Amir Abbas Fakhravar is a US-based Iranian student leader, activist and former political prisoner.
36 parliamentarians in Iran today proposed a bill that would ensure that anyone designated by the courts as a ‘combatant’ be executed within five days. The bill seeks to amend an existing law that states that anyone who ‘tampers’ with public opinion [mostly used these days to indicate calling for protests or joining them] can be designated as a combatant. If passed, this won’t be the first time the government would be taking harsh actions against the Green Movement. Iranian protesters are being accused of treason and for attempting to stage a ‘velvet revolution’ even though all they’re asking for is their rights granted to them by the constitution.
But while observers inside and outside the Iran are baffled by the claims of such a revolution, the Iranian government has some reasons to claim so. Not that any of those reasons are based on facts but because certain foreigners and Iranians outside the country not only know little about what is going on inside Iran, but are also giving the regime what it needs to prosecute peaceful protesters who demand nothing but their rights by making harmful claims.
One such individual is Amir Abbas Fakhravar – a US-based Iranian student activist – who has lately been making the rounds in the Western media and is being credited as one of the insiders of the Green Movement – if not one of the leaders. Here, I don’t wish to doubt his story of how he was arrested multiple times in Iran, nor do I wish to question his credentials as a bona fide activist fighting for human rights in Iran or his status as a student leader. What I do wish to point out here is that not only are the statements he is making hurting the Green Movement’s cause in Iran, but are also spreading disinformation and ignoring key facts.
Consider his statement in 2007 to WorldNetDaily:
Noting 72 percent of Iranians are under 30 years of age, Fakhravar contends many young people are prepared to join the opposition. “We have the ability inside,” he said. “This is the silent army inside Iran, and we need the media to encourage them. American policy should trust us. We could do it.”
His most recent article published in the New York Daily News is more of the same:
Months before the 2009 presidential elections, they decided to use the mullahs’ own tactics against them – and to seize and own all of the icons of the Islamic Republic and give them a new identity… So when there was massive fraud in Ahmadinejad’s reelection, the people were ready.
The planning of all those years planted the seeds; the brutality provided the spark. The Green Movement finally gained a complete identity with powerful symbols – even with its own martyrs.
If you haven’t followed the news from Iran, these statements don’t really stand out as dangerous. But they are fuel for the inferno that the Iranian regime is stoking for the Green Movement. Consider the first statement, regarding the ‘silent army’ from 2007. There is little evidence to suggest that three years ago, Iranians were readying up to take to streets for anything. This simply allows the Islamic regime to gather people up for planning protests from as far back as 2007. Hey, they have the evidence. Here’s a student leader saying they were. This is conclusive evidence to a regime that kills people for committing crimes when they are under the age of 16.
The second statement is even more damning. So month before the election, people were ready to take onto streets. For what exactly? Did people know that there would be fraud in the election? The protests didn’t start as a backlash against the oppression of the regime, but because of perceived fraud in the election. How could one know for sure there would be fraud during an election and prepare for millions to march to overthrow a regime?
So far what we have seen is anything but that. Almost no one really expected the Iranians to take to the streets in protest. People knew there might be fraud, but almost no one expected it to be this wide-spread and barely anyone expected such mass protests. So in the face of all of that, Fakhravar steps in and claims that this was the plan all along. And that it was imminent that Iranians would take to streets to overthrow the regime.
In the New York Daily News article, he gives further credence to the government’s claims of a ‘velvet revolution’ against the regime.
What we are witnessing on the streets of Tehran and other cities is nothing short of a revolution – a carefully orchestrated, years-in-the-making attempt to overthrow a corrupt and repressive regime and replace it with something fundamentally more free, democratic and secular.
That’s just perfect. So yes, there was a ‘velvet revolution’, according to Fakhravar. The Green Movement’s current de-fact leader Mir Hossein Mousavi continues to chant that they only want reform and here is Fakhravar claiming that this is a ‘revolution’. The problem is, this can very well turn into a revolution, but at the moment, it is a movement for reform. Wishful thinking is not going to change that.
And we still blame the Iranian Revolutionary Guard for claiming that there is a ‘velvet revolution’. How could we when we have someone like Fakhravar claiming that Iranians had indeed planned for a revolution?
But his final two statements that I’ll quote here really prove how misinformed he is of the circumstances inside Iran.
This is from an article in the Washington Times:
Amir Abbas Fakhravar, 35, a former student leader who spent several years in prison in Iran and now lives in the Washington area, said contacts are taking place on Facebook and Skype and that activists plan to create a “revolutionary council” of about 15 people inside and outside Iran to lead the “Iranian Green Revolution.”
And here’s an interview from FrontPage Mag:
FP: So where does the leadership come from?
Fakhravar: This movement doesn’t have a leader, but things like Facebook help. We use social media to help organize events inside Iran. For instance, we are planning a demonstration in February to coincide with the 31st anniversary of the Iranian revolution. Earlier this year, I was giving a speech before Congress and I said, “Iranians don’t want a war. All we need are cell phones, cameras and computers.” Some of the Senators laughed at that. But it has happened. We are close to a cyber revolution in Iran.
The first important point is, whether the West likes it or not, Mir Hossein Mousavi and to a large extent Mehdi Karroubi are the leaders of the Green Movement. Yes, I agree completely that these men have a dirty past. I also agree that under them, it would be almost impossible to ask for a completely secular society, but too bad. That’s just what it is.
Fakhravar’s opinion does not change the fact that when Mousavi or Karroubi join the protests, they are welcomed like leaders. Neither does it change the fact that people openly chant Karroubi and Mousavi’s names during protests even when they are not present. And it does not explain green graffiti exalting Mousavi and Karroubi on Tehran’s walls.
As for the revolutionary councils inside and outside Iran, if there ever is one formed inside Iran, the members are going to be promptly arrested and tried and you cannot do much with a council outside Iran but have tea and watch the protests on CNN.
The second important point is that contrary to what some people believe, most social networking websites are banned in Iran. Their usage inside Iran is extremely limited and only possible through the use of anti-internet filtering software. From my friends in the US and Europe that actively supply these softwares to Iranians, I know that the number of people who actually have access to these websites is pathetically low.
How can you expect hundreds of thousands of people to come out on the streets simply because Iranians abroad are posting information for them on websites that they cannot even access? It’s just a misunderstanding caused by the incorrect usage of the word “Twitter Revolution” by the mainstream western media. Twitter Revolution simply means that social networking media are used by people to quickly inform each other of news. It could have been used as a tool to organize protests in Iran, but since they’re banned, they can’t be.
That is the reason why protests are planned weeks in advance to so people could have time to prepare and get everyone involved and spread the news on the streets of Tehran.
In conclusion, I have no wish or desire to question Mr. Fakhravar’s credentials or his intentions. What I want to point out are two very key facts: One, his statements about the Green Movement are at the very least, inaccurate. Secondly, he does not seem to know or acknowledge important facts about the current situation in Iran.
While the second one can be neglected, the first one is being and will be used to persecute peaceful protesters by the Iranian regime. If people like Fakhravar really care for human rights and democracy, they would spend some time studying what is going on inside Iran and then make informed and undamaging statements instead of spreading disinformation and hurting people inside Iran directly by what they say.
Iranians are already facing enough peril. Let’s not make it harder on them.
For a critical look on Fakhravar, please check: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2006/05/is_fahkravar_a_.html
Fakhravar’s story, while interesting, detracts from what the movement really is, a spontaneous outpouring of all the years of anger, frustration, humiliation, helplessness, depression, loneliness, and isolation which all its participants have felt living in fear under the Islamic Republic. There’s a line in Springsteen’s song Born in the U.S.A. the graphically describes the overwhelming majority of young people in Iran prior to June: “You end up like a dog that’s been beat too much, ’til you spend half your life just covering up”. The thing about beating a dog is that if you beat if long enough, it turns on you. The movement did not come about due to any long-range planning, but because so many of them pinned their hopes for change on an election and they were robbed. In the aftermath they discovered they were not alone anymore, and that is what gives them their strength and their unity, not any organized shadow group.
With regards to Fakhravar, his supposed involvement in 1999 is pretty much non-existent.
The author writes that:
The problem is, this can very well turn into a revolution, but at the moment, it is a movement for reform. Wishful thinking is not going to change that.
So according to the author when they are chanting “death to the islamic republic”, this is really a call to reform? Or what about “independence. freedom. iranian republic”? I think at this point its wishful thinking to think of what is taking place in Iran as demand for reforms. Even if you accept the most basic demand, democracy, from Iranian protesters, then you are already conceding that this is not reform. You can’t reform a theocracy into a democracy, but you can with a revolution.
Thank you for writing this! Some people seem to have no awareness of what’s going on in Iran’s prisons and the activists’ trials. Maryam Rajavi too openly comes online and takes credit for telling protesters to go out, and acts like she’s involved when everyone knows she is not! You can tell because the Greens are nonviolent and that is not her style.
I hope you will make this into a series where you expose different people who go onto the media or the net and make the claim that they’re bigshots in the Green Movement and then say the EXACT things that the Regime is accusing people of at their trials! I cannot fathom how somebody could be that stupid and cruel.
These people have the backgrounds and agendas to get into the media spotlight and really have the potential to hurt the people in Iran, and they should be very careful not to play into the hands of the Regime especially when everybody knows that these wild things they say are not true! Anyone who follows the facts can see what’s really going on, how the people spontaneously rose up in response to a dictator who finally overreached and miscalculated, as they all do sooner or later.
Sure Babak Joon,
I hear you about the chants. But the leadership and the demands so far are of reform. Not a complete overthrow of the government. But it is increasingly looking likely that it will happen sooner or later.
Thank you for the article. Perhaps it all began as a need for reform, but call it wishful thinking or not, we all secretly hope it will escalate into a revolution and a complete change from theocracy to a secular democracy. Not to be pessimistic, but I can not see the latter happening at this stage. A revolution can only happen with a strong leader at the helm and/or with outside help. Mr Mousavi is not only more of the same, but lacks leadership. However, he represents hope for reform, something we can hang our hats on for now. Will it be heaven if he were to take over? NO. Never the less, this is a movement by the people for the people of Iran and talking heads like Rajavi and Fakhravar have nothing to do with what is going on inside.
Josh, the one part of your article I disagree with you on is that Mousavi and Karroubi are leaders of the green movement. Mousavi himself has explicitly stated that he is not a leader of the green movement, though he does support their right to speak out. He has also noted that his goals are different than the goals of the movement. The people in the movement want a secular democracy with equal rights for all: men and women, Muslim and non-Muslim (including Bahai and atheist), Sunni and Shia, Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Arab, Tajik, Baluchi, Bakhtiaryi, Mazan, Gilak, Turkmen, etc. Even if so many have not said so openly that they want an end to the Islamic Republic, the desires for all these things makes it so by default. The people in the streets have been wanting to say these things for years, and now they are saying it for themselves.
Mousavi himself has denied that he is a leader of the green movement, and stated that the leaders of the green movement are the people themselves. None of the things the people in the streets want are possible under this regime, so, even if they were not saying so explicitly as they have lately, they would by default be in favor of the dismantling of the Islamic Republic. They have wanted to say that for years and are only now finding their voice. A revolution with winners and losers? No, a secular democracy in an Iranian Republic with equal rights for all, including their current opponents.
In the article I wrote in response, “War Over Words in Iran: Is Iran Facing Revolution or Reform? Mousavi’s Life May Depend on the Answer,” I argue that most bloggers writing about this issue could do a better job at keeping objectivity.
I also argue that this sure looks like a revolution to me, and it looks like a revolution to Ahmadinejad, who is going to do whatever he thinks he needs to do to stay in power, regardless of what is said on CNN.
http://jamesthehype.blogspot.com/2010/01/war-over-words-in-iran.html#comments
Free Iran 2010,
James “the Hype”
In my article, “War Over Words in Iran: Is Iran Facing Revolution or Reform? The Green Movement May Depend on the Answer,” I argue that many bloggers and journalists can do a better job at keeping objectivity in the covering of such an emotionally charged story.
I also argue that it doesn’t matter. The current Regime in Iran has proven, time and again, that it will do whatever it feels like it has to do in order to maintain power and control. Period. So far, they think that massive crackdowns and arrests of figureheads like Mousavi will spark further chaos. They’re probably justified in their fears. The reality is, whether Mousavi or the rest of us like it or not, that the police fired first and the protesters fought back. Police stations and motorcycles burned. Pictures of Khamenei have been torn, “death to the dictator” has been chanted, and no amount of journalistic restraint or objectivity will put that cat back in the bag.
Read the rest at http://jamesthehype.blogspot.com/2010/01/war-over-words-in-iran.html#comments
Salam Josh,
I’d like to make a few comments about your analysis:
1. While the protests may not have been planned beforehand, the Iranian youth have been ready for something like this for a long time, and I am sure that there have been groups inside Iran who have formed agendas to “one day” fight this tyrannical and deceitful government.
2. From what I know, you have not been to Iran, you have not spoken to the youth, who do comprise the majority. I am Iranian, grown up in the West, born after the revolution (my parents left Iran before I was five). I went to Iran 3 years ago, and all the youngsters I spoke with were FED UP with this patronizing and lying mullocracy. They were ready man. Ready to get rid of these blood sucking “politicians” once the opportunity arrived, to free their country from these usurpers of the nation’s health and success.
3. The coup regime can’t be reasoned with. No matter what anyone says, they will turn it around and blame it on foreigners. They have mental blinders on. Truth is not their interest. What we see right now with their ridiculous execution laws and calling protesters “enemies of God” (who the hell are they to speak on behalf of God…), is their campaign of fear-mongering and intimidation, to silence the Green Movement. They are losing credibility each and every single day… they are backing themselves up in a corner.
4. It is very likely that this government will not be reformable. It is built on a house of cards, and it is rotten from the inside out. Iranians deserve a real government, that is by the people, for the people. Not this sham. This realization is sinking deeper into the national consciousness with each passing day.
5. You say that Iranians have no access to any Internet news in Iran… this is not true. Those who do have access (through anti-filter software), spread the news via word of mouth, email and sms. Email traffic is not stoppable. The regime itself cannot do without the Internet (due to commercial traffic), and so cannot fully block the Internet channels. There is a lot of email traffic with news going from the diaspora back to Iran. The Iranian people are not as in the black as you make it out to be. Read this for an account from ground zero: http://www.persianumpire.com/2009/09/29/i-see-you/
6. I don’t know anything about Fakhravar, and it’s good that he is scrutinized by journalists like yourself. The real leaders of the Movement are inside Iran, not outside, and anyone who claims to be in a leadership position without the mandate of the people should be put on our watch list.
7. I agree that Mousavi is currently the leader of the Green Movement, especially after his statement #17. Here is a good analysis (and lively discussion in the comments section) about why Mousavi is currently the leader of the movement: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/01/turning-point.html
But I personally think Mousavi is a transitional leader…
Just a few thoughts.
Keep up the great work. We Iranians thank you!
- Saeed
I don’t know about Fakhravar, but you are mistaken about the situation in Iran. I have lived in Iran for most of the last 4 years and witnessed the events.
First, the hatred of the people for the regime did not start on the day after the so called elections. Anyone with a reasonable amount of education in Iran knows that these elections are a sham and undemocratic. The vote for Mousavi was a protest vote and not the other way round.
Second, there were other protests before the elections, most of which were not covered by the main media. The regime had been preparing to deal with protests for the last 2 years.
Third, most people realize that the reforming the regime is a joke! It is like reforming a shark to become a vegetarian. The reason that they backed the reformers is precisely because that was the only way open to them to oppose the regime.
Fourth, there is no way back. Neither the regime can bring back social and economic stability to Iran, nor the people can turn back and withdraw their demands. This is a one way street leading to the downfall of the regime. We can get there quickly if we quit beating around the bush or we can take years to get there and pay much higher price.
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