Ardavan Roozbeh/ Radio Koocheh
ardavan@koochehmail.com
Translated by Avideh Motmaen-Far /Radio Koocheh
”Doctor “Masal” was an one of the activist and member of the Confederation of Iranian Students who participated in the student movement of the sixties. After the conflicts with the Islamic Republic in June ’82, he joined the National Resistance Committee (NRC) and in the mid 80’s left it. He is also a signatory of the Charter of the Republican Iranian.
فایل صوتی را از اینجا بشنوید
According to Wikipedia, ”Masal”, leftist political activist, has been the overseas representative of the Democratic Front of Iran in the Green Party of Germany. He is the author of “Development of the Left Movement in Iran and the Causes of its permanent Crises”.
The interview with Mr. Masali took place during a protest in Washington D.C. He talked about the different political undertakings abroad, the EU approaches to the Iranian people protests, and the responsibilities within the country.”
Mr. Masali! Things are happening in Iran very quickly. In the past, the executions and events were so far apart from each other so we could have time to analyze the situation. Now, regarding the high paced executions and collisions, what do you think the movement abroad can do?
”Based on my past political experiences, in fact, if the movement abroad has a organized and targeted work, it can affect the public opinion in the world. In various forms, it can come to help the struggle of the people of Iran, to prevent executions, help the prisoners, to raise awareness about the Iranian issue in order to attract the international attention; because in the past people like “Bertrand Russell” and “Jean-Paul Sartre” were backing us. Today, because of the frustration among many groups after the Islamic Republic came into existence, we have more problems but we need to continue our efforts.
I’m not a fan of the idea of being all together, I believe that we should learn from experiences and lessons we learned. We should have a purposeful non hostile dialogue with dissidents. We need to focus on some essential issues, I mean outright opposition to the Islamic Republic, stoning executions and the non respect of human rights principles. We need to form our secularist and democratic movement and then cooperate and compete with other political opposition groups. But confusion and mix up cause harm and will not lead to wanted results.”
Do you think that the Islamic Republic has ”an opposition” within the meaning of the word?
”I have said in several speech that the opposition is only trying to show off. And my friends and I are trying hard not to show off and be a real opposition. Unfortunately, so far an organized opposition inside and outside the country has not been formed. All the efforts are scattered. People are not content, opposition forces are multiple but scattered and it does not lead to expected results.
It is a difficult process and may take several years. We should little by little overcome the political and psychological impact that the Islamic Republic have had so far on people.”
Finally, after the executions such as Ms. Zahra Bahrami’s, the biggest move that the Dutch government has made is to suspend relations with Iran. Do not you think that the government of the Islamic Republic has somehow the EU support so that still with authority and indifference to public opinion continues to behave as such and continues to hang people?
”Yes, I agree with you. I traveled to Brussels last year, I was in a hotel for twelve days and talked with all the parliamentary factions of Europe, from left to conservative. They saw my persistence, I talked of a plan we had to unite the opposition, and we wanted them to adopt a clear stance against the Islamic Republic which is not a Islamic but fascist state. Some political factions in the end said that “You cannot be representative of the opposition. You must first solve your problems and then we decide.” It was in fact an excuse but they are right. We should not blame others because of our own weaknesses. They are looking after their own interests, but this is our fault. If we become a powerful and organized force, we can force them to consider the opposition’s demands. We need to show perseverance in our activities.”
After the last elections in Iran and the creation of the so-called Green Movement led by those who were the insiders of the system of Islamic Republic, do you think this process can guarantee success or changes in the Islamic Republic?
I realized that we cannot compromise with the non-secular, non Democratic and confuse movements
”Because of my past political life, of Khomeini, Khatami, Karroubi and Mousavi, and of my PhD thesis, a research work in Germany about the reasons of failure of Iranian Constitutional Revolution Movement, I realized that we cannot compromise with the non-secular, non Democratic and confuse movements. This leads the society to retrograde. So I believe that people have chosen between bad and worse that then this became the so-called Green Movement. But people should otherwise know what they are doing. We can not accept people like Khatami, Karroubi or Mousavi as reform leaders. Their hands are dirty. Khomeini committed all the crimes with them by his side, and they do not even regret the killings.
So how can we deal with such people? Fortunately, the people, especially youngsters and women are aware and we saw that the Green Movement stopped. Our task is not to stop the diverted flow, but to follow people and see what they want and organize it, and this requires hard work. We are empty handed and have limited facilities, but if we put our efforts together we will be able to move a mountain.”
«نوشته فوق می تواند نظر نویسنده باشد و الزامن نظر رادیو کوچه نیست»
