The Right State

The people of Iran sometimes act like someone who just bought a car from a used car salesman.  When they wake up in the morning to view the new car and it turns out they had not bought was what they were promised.  During the 1979 Iranian revolution which overthrew the Shah of Iran, the people wanted and demanded more rights and a democratically elected government.  Since then, the run of the mill people of Iran are not very satisfied with what was become of those promises.  For the last few years, the mullahs have kept an ever watchful eye on everyday Iranians and with good reason.  The people still want more rights, not a more restrictive theocracy.

With the turmoil in Lebanon, you would think the Iranians would want to do anything they can to help their Islamic brethren.  Not so.  It turns out most of the Iranian people want their money to stay in Iran to take care of Iranian problems.

There is a huge amount of anger here about what is happening in Lebanon, but it is not all the result of Israeli bombs, missiles and artillery.

“Of course I am angry,’’ said Hamid Akbari, 30, a deliveryman. “All our income is going to Palestine and Hezbollah.”

For decades, Iran has been Hezbollah’s prime patron, helping create it as a Shiite Muslim militia and then nurture it with money, expertise and weapons. But now that Hezbollah is in the midst of full-blown fighting with Israel, Iranian officials have been adamant in insisting that they had nothing to do with the events that set off the crisis. (snip)

In interviews in central Tehran Saturday, person after person said the same thing: Iran should worry about Iran’s problems and not be dragged down by others’ battles.

“We Iranians have a saying,” said Ali Reza Moradi, 35, a portrait artist who works in a small booth downtown. “We should save our own house first and then save the mosque. A lot of people think this way. The government should help its people first, and then help the people in Lebanon.”

Maybe some of the anger in Iran will be directed not at Israel, but on the ruling mullahs who continuously defy the west with its nuclear program and its support of terrorist groups.  Iran can not hope to match the US dollar for dollar in this crisis.  As Iran sends more of their hard earned money into this conflict, the anger towards the Iranian government will likely grow.  I hope this is the beginning of the end for the Islamic theocracy in Iran.

Tags: Democracy, Iran, War //