Our Letter to Khatami Was a Farewell: An Interview with Saeed Razavi-Faqih - July 15, 2003

Saeed Razavi-Faqih is a student at Tarbiat-Modarres University in Tehran and a member of the steering committee of the main national student organization, the Office for the Consolidation of Unity (OCU). Razavi-Faqih has played a key role in the leadership of Iranian student protests in December 2002 and previously. Kaveh Ehsani, a contributing editor of Middle East Report, spoke with Razavi-Faqih by telephone on July 8, 2003, the day before the anniversary of major demonstrations in 1999. Many expected that rallies commemorating the 1999 protests, which were forcibly repressed by the regime, would rock Tehran again, especially after a dramatic series of student protests over tuition hikes in the month of June. Reports from Iran conflict as to the size of demonstrations on July 9, but analysts concur that they were much smaller than anticipated. A crackdown by the regime was likely one reason. Razavi-Faqih, for instance, was arrested on July 10. He remains in detention. Q. What was the source of the June 2003 disturbances around the universities in Tehran and other cities? A. The June clashes around the universities should be seen as linked to similar events that occurred in the late fall of 2002, when the death sentence against Prof. Hashem Aghajari [on charges of blasphemy] led to an unprecedented explosion of spontaneous student protests across the country that lasted for more than two weeks in December. Aghajari's sentence was reduced, but he was kept in jail. By the time the February 2003 elections for local councils took place, a noticeable shift in attitude had taken place. For the first time in the past six years, the student organizations refused to nominate candidates or to actively campaign in the elections. The main reason for this apathy was that rank-and-file university students no longer believed that reforms or elections could bring about the political changes they desire. Mohammad Khatami, the elected president, is not effective, and the parliament has not been able to implement its reformist agenda. So by the time the universities were engulfed yet again in a wave of national protests this June, the students were no longer willing to accept that working within the framework of the reformist movement would satisfy their demands. Q. Were the June protests different from the student protests over the Aghajari trial in 2002? A. Yes, there were some significant differences. Last fall, ordinary people showed a lot of sympathy for students, but would not get directly involved in the demonstrations themselves. This time around, popular participation was much more significant. Often student organizers lost control of the protests. The police managed to bring the area surrounding the student dormitories under control, but then the protests spread elsewhere in the city, to faraway neighborhoods like Narmak or Tehran-Pars where no students live. Now we have a situation where, following a small spark, the general public turned against a rigid system that is unwilling to bow to popular demands. Q. In July 1999, the students were provoked into confrontation by thugs loyal to regime conservatives. Did that happen this time as well? A. There is evidence of that, and we suspect an attempt to set a trap for student leaders, political activists and parliamentary deputies. We need to be alert to neutralize this conspiracy. The mood among students is highly explosive, and any collective action can be derailed easily into uncontrolled radicalism. The problem is that it is the other side that ultimately benefits from this situation. We must be vigilant and avoid getting into a situation that is out of our control. Our initial plans to turn the commemoration of the July 9, 1999 events into a large and peaceful rally were dealt a serious blow. Q. Do you believe that the recent clashes signal a new political situation? A. What we have realized is that the majority of students no longer want to maintain any dialogue with the regime. Previously, the students distinguished between the reformers in government, whom the students helped to elect to office and with whom they shared many concerns, and the hardliners, whom they had not elected and who were intent on maintaining their authoritarian grip on power. But the events of the past months, and especially these past few weeks [as supra-parliamentary conservative bodies have blocked legislation enhancing Khatami's powers], have deeply changed this attitude. Students believe that some of the government reformers are sincere in their commitment to change, but are simply powerless to deliver on their promises. Their presence in the government only prolongs the life of a system that is incapable of reform. Following the recent attacks on students by vigilantes and thugs, the students wrote a frankly worded letter to Khatami, challenging him either to stop these violations and punish the culprits, or to resign and avoid legitimizing this regime. This is an important new step for the student movement, because prior to this point the student movement acted within the system, as a part of the reform movement. Following these recent events, the student movement has disassociated itself from the regime altogether. Some of us even do not want to stay within the existing framework of the Office for Consolidation of Unity (OCU) [an Islamic students' association, and one of the few autonomous political organizations allowed to operate in universities], because it is an official institution sanctioned by the regime. I think these recent confrontations contained a serious warning from the people to the government of the Islamic Republic. It was really significant that, for the first time, ordinary people started really to get involved on the side of the students. Masses of ordinary people were present well into the early hours of the morning around the student residences of the University of Tehran. This presence of ordinary people, hanging around peacefully, and often with their families, lasted for a whole week. Q. Why did you give Khatami an ultimatum? A. The student movement feels it has no longer any ties to the elected institutions and reformers. Students have trusted the reformers in successive elections and we have kept our part of the bargain. Our letter to Khatami was a farewell and a last ultimatum before cutting all ties. As for the other non-elected parts of the regime, we don't have anything to say to them. Q. What is the next step for the student movement? A. It is not clear yet. Civil disobedience, strikes and peaceful protests in various locations...all these measures are being considered. The student movement is not prone to violence, although anger and frustration may lead to isolated incidents of violent reaction by students. We realize that violence will destroy our hard-won gains of the past few years. That is why we are moving toward connecting our movement to the demands of other social groups, like workers and even families. What is clear, though, is that we no longer feel there is any use in continuing a dialogue with the regime, even with the elected reformers. In realizing this, the student movement has shown itself one more time to be a step ahead of the rest of society. Q. The precondition for entering into alliances with other social groups is a certain degree of discipline and organization. Do you think the student movement has such discipline and organization? A. It is true that the institutions of civil society in the Islamic Republic are dysfunctional. The press, political parties, trade unions -- no autonomous organization has been spared the pressure and restraints of the regime. The OCU is no exception. The result has been a serious organizational and institutional vacuum. We are weak in terms of theory and political and organizational experience. But I am hopeful that through the political experiences the students have been gaining in recent years, and especially over the past few months, a consolidation of opinions and a willingness to collaborate has been emerging. What the student movement has come to realize in recent years is that it is incapable of changing the situation by itself. The student movement needs to align itself with other social actors, and even with the urban environment surrounding the universities. Q. What type of society do you desire? What is your ultimate goal? A. At a minimum, we want to ensure civil and social rights and liberties, and we want a democracy. But the students have lost any illusion that working for reforms within the system can bring this about. We believe now that the core of this regime is fundamentally authoritarian, and that it will continue to block all attempts to make ours a more flexible system which respects citizens' rights. This despotic core should be attacked. Q. Over recent months, an increasing number of supporters of the reform movement have been arguing that the only means of overcoming this deadlock is to call for a change of the constitution. A. Back in May 2003, we held an informal referendum at the campus of the Bu Ali Sina University in Hamedan, where the students were asked to cast a vote for one of three constitutions that have been drafted under the Islamic Republic. This was a clever tactic on our part, because all three constitutions had been approved by Ayatollah Khomeini himself at one time or another, so nobody could accuse us of plotting to overthrow the regime. These three documents were the 1979 provisional constitution of the Revolutionary Council, the 1979 constitution of the Assembly of Experts, and the present constitution, which was drafted in 1989. We spent a week doing intensive public education work, holding workshops and printing leaflets, to clarify the distinctions between the three texts. When we held a vote, 95 percent of the respondents voted for the first option, primarily because there is no position of vali-ye faqih [the guardianship of a senior cleric] in that version of the constitution. We do need a new constitution, one that assures a just distribution of power and safeguards against despotism and abuse. But we should avoid getting obsessed about what name we give the new political system, and focus instead on its content. Obviously, under the present conditions the regime will not allow any constitutional revision or referendum, unless it is forced to. Someone who is pretending to be asleep will only wake up with a good slap! Q. So what are the prospects that the student movement can organize a wider social coalition aimed at applying the necessary pressure? A. By themselves, students cannot lead a social movement. We have distinct strengths: we have an extensive network of student associations in every town where there is a university campus. All the local branches have delegates in the OCU, so we are constantly in touch with the general mood and demands of the student population, nationwide. Nevertheless, there are limits to what the students can do by themselves. What we can do is be effective in a wider collective front. Look at the reform movement of the Second of Khordad. The OCU was one of three legs that Khatami's reform movement stood on, the other two being the Participation Front and the Mojahedin-e Enqelab Organization. The same is true today. A new coalition has to emerge and gain the trust of the population, and the student movement can play an important role within that coalition. I see signs of the emergence of this coalition in the recent flurry of open letters to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei protesting the current situation. Those who have signed these letters range from the extra-parliamentary opposition that supports the reform movement to those elected reformers who have consistently defended the rights of those opposing the regime. My hope is that the student movement consolidates its own place within.