Behind the Headlines/January 23

In tonight’s program of Behind the Headlines we will continue to look at what achievements, if any, the Iranian regime has had forty years after coming to power, as millions of Iranians are currently opposing its policies by mass protests and strikes.

We will discuss these issues with our guests Mohammad Nourizad and Dr. Sadeq Zibakalam.

Dr. Sadeq Zibakalam:

As a university lecturer in political science and someone who has witnessed the Islamic revolution and gone through the developments of Iran during the last forty years, I am sorry to say that the new Iranian generation’s attachment to the revolution is on constant decline.

My own children ask me why did I oppose the Shah’s regime and what was I thinking when we wanted his downfall.

The index of support for that revolution has been on the fall for many years now and if the regime thinks that people who come to the streets on the anniversary of the revolution are pledging their support for it, then it is badly mistaken.

In fact the regime’s misreading of the true feeling of the Iranian people about the revolution has led to the emergence of Reza Shah as a national symbol among our people and their attraction for him and his policies.

Mohammad Nourizad:

I think if we were to have an election in Iran today the majority of the Iranian people would say they do not want the Islamic republic regime to rule over them.
The nature of the new regime and what it would become after the revolution was any one’s guess. Those who came to power as a result of the revolution had absolutely no prior knowledge about how to run a country like Iran.
Khomeini just had his charisma but did not know the world and had no knowledge of international relations among the nations.

The nature of our clerical establishment is one of parasite life and wherever they have extended their influence and power they have corrupted and ruined it.