WHAT IS GOING ON IN
IRAN IS NOTHING BUT A CLASH OF FINANCIAL INTERESTS
In the modern world, 30 years could be
regarded as a long time span for a political order or a theocratic regime.
However, the order in Iran is still intact despite fervent protests following
the announcement of the election results, bringing to minds the 1979 revolution.
The Iranian regime resembles fully equipped houses carefully built for
earthquakes. But it should not be forgotten that these houses too can withstand
a certain earthquake intensity.
The political situation in Iran is
generally reviewed by a two-way division as “Reformists” and “Conservatives”.
This division actually is a considerably superficial perception as determining
the boundary between both groups can be difficult. Especially terms such as
“conservatives”, “reformists”, “moderate conservatives” and “conservative
reformists” cause disorientation. There is one reality however and that is the
minute when the order’s integrity is at stake, everyone whether reformist or
conservative, unites around the axis of revolution.
Now let us take a look at the protagonists
who are trying to take the lead role in Iran’s political structure:
The most famous reformist Mohammad Khatami,
who held a very important office like the Presidency from 1997 to 2005, has
never questioned the order. In 1999, Khatami stayed silent for a long time in
the face of his young supporters who supported him in the streets of Tehran and
eventually became isolated from this supporter mass.
Mousavi constitutes the best example as to
how a conservative can suddenly turn into a reformist. Mousavi who was one of
the first figures of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, prime minister during the
years of the Iran-Iraq war and who certainly did not evoke the impression of a
“liberal”, quickly became or was made the hero of the reformists. Mousavi
attributes his electoral defeat totally to irregularities. At the same time,
however, he gives a green light to the existing order in that problems should be
resolved by talks and discussions. Mousavi, who states that the protests should
be taken seriously, underscores that the order could lose its legitimacy
otherwise. When taking a look at all these developments, we can see that Mousavi
is a “loyal friend of the order” as in his latest statements he said that it is
necessary to “find a way out to the problems within the family” and has put
aside solutions other than the order. Otherwise, the order certainly will not
accept Mousavi as a part of it. On the other hand, the Administration is aware
that it is obliged to speak Mousavi’s language to alleviate the protests. It is
also trying to keep Mousavi under control with this method.
As for Ahmadinejad… In the election
campaign four years ago, he had promised his supporters to cope with corruption.
With these statements, Ahmadinejad was giving this message: “Now it is your
turn. Stop those who became wealthy by filling their pockets during the
Iran-Iraq war. Take your revenge by voting for me”. In this period, however,
corruption further increased and Ahmadinejad in turn created his own wealthy
people. As soon as taking office, the President dismissed the leading people in
all ministries, institutions, companies and universities and replaced them with
his supporters. According to experts, around 10 thousand posts have been
replaced since 2005. In this process Ahmadinejad succeeded to take Iran back to
the darkest hours of the revolution with the policies he implemented.
Meanwhile, there remained a single person
who was able to survive despite all developments and that person was “Hashemi
Rafsanjani”. Being Iran’s richest person, Rafsanjani had made a fortune out of
the commercial activities he carried out when he was President during 1989-1997.
Rafsanjani wanted to add to his fortune so he tried to benefit from the big
increase experienced in oil prices at one time. Ahmadinejad and Rasfanjani
currently hold the most important offices of the Islamic Republic. One is the
President and the other is the Chairman of the Assembly of Experts.
Next is the most important protagonist of
the movie: leader or king Khamanei. When we look at the latest developments, we
see that Khamanei’s dictatorship is beginning to be questioned as well. However,
it should not be forgotten that the result of this questioning or boldness is
prison, exile or death.
In this case, when examining the political
structure of Iran, it will be more correct to use “They (owners of the order or
the system)” and “The Ones Except Them” rather than using terms such as
“Reformist” or “Conservative”. While being each other’s rivals, the ring of
revolution clamps these two sides to one another. In fact even the ideological
outlook, political background and life story of their members are interlinked.
These family members’ hatred or love to each other does not mean anything as
they are born as revolutionaries and the regime is a life guarantee for them.
Deep cracks have been formed in the society
with the last election process. From now on, it is not possible for the public
to take a back step from its reaction against the order. The Khamanei,
Ahmadinejad, Mousavi and Rafsanjani quartet continue to portray an insecure
picture. Meanwhile Iran, which is trying to stand up straight with an enemy it
chose from the outside since the first days of the revolution, is now left alone
and it is trying to vent its loneliness on the public. The people however can
surprise the system any moment and this would be such kind of a surprise that it
would leave nothing undestroyed…
