Stoning

The verdicts of the Shariat, or Islamic jurisprudence come basically from the Holy Quran or from reliable and authentic narratives from the Prophet of Islam (SA) or his descendants. I have heard and read the views of many   knowledgeable  interpreters of the Quran (including Ayatollah Mousavi Bojnordi) who infer that there is no reference to stoning or Rajm in the Quran.The references to Rajm in the context which it is employed in the judicial systems of  Iran and certain Islamic countries in contemporary times are only found in the Torat. Modern  jurists  have indicated that such practices stem from Judaic tradition and have no Islamic backing. Also there are indications in the sayings of Imam Ali  and other religious leaders that providing evidence for adultery is very difficult and probably impossible.

Nevertheless there are Jurists and scholars who believe that the only  forceful response to adultery is stoning. In the Islamic Republic of Iran the verdict of stoning has been given in limited cases,and practiced rarely, while during certain periods internal and external pressures resulted in a moratorium on stoning (in place since 2002). Judicial officials have noted that Imam Khomeini had ordered a halt to this practice in the early years of his leadership.
The recent case of Sakineh Ashtiani, who was indicted on charges of adultery,  found an unprecedented level of coverage and condemnation and has apparently resulted in a review of the verdict by the Iranian judiciary. Having said this I would like to make two points.

The first issue is that according to Islamic tradition and according to modern psychology,the family is the unique cornerstone of human development. To safeguard the family is to protect the rights of the future generation and the society. For the past decades promiscuity, obsession for bodies and looks, the comodification of women and sex has held the upper-hand in Western civilization. Teen pregnancies, single mothers and children with no families are the imminent result of this culture. On the other hand  modesty, protecting the dignity of human beings and the rights of the future generations and the emotional  and moral integrity of the young generation are the concerns that religions follow world wide. These concerns are justified when we see the soaring rates of social and cultural challenges both in industrialized and developing nations prone to western culture and propaganda for the hollow "western lifestyle".

The second point is that the Western media and the neocon  propaganda machine is taking advantage of this matter as well as other obvious weaknesses of the Iranian government to turn their public against Iran and prepare them for an imminent attack or aggression.  This is an unjustified approach that had prevailed in the early years after the Islamic Revolution and today, unfortunately, an incompetent government in Iran is creating pretexts for this unlawful synchronization of public opinion against Iran.
We have to campaign for a revision of the current marital law in which it has been proposed that stoning be deleted. We also have to campaign to restore the authentic image of Islam,which is in many cases,very different from what has been portrayed in Islamic countries.

Sanctions will not bring stability

During the past month we have been hearing alot about the new round of sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran initiated by a UN Security Council Resolution and followed by US and EU legislative bills to impose more specific and targeted sanctions. As for the Americans, this has been the general trend after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 and in most areas where the American government had imposed sanctions deals have been made through intermediaries. This had only increased the prices and the risks involved, otherwise you could order whatever you needed in Iran and obtain it ultimately via an intermediary corporate sector in a neighboring country. The new round of sanctions might sound harsher than before and might create more difficult circumstances for the private sector  striving to work in very difficult economic circumstances in Iran. 


I have spoken about sanctions here before and I have mentioned that even though I oppose the current policies of the Ahmadinejad era and believe that their national and international policies deserve serious criticism, but I also firmly believe that sanctions will not help to reduce tensions and to bring more stability and security in the region. The Canadian Prime Minister  Stephen Harper , in response to a question on the effects these sanctions will have on the Iranian people responded today by saying" Instead, these targeted measures are meant to send a strong signal to Iran that the international community expects Iran to meet its international nuclear obligations. They send a message to all states -particularly those with nuclear aspirations -that international standards cannot be flouted without consequences." 


Yet on the contrary as long as countries like Israel continue with their non compliance to the IAEA resolutions and have not reported their nuclear activities, this remains as a double standard policy that  the international community faces now for decades.
The incompetence of international multilateral agreements in dealing with Israel in many respects has sent a very strong signal that international standards can be flouted by certain states, whenever they wish, under the tacit support of certain superpowers.

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/news/Canada+strengthens+Iranian+sanctions/3188835/story.html#ixzz0rm7vSIGI Nor will these sanctions make the Middle East more secure. In fact there seems to be a deliberate emphasis on increasing tensions and channelizing public opinion to think that Iran may be actually on the road to, not only building a nuclear bomb, for many countries have done so without actually employing it ( with the exception of the US ).  But,  there is a persistent propaganda effort to implicate that Iran will employ the imaginary bomb, one imaginary day in the infinite future. The deployment of naval ships to the Persian Gulf  and the new spy satellite Israel has launched do not imply a sense of security for a region, already torn apart  by at least four wars during the past three decades.

Ceremonies and Rifts

The local media,last week. were obsessed by the stream of accounts,analysis and condemnation flowing after the humiliating actions of a small group of hooligans, apparently preplanned ,to prevent Seyed Hassan Khomeini ( the grandson of Imam) from delivering his speech on the occasion of  the twenty first anniversary of the demise of Imam.  These hooligans freely jeered and sneered at Seyed Hassan under the guise of supporting the Supreme Leader in front of millions of viewers, national and international dignitaries present .

Extremist supporters of Ahmadinejad have been very angry at Seyed Hassan for his independent stance on recent events and for his taking part in the marriage ceremony of the son of Dr. Mohsen Mirdamadi, a reformist leader who has been detained and convicted his progressive thoughts and for leading the Islamic Participation Front.  A photo from that ceremony later emerged in which Seyed Hassan and his brother sat around a table with Mir Hossein Mousavi , Mehdi Karroubi , Seyed Mohammad Khatami , Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Khoeiniha and Seyed Mohammad Mousavi Bojnordi and other reformist diginitaries including many political prisoners who were out on bail.

Since the tragic events of last Friday many religious leaders and political personalities from various political tendencies have condemned those actions and asked judicial authorities to take action. No one has supported this decadent behavior, but some sympathizers of Ahmadinejad  have attempted to justify this action.
This is another sign, in the long string of events in recent years, that indicates a serious rift and distancing  with the original line and thought of Imam Khomeini, now led by a minority that wills to cling to power by any means possible.

The Standards of Imam Khomeini

Monday's assault of the Israel Defense Forces on the flotilla of humanitarian aid which was heading to the besieged Gaza Strip from Turkey left at least 16 dead and many others wounded. This terrible event which Israel still attempts to downplay and to somehow justify has shocked the world. This tragedy  could instigate a positive development, only  if it leads to a lifting of the blockade which is suffocating the people of Gaza and if it leads to the awakening of the international community. 


Along with members of the Tehran City Council and the Mayor of Tehran we payed a visit to the Shrine of Imam Khomeini on the twenty first anniversary of his demise. The grandson of Imam, Hojj. Hassan Khomeini was also present.  There is a general feeling among many from our generation, who remember the charismatic and balanced personality of Imam and recall the roadmap that he drew for the Revolution, that some of what he hoped the Islamic Republic would embody has not actualized.  Great strides had  been taken for Iran following the Revolution, but  while enough had not been done, many now admit that the events of  last year  have compromised the moral and spiritual integrity of the Islamic Revolution. There has been a surge of warnings among Reformist leaders and politicians and in the few Reformist newspapers concerning a gradual deviation from the objectives of the Revolution and the ethical standards of Imam.


During the past 5 years some pro Ahmadinejad officials have questioned Imam's belief in democracy and have given the impression that he did not believe in the right of the people to determine their destiny.  Certain clerical figures , Hojj Mesbah Yazdi the most renown among them, have openly propagated a distorted image of Imam's thoughts and actions. They infer that Imam did not believe in the intrinsic right of people to decide for their future.  They insist that the rule of God is in contradiction with the rule of the people. Other decisions in open contradiction with the policies emphasized and decreed by Imam have also surfaced, military forces involved in politics, use of religious beliefs for legitimzing certain  actions, seeing women as second class citizens,  and many other issues. Even the family of Imam and many of the close friends of Imam have been targeted and isolated for criticizing current trends. They have targeted Imam's grandsons for visiting Green political prisoners released on bail. 

The question which lingers in our minds is how much does this country now meet the sublime spiritual , political and economic standards Imam Khomeini set for the Islamic Republic three decades ago? Are we moving towards or away from his dream? 

Can Friends Criticize the Islamic Republic?

In 1999, as the Vice President of Iran, I attended the official farewell ceremonies for Nelson Mandela who had decided to step down from the Presidency of South Africa. Among other programs in the agenda prepared for my visit, was a speech in a Mosque in Johannesburg . In that speech I referred to the reasons why the reformists had been elected. I mentioned that the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979 brought along with it a wave of awakening among Muslim nations as well as a set of new standards for freedom fighters and activists as well as independent thinkers and scholars.  I noted that what happened in Iran became a manifestation of the  power of  religion in mobilizing and revitalizing the masses ,it became  a beacon of hope for downtrodden peoples in Palestine and other parts of the world hoping to restore their rights and gain freedom from oppression and occupation. As the Islamic Republic took shape and resisted pressures and fought sanctions and war, I said that the image of an Islamic democracy came to light and the great strides taken  by the Iranian people emerged amidst  thick clouds of  mis-perceptions and fallacies in the Western media. In the mean time, challenges and rifts among the original founders and supporters of the Revolution also emerged within Iran.
 During these years supporters and sympathizers of the Revolution in the world, grew in numbers and created many social and cultural institutions as part of the civil society they presided in. In this dimension, I noted, they have also closely followed the internal developments and trends  of the Islamic Republic. I then spoke about the internal challenges we face and the  philosophical , ethical and political reasons why we need an ongoing process of reform. I indicated how Imam Khomeini believed that the Revolution would be threatened not only by  foreign elements but also by backwardness, and deviation from the spiritual and ethical values. Therefore, we needed constant oversight by independent bodies  such as the Parliament, civil society, political and religious parties and media to  sort out the problems and prevent illegal action.
In the ensuing question and answer session a few among the audience criticized this approach and indicated that I should not have pointed to the internal challenges of the Islamic Republic. I responded that on the contrary, for those who believe and sympathize with Iran, it is crucial that they understand the pathology and the weaknesses.  I also mentioned that we should all learn from the mistakes, as we have been inspired  from the successes. However, I realized that for some like those in Iran, there is so much stigma attached to this issue that they cannot see things in a realistic and objective manner; that they are always  on the defensive.
After the controversial Presidential elections and tragic events last year, this approach has gained momentum in some analysis and writings of the external supporters of the Revolution . They put forward the argument that the Green Movement was instigated by Western forces and that there is no popular following for them . They also down play the tragic events and suppression of the voices of dissent that ensued.  I doubt that Muslim intellectuals living out of Iran would not have had access to uncensored news and footage about what has happened and is still continuing in Iran .

I also doubt that an objective critical analysis of these events would be to the detriment of the objectives of the Revolution. Denying that any challenge exists or blaming problems all on foreign interference will not serve to strengthen the Islamic democracy in Iran. Today more than ever, the Islamic Revolution would benefit from the objective criticisms of its supporters . As the Prophet SA has said : Your dearest brothers are those who gift you (inform you of ) your problems and shortcomings.

The question that remains is can we tolerate criticism ?

Iran, Nuclear Capability

The world has been witnessing much rhetoric and many diplomatic efforts among world leaders to demonstrate their commitment to the nuclear nonproliferation. This string of diplomatic flurry began with an American conference in which Obama and Medvedev signed a new agreement to disarm their thousands of nuclear warheads. While exposing once again the sheer dimensions of the nuclear arsenal of these two powers , the meeting also underscored the double standards governing world equations today.
Iran,a country that has not attacked any country for the past seven centuries,  is now under heavy pressure for more than eight years , only for the remote possibility that its well inspected peaceful nuclear program might one day, deviate into producing one single nuclear warhead. Israel, which constantly threatens and attacks its neighboring occupied territories  for that matter, has skillfully escaped international scrutiny on its alleged piles of hundreds of nuclear warheads, up to now.
Apart from the basically sound and rational argument  to promote peaceful nuclear energy in Iran, a position which is common to all political groups, Reformists believe that the current government has not properly managed our diplomatic potentials to avert resolutions on sanctions and unnecessary pressures from the international community on this matter.  Reformists  had taken the same basic position during President Khatami but their approach and delivery method was different .
Taking part with a high level delegation in New York is one matter, but putting things in the proper context and allowing  for allies and foes to align themselves, not with overheated rhetoric, but with some of the very just and rationale positions Iran has take before, is another. We should press for our rights at the international level emphasizing more on our logical stance and the unfair policies that powerful states impose on the global community.
Still suffering from a credibility crisis in domestic policies, Ahmadinejad has not come forward with the convincing and successful diplomacy that the Islamic Republic of  Iran deserves in these difficult times. However, there is some hope that pressure from Iran and other Islamic nations may lead to some changes,  in the unfair approach on Israel and Iran. The Associated Press reported yesterday that,  Israel's secretive nuclear activities may undergo unprecedented scrutiny next month, with a key meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency tentatively set to focus on the topic for the first time.

A copy of the restricted provisional agenda of the IAEA's June 7 board meeting lists "Israeli nuclear capabilities" as the eighth item — the first time that that the agency's decision-making body is being asked to deal with the issue in its 52 years of existence.Inclusion of the item appeared to be the result of a push by the 18-nation Arab group of IAEA member nations, which last year successfully lobbied another agency meeting — its annual conference — to pass a resolution directly criticizing Israel and its atomic program.

Now that Iran and Syria have become regular items in the Agency's agenda, it is about time that the Agency also attends to the affairs of this illegitimate child, Israel who is also very bullish and tries to be  one of a kind everywhere.

Oil Spill (Past and Present)- Gulf of Mexico, Persian Gulf

Blogspot was somewhat "filtered" or "blocked"  for a few days in Iran and that prevented me from posting a new item this week. The problem got into the news and they fixed it a few days ago. Although access to the internet in cities throughout Iran has increased significantly but recently internet connections have been slow and in many instances cut off during certain sensitive periods. This unreliable internet status has damaged both business and scientific exchanges, which in addition to extensive filtering of political news and analysis sites leaves communications in Iran in a difficult predicament.  Many observers have studied and analyzed the problems that internet users are facing in Iran, they have come to the conclusion that both technical and political issues are involved and that we need  reliable, efficient and secure internet connections to ensure social and economic progress. The Constitution of the Islamic Republic has quaranteed basic freedoms including access to information.  However, interpretations on the Constitution vary and in practice things have been very different.

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has created a wave of concern for environmentalists throughout the world. The event awakened my memories of the oil spill created during the Iraqi  aggression against Iran and the Iraqi aggression against Kuwait. Thousands of barrels of oil spilled into the Persian Gulf which is a semi-closed body of water with significant biodiversity. More than 12 million inhabitants live on the borders of the Persian Gulf, mostly in Iran, but also in Arab States. Tehran University had held the first International Conference on the Effects of Oil Spill in the Persian Gulf under the leadership of my late father Dr. Taghi Ebtekar , in 1984. Many international scholars had attended and presented their assessment of the situation.  During my tenure as the Vice President and Head of the Department of Environment, we endeavored to strengthen the international mechanisms including the ROPME organization programs to protect the sea. We also conducted two research cruises in the Persian Gulf  to survey the water quality and the biota. In addition, Iran presented an environmental damage claim to the UN Compensation Committee against Saddam Hussein for the destruction of the marine environment and we conducted 8 marine research  projects in the area as supportive evidence for the Claim. The results indicated the scale of the widespread damage that oil had inflicted upon the coral reef, seagrass populations, costal areas and other biodiversity. Tar balls with the specificity of oil from Iraqi  wells and soot from the burning of the wells was still observable in costal areas.  Tens of millions of dollars of damage were estimated as part of the environmental costs inflicted. We adopted several clean up projects in 2005 prior to  the elections when the Government changed.
Considering the state of relations between the two countries I doubt that Americans would ask for any advice or learn from our experiences in this regard ,but I do hope that they could take swift and serious action to address the matter and control the damage to the global ecosystem.