (in country that produces oil), the government has decided to sell some of its foreign currency reserves. Meanwhile, unemployment and poverty are on the rise, and so is uncertainty.
To protect itself, the Iranian power base is isolating the country, setting it apart from the rest of the world. The changes feared by the West, expected since Ahmadinejad was elected, are taking place now, a year later.
Censorship is becoming stronger in the country: bit by bit, Ahmadinejad has allowed the infiltration of "revolutionary" people or ideas into the state forces of order, the street police and the firemen. There are "modesty patrols" to monitor women's dress and make-up; the fight against immorality (read use of the internet and satellite TV); repression of all dissidents trade unionists, intellectuals, journalists and so on. Only a few dissidents are in prison but the majority of those outside, like the Nobel laureate, Shirin Ebadi, are out "on bail".
Human rights organizations and the international community are practically powerless in their attempts to protect these "free" people, who are always threatened with arbitrary arrest.
In Tehran, youth are laughing at the announcement of a ban on using the word "pizza" (substituted by a word in Farsi that is translated as "extendable meal") or "mobile phone" ("companion telephone") or "helicopter" (revolving wings).
The Emperor Reza Pahlavi (1925 1941) had ordered the Persian Academy to create a Farsi lexicon to eradicate words in Arabic. Ahmadinejad is targeting words from Indo-European or "imperialist" languages like English or French. For the Iran of the mullahs not of the ordinary people Arabic is ideally and symbolically a mother language. But Farsi is, and will always be, an Indo-European language. Iran cannot be transformed into an island: it is on the trade routes between India and Europe, a country where fear, pessimism and so much vainglory reign.
