Behind the Headlines/January 4

In tonight’s program of Behind the Headlines:

Released from prison, labour activist Esmail Bakhshi has challenged Iran’s intelligence minister for a debate concerning torture, persecution, and maltreatment at the country’s prisons.
According to Bakhshi, he was reportedly beaten and tortured while in prison.
These are the days that 40 years agoShapoor Bakhtiar was appointed as Iran’s new prime minister but his dream of bringing peace and democracy to the country were dashed with the arrival of Khomeini and his Islamic revolution.
Tonight we will speak to Alireza Nourizadeh, Amir Hossein Etemadi and Arash Rahmani to find out how the events of those days changed Iran’s history.

Alireza Nourizadeh:
I have been thinking for the last 40years that if Dr. Bakhtiar had succeeded in his efforts what a different country we would have had today.
I knew him very well and must say that the National Front was happy that the Shah had offered them to form a new government but as soon as they learnt that Bakhtiar had been chosen as the prime minister they abandoned him in an internal coup.
During his 37 days of premiership Bakhtiar showed us what democracy means and how he deeply believed in moralvalues. We did not deserve him and went for the dark ages that Khomeini brought with himself for our country.
Arash Rahmani:
Mr Bakhtiar was a true nationalist and principled politician. He genuinely followed the path of Dr. Mossadeq and it is a matter of regret that he was not asked to form a government by the Shah a year earlier.
He acted courageously and knew Iranian society very well and knew that if the Shah leaves Iran the army will disintegrate as it did.

Amir Hossein Etemadi:
I doubt if the demands of the revolution at the time could have been realised by the Constitution that kept the monarchy in place.
In fact Bakhtiar’s fate shows that the revolution has been deviated from its correct path and objectives and we are now facing its consequences in Iran of today.