“Two trains have left the station in Tehran,” said Professor David Menashri in describing the current situation in Iran. “On one train—an express train—is the Iranian leadership racing to become a nuclear power. On the second train—a slow, local train—are the Iranian people, seeking political change.”
The West, including Israel, has a huge stake in which train reaches its destination first, according to Menashri, who is director of the Center for Iranian Studies and Parviz and Pouran Nazarian Chair for Modern Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University.
As the Islamic regime, led by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seeks to make Iran a nuclear power with hegemony in the Middle East, the Iranian people are working to realize the dream of the revolution: to bring hope and prosperity to the common people of Iran.
On Feb. 11, the 29th anniversary of the Islamic revolution, nearly 200 people gathered at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies for a lecture titled “Iran: Insights into its Religion, Politics and Power,” featuring Menashri and Mehdi Khalaji, a visiting fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and a trained Shiite cleric.
The program, sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago (JCRC), was moderated by Ambassador J.D. Bindenagel, vice president for Community, Government and International Affairs at DePaul University.
“Iranians today are asking themselves one simple question: Does the reality of the past 29 years meet the expectations of the revolution?” Menashri said.
“If you went on the streets of Tehran, the vast majority of people will say that the expectations were much greater than the reality. The [goal of the] revolution was not merely to return to Islam but to improve the lives of the next generation,” he said.
Khalaji and Menashri both pointed to developments in Iranian society and culture that indicate growing restlessness and desire for greater openness and freedom. Therein, they said, lies the greatest hope for moderating a regime that continues to ignore the call for greater welfare and freedom at home while threatening the stability of the region.
Under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, with the consent of Supreme Leader Khamenei, Iran continues to aspire to nuclear capability, which eventually also will spur Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey to follow suit, Menashri asserted. “In a region that already is a madhouse you can imagine the repercussions,” he said.
Both Menashri and Khalaji cautioned the audience not to focus too much on Ahmadinejad when considering Iranian policy in the nuclear sphere or in domestic policy.
“The problem isn’t Ahmadinejad so much as it is Ahmadinejadism,” Menashri said. “He is the messianic, apocalyptic voice of Iranian radicals who first entered the scene in 2003,” added Khalaji.
Menashri credited Supreme Leader Khamenei with having the potential to move Iran back towards greater pragmatism when dealing with the West, should such a move seem in Iran’s interests.
As for Israel’s role in countering the Iranian threat, Menashri said he has advised policymakers to remain silent, noting that Iran is a problem for the world, not just Israel.
“This is a problem that does not need a ‘Made in Israel’ stamp on the solution,” he said.
Menashri also spoke before an audience of 275 people at another program held Feb. 10 at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park, titled “Learn what every American needs to know about Iran.”
Menashri and Khalaji, whose Chicago visit was arranged by Steve Dishler, JCRC’s director of International Affairs, also met with Chicago-based journalists and briefed 15 members of the international diplomatic corps stationed here. Menashri called on the diplomats, especially those from the European Union, to urge their governments to intensify action aimed at thwarting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, while working to champion the cause of human rights in Iran.
JUF’s JCRC is spearheading a broad effort to combat a nuclear Iran through the Comprehensive Action Plan for Iran Advocacy approved in April of 2007. Get more information.
