Lobby Iranian Embassies
Yes, its extremely disturbing, and evidence of the sheer paranoia that has overtaken the Iranian regime in response to the US/Israel's plans to invade the country. And, tragically, it's going to get worse, with Iran now treating intellectuals, artists and dissidents much like the US treatment of "illegal combatants" in numerous secretive prison camps.
Ramin Jahanbegloo in Tehran
I briefly met Jahanbegloo a few years ago when he was giving a talk here, and my sentiments very much echo those of
hoder:
What I liked about him was his ability to talk about theory without making you feel stupid, his casual attitude towards the group (everyone was calling him by his first name at his own request, which is quite unusual among Iranians who have an obsession with long titles and formal respect.) His energy in persuading everyone to work in the group was admirable. So was his positive energy.
Last time I saw him was last June in Iran. It was a big surprise. He was married and they were expecting a baby. He seemed very proud of returning to Iran and starting a family life.
What's even more worrying is that there are now unconfirmed reports [
CBS News] that Jahanbegloo has been transfered to a hospital, according to a close friend, though no more detail is available yet.
Jahanbegloo has published writings on Hegel, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, and has interviewed
Paul Ricoeur, Jurgen Habermas, and Isaiah Berlin: :
It's a real pity that Chomsky never managed to visit him in Iran, following
this interview with Jahanbegloo at MIT just before his move back to Tehran in 2002:
Ramin Jahanbegloo:
I was going to ask you to visit Iran. When will we have the pleasure of having you among us in Iran. I am sure that the Iranian scholars would love to have an open discussion with you?
Noam Chomsky:
Thank you for the invitation, but I can't promise you the exact date. It's not easy to work out such an attractive invitation with all these files I am working on. But I will come to Iran sooner or later.
Ramin Jahanbegloo:
Talking about the Middle East, how do you see the future of the Iranian-American relations? What could the citizens of the two countries do to ameliorate the relations between the two countries?
Noam Chomsky:
I think the citizens of both countries have a common interest in changing the harmful policies in their countries. Of course they deal with it as people always can, I mean by setting solidarity relations to the extent that it is possible. I think Americans and Iranians can create these relation networks through all kinds of communications such as science, culture, sports, intellectual visits, trade etc. Us policy is interesting in this case. I mean practically always foreign policy is a clear reflection of primary economic interests. But this is a case where they diverge. So if you took a look at the energy corporations in the US, most of them are in favor of reintegrating Iran into the dominant global system and have tried to do so. But the US government is walking them, which is quite unusual. Usually it mainly supports their interests in the region. I think you can imagine the reasons when you compare to other cases. There is a very important principle of statecraft which is called "establishing credibility". What that means is that everybody should be terrified of you. Mafia understands this concept very well. If you are a Mafia Don, it is not enough to have people do what you say; they have to be afraid of you. So if a storekeeper doesn't pay protection money you just don't go and get the money, you make an example of him so that everyone else understands. That's establishing credibility. If you look at the official reasons for bombing Serbia in 1999, it was to establish credibility. They call it "NATO credibility" but that means of course "US credibility". I mean that people should know that you are the boss or otherwise you get smashed. Now let us go to Iran. Iran tried in 1953 to take control of its own resources. That ended up with a coup d'etat. The Shah was a very loyal client of the US and the US loved him. There was a survey on the violations of human rights in Iran which was published by a journalist of the New York Times. Well, when you look at this report it mentions that from 1953 to 1979 the US government believed that there were no human rights violations in Iran. When Carter went to Iran in 1978 he told the Shah how impressed he was by the degree that the Iranians loved him. I mean Iran was just fine as long as it was doing what the US wanted. But in 1979 Iran broke the rules. It pulled out and turned independent and that has to be punished. Even if the reformists could succeed and wanted to re-integrate Iran back into the system they would probably be prevented from doing it. Because the US wants to make an example of Iran to show other people in the Middle East that they can't do these kind of things. You don't break ranks and disobey the orders of the master. That's credibility and I think a lot of policies are driven by that. It is hard to explain on other grounds. It's for example very counterproductive on the economic level.
I'm hoping that a sufficient number of Western intellectuals (Chomsky, Zizek, etc) and well-placed politicians (Galloway etc) with a proper, balanced understanding of the current Iranian crisis will, along with Iranian artists and intellectuals, seriously rally and lobby the Iranian authorities to release Jahanbegloo as soon as possible ... I'm currently bombarding the Iranian Embassy in Ireland with assorted documentation ...
Here's a list of Iranian Embassies and Consulates worldwide worth lobbying ASAP:
Iranian Embassy in Ottawa, Canada
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Ottawa, Canada
245 Metcalfe St.
Ottawa, Ontario
K2P 2K2 Canada
City: Ottawa
Phone: (613) 235-4726
Web Site:
http://www.salamiran.org/
Office Hours: Monday to Friday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Iranian Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Embassy of Iran in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
P.O.Box : 70488
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
City: Addis Ababa
Phone: 200794 - 712012
Web Site:
http://www.telecom.net.et/~iranet/
Iranian Embassy in Jakarta, Indonesia
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Jakarta, Indonesia
Jl. HOS Cokroaminoto 110, Menteng,
Jakarta 10310
City: Jakarta
Phone: +62-21-331378 or 33139162-21-3107860
Fax: +62-21-3107860
Web Site:
http://www.iranembassy.or.id/
Iranian Embassy in Dublin, Ireland
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran
72 Mount Merrion Ave.
Blackrock Co.
City: Dublin
Phone: (003531) 2885881-2880252-2882967
Fax: (003531) 2834246
Web Site:
http://www.iranembassy.ie
Email:
IranEmbassy@indigo.ie
Iranian Embassy in Oslo, Norway
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Oslo, Norway
Drammens veien 88 E
0244 Oslo
Norway
City: Oslo
Phone: (+47) 23 27 29 60
Fax: (+47) 22 55 49 19
Office Hours: Visiting hours: Monday, Wedensday and Friday From 09:00 till 12:00 Visiting hours: Monday, Wedensday and Friday From 09:00 till 12:00
Iranian Embassy in Oslo, Norway
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in Oslo, Norway
Drammens veien 88 E
0244 Oslo
Norway
City: Oslo
Phone: (+47) 23 27 29 60
Fax: (+47) 22 55 49 19
Web Site:
http://www.iran-embassy-oslo.no/frame.htm
Office Hours: Visiting hours: Monday, Wedensday and Friday From 09:00 till 12:00 Visiting hours: Monday, Wedensday and Friday From 09:00 till 12:00
Iranian Embassy in London, United Kingdom
Embassy of the Islamic Republic of Iran in London, England (UK)
16 Prince's Gate,
London SW7 1PT
City: London
Phone: (44) 020-7225 3000
Fax: ( +44)2075894440
Web Site:
http://www.iran-embassy.org.uk/
Email:
info@iran-embassy.org.uk
Office Hours: 9:00-13:00 Monday to Thursday and 9:00-12:30 Friday
Iranian Consulate in Washington DC, United States
Iranian Interests Section
2209 Wisconsin Avenue NW,
Washington DC 20007
City: Washington DC
Phone: (202) 965-4990
Office Hours: 7:30 am - 3:30 pm Monday through Friday except on Wednesdays and holidays.