Abbas Salimi Namin believes Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has lost his real allies and is surrounded by the strangers who pretend they are his friends. As a Principalist activist, Salimi Namin complaints that the Principalists neglected what he calls "saving Ahmadinejad" and regrets the principalists' silence as a way of criticizing the president they have backed [The criticism Ahmadinejad in his view deserves for disagreements he caused over the resignation and reinstatement of his intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi]. These are the comments of an analyst who was a fervent backer of Ahmadinejad.
Regarding the new developments in the Middle East on a large scale which is somehow seen as "Islamic awakening", why do you think President Ahmadinejad emphasizes on "humane awakening" as the main cause of such uprisings?
When some political issues are intertwined, the realization of them becomes rather complicated. I suppose a number of our government's tendencies for maintaining power has led them to take very contradictory positions and actions. For example the evident religious inclinations of people in the protests made in Egypt, Yemen, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other Islamic countries are neglected and some statesmen use the inexpressive term "humane awakening".
Even if we consider that such movements are motivated by humane awakening, the visit of Mr. Mashaei to Jourdan for inviting Malik Abdollah the king of Jordan, or trip Mr. Baqaei' [the executive vice president and chief of staff] made to Egypt as the developments were being made in the two countries are at odds with the issue of humane awakening in the Middle East countries. Moreover Mr. Mashaei's insistence on inviting the king of Jordan to Tehran [for participating at Iranian New Year celebration, began on March 21] exacerbates the problem.
Definitely the Messrs. acknowledge that such awakenings are due to the attention people of the region pay to the Islamic revolution in Iran. So when we visit Egypt and Jordan concurrent with such awakenings, we actually put the seal of approval on the thoughts and actions taken by rulers like Hosni Mubarak and Malik Abdollah and distort people's knowledge about them.
You referred to maintaining power as one of the motives behind raising the issue of humane awakening. What impact such issue may have on the persistence of the power of Mr. Ahmadinejad's political team?
What impact the term "Iranian school" [used by Mashaei] may have? "humane awakening" sounds like "Iranian school" Meaning that it offers a discourse which appeals to non-religious forces and eases the aggressiveness of those forces which fear of the permanence of our Islamic Revolution and those who hope to gain power in future, won't be challenged.
Some believe Ahmadinejad ran for the ninth presidential election in opposition to Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani [former president and current head of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Expediency Council] and won. Now seems that Mashaei is to contest for the next election in opposition to figures more powerful than Hashemi within the structure of the Islamic Republic's system to repeat the success of Ahmadinejad.
I don't think it's true. In my view simply for being present in the structure of power, Mashaei utters things which please various layers of our society. Producing a CD on the impending reappearance of Mahdi (AS) [the 12th Imam of Shiite] was an act of rabble-rousing which regrettably was not condemned and punished enough. Religious, cultural and political figures as well as religious authorities should lambaste such acts.
You pointed to international supports, what benefit the support of Jordan's King would have?
Some former officials who were concerned for being in power had an account on being backed by the West.
The influence of the West is much higher than Jordan.
But Jordan enjoys good relations with the West. When some Iranian officials visit Jordan, meet the king of that country and invite him to Iran, such measures will be seen positive from the view of the West oriented forces.
What problems insistence on "humane awakening" may cause for the advocates of Islamic Republic of Iran outside the country?
In one of his latest speeches, Mr. Ahmadinejad noted that the United States officials are to resolve their own problems in the region through the latest developments in the Arabian countries. If such developments provide an opportunity for the Americans, it does the same for us too.
As the nations of the Islamic world seek developments in line with their beliefs and national cultures from one hand, and the US statesmen pursue their own interests in the Middle East on the other, we should not speak and act in a way which is not in the best interests of the masses of the Islamic world or "make their realizations problematic".
When the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] attributes such developments to the Islamic awakening, obviously insistence on humane awakening as the key motive behind such developments will lead the public opinion to think that there are two different observations about the recent uprisings in the Middle East among the Islamic Republic's officials. Such statements made by Mr. Ahmadinejad are possibly due to his ignorance or paying a special attention to guidelines delineated by Mashaei.
Humane awakening has no meaning in this case. In any uprising or protest nations compare the status quo with their ideals. What's the ideal of Muslim nations in the latest wave of awakening against the regimes which are tools in the hands of the West powers? Have they referred to socialism, nationalism, liberalism or a return to Islamic culture as their ideals for changing the status quo? When they directly say they want to return to Islam, it means that criteria of awakening are Islamic values. Therefore, raising the issue of human awakening bears no fruit, but at the same time distorts the people's mindset.
You want to say that such statement is general and neutral?
Even if we view it optimistically, we should say it makes no sense at all. Quoting Dr. Ali Shari'ati [the late prominent Iranian Islamic sociologist and revolutionary figure] what has happened in the Arab world is the kind of return to one's inner self. Such return is based on an awareness received through Islam. To interpret it as humane awakening is quite illusory.
Do you believe Mr. Ahmadinejad's idea is caused by ignorance or paying a special attention to guidelines delineated by Mr. Mashaei?
I believe it's due to the fascination for ideas planted by Mr. Mashaei aimed at attracting people from various layers of our society but I think by such means they won't be able to gain the favor of anyone. I mean when people realize that the politicians change their positions based on the position already taken by the audience, they won't be absorbed to them. Even in the past some Iranian politicians could not achieve their goals by such means. Mr. Ahmadinejad was voted by people for his unwavering ideas and directness. Nowadays they cannot gain the favor of people through the multiplicity of ideas. Such multiplicity which is beset by contradiction will have no gain for its planners and executors.
In sum, you think a confrontation is going on below the surface?
No, whatever Mr. Ahmadinejad has gained is due to his adherence to the principles of Islamic Revolution, if he gives up a single iota of values embedded in such principles, he will not have any place among Iranian people.
How much such deviation is possible?
Everyone is prone to slip and deviation. However the flattery indeed has or will have its own effects as we are witnessing nowadays. Although Mr. Ahmadinejad is a capable executive manager, he is not definitely powerful in theoretical and intellectual terms. Of course Mashaei is also the same. I don't believe ideas like "Iranian school" have come out of Mashaei's mind. Undoubtedly he receives such ideas from special circles. As a matter of fact, he expresses ideas which have already been produced and received. I don't believe these are his words.
Some Principalist figures and outstanding religious authorities have implicitly or explicitly maintained that owing to the support Ayatollah Khamenei has given to the government headed by Ahmadinejad, and for the expediency of Islamic republic system, they restrict their criticism of the president and government.
No, it's not a precise claim to be made. The leader of the Islamic revolution has always called for the society to make constructive criticisms of the executive officials. What he has forbidden is causing damage to the administration.
Alerting to the hostilities of enemies to the independence of the country or the necessity for backing some plans which are being implemented in the country, the leader has backed different Islamic Republic government. That's because the government is the executor of social affairs and its success will lead to the success of the entire society. Defense of the administration regardless of who is heading it is a duty for everyone, since the power of the administration leads to the power of the nation.
Because most criticisms have been made as the result of multiparty confrontations, they were and are aimed at causing damage to the administration. In the meantime, people wonder which the criticism is and which means for damage. That has led some to avoid uttering their reasonable criticisms.
On the other hand, in his second term of presidency the cabinet of Ahmadinejad underwent changes and he drove many of his honest subordinates away.
Whom are you referring to?
I mean the officials who were among the friends of Mr. Ahmadinejad, but at the same time were making their own criticisms of him. They include Messrs. Lankarani [former Health Minister], Safar Harandi [former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance], Mohseni Ejei [former Intelligence Minister], Fattah, Soleimani and others. But they have been replaced by those who are somehow flatter.
As a result of such alteration, the situation of the government has been also transformed. We must be careful don't let these flatterers who have become intimate friends of Ahmadinejad indoctrinate their harmful ideas to him, but unfortunately they're doing that. Mr. Ahmadinejad does not realize what's the meaning of Iranian school and humane awakening, but repeats them. He is involved in executive affairs and can not analyze the intellectual concepts therefore he must be saved by his real sympathizers.
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