AN INTERVIEW WITH KOUROSH ZAIM
Amil Imani
Intellectual Conservative
July 7 2008
AZ
Amil Imani interviews Kourosh Zaim, an Iranian political activist
and a member of the Iran National Front-Central Council.
NMJ: How long have you been advocating democratic reform in Iran?
Zaim: Well, I like to think I have been active since 1953, when I
was close to the Iran National Front major personalities due to my
grand uncle’s and my father’s close association with them and the
democratic movement. During my college years in the United States
and many years after that, I was among the most active and outspoken
critics of the former regime in Iran. Upon my return to Iran in
1975, I was considered a dissident until 1979 when I rejoined the
post-revolution Iran National Front. Since then, I have continued to
speak out as a dissident activist.
NMJ: What do you see as the main obstacles to democracy, back in the
1970s and now?
Zaim: Back in the 70’s, the American support of the Shah’s regime out
of fear of communism, emboldened the Shah in his autocratic reign
to put pressure on the democratic forces in Iran. He banned their
activities and often jailed its leaders. As the result, religious
forces, well-known for their opposition to communism, found open fields
for propaganda, recruitment and organizing. Young energetic members
of the democratic political organizations, who disliked inactivity,
broke away and formed rebellious and armed socialist-Islamist militant
groups behind the opportunist clergy. Thus, the Shah created his own
enemies and so his own downfall; whereas, if he had allowed peaceful
activity of democratic opposition, the impatient youth would have
been guided by intelligent and farsighted leaders and would have
never been attracted to the traditionally timid and opportunist clergy.
Now, the clerical regime of the Islamic Republic, after 30 years of
theocratic rule, has proven its inability to reach but a very small
and backward segment of the population. This regime, too, suppressed
the democratic forces in the country and with much more brutality than
its predecessor. However, the information explosion of the 90’s and
the current communication revolution has made it helpless in keeping
the democratic opposition voices from being heard. Furthermore,
the ever-strengthening of the international organizations and
pro-activeness of the international community in support of democracy
and accountability has put the current regime on the defensive.
NMJ: Do you see the United States as a model for democracy?
Zaim: No country is a utopian model for democracy except maybe for
its own people. Democracy is always on the path of change toward
improvement. A democratic system must be democratic for the people
it governs. That’s why we see somewhat different interpretations of
how democracy should be institutionalized in different cultures. I
call freedom of choice with respect to the rights of others democracy.
NMJ: You have two sons in the U.S., is that correct?
Zaim: Yes. My two elder sons Turaj and Bijan are now in the United
States. They were born in Iran, but were sent out of the country when
they were 6 and 4, respectively.
NMJ: They escaped with their mother during the war with Iraq. Why
did you not go with them? Did you know of their escape?
Zaim: After the revolution, I was very active in opposition politics
in the framework of the Iran National Front. I was appointed to a
five-member committee for writing of the INF platform and another
committee for writing of by-laws, a position I have been repeatedly
elected to since then. In addition, my articles criticizing the current
policies were published widely. I had also formed a think tank in the
name of "Iran Center for Thought and Speech: for shaping the future
of Iran" in which we planned to research and map out Iran’s future.
In addition, I had researched and written a book in 1980 called Where
Is the Soviet Empire Going? in which I had analyzed facts about the
Soviet system and predicted that it would disintegrate in about 10-12
years. I had also predicted independence of eastern European, Caucasian
and Central Asian countries within two years hence. The book was first
published in Mizan daily newspaper as a serial. Those years the Iran
Communist Tudeh Party was very influential and had infiltrated all
aspects of the Islamic Republic organizations. The paper Mizan was
banned and revolutionary guards attacked its offices and set it on
fire. Later the book was published by a brave publisher who believed
in me. Bookstores were attacked or threatened not to display or sell
the book. The publisher had to turn 7,000 copies out of 10,000 it
had printed into pulp. The Communist Party paper attacked me in a
center spread. During all this time, Radio Moscow was continuously
blasting against me, calling me a self-professed theoretician who
talked about the future of the Soviet Union without knowing anything
about it and preventing friendly relations between the two brother
countries. In response, I sent a message to Radio Moscow, which was
published in one of the papers. In this message I told them that I
am not afraid of their threats and will do whatever I can to protect
the interests of my country. I told them that they didn’t have any
talents but threatening and terrorizing, so they should go ahead and
do what they’re good at and I will do what I am good at.
I had also written a long two-issue article in another paper warning
the ignorant, politically illiterate and outdated clerical hierarchy
of the communist infiltrators acting as their advisors and making
decisions for them. The paper, Edalat, was later closed and its chief
editor jailed. Another article that caused trouble was one for a very
popular magazine Black and White. In that article I had explained my
research about Ayatollah Khomeini’s thoughts and beliefs. I had claimed
that, unlike what his current promises of democracy and non-involvement
of the clergy government are, he is planning a theocracy based on
total religious control of the society. The magazine was attacked
and set on fire.
When Soviets attacked Afghanistan, not one dared to voice and sign
a declaration of opposition except an Afghan resistance commander,
one of the INF leaders, a representative of a high ayatollah and
myself. Three months into the Afghanistan invasion, I wrote an article
expressing the opinion that the Russians would be bogged down in
Afghanistan for 12-13 years and be forced to leave in defeat just
like the Americans did in Viet Nam. I also wrote another article
criticizing Iran’s revolutionary policies and predicted that soon
we would be bogged down in a protracted border war with Iraq. Nine
months later, Iraq attacked Iran.
All this had made me very unpopular with the regime and its
allies. I was threatened several times. Our bilingual school, best
in Middle East, was raided by machine gun-wielding RGs, confiscated
and ransacked. Our home was often the site of RGs’ midnight shooting
sprees in the air. One night the shooting was so violent and prolonged
that I took my wife and children to the boiler room, spread blankets
and hid them behind the boiler until morning, although I myself
returned to the bedroom and opened the curtains so they could see me
lying down unconcerned. They also repeatedly threatened my family,
arrested and detained my wife for a few hours and tried every which
way to scare me even through threatening the children.
One day the head of the Iran Central Bank called me and advised that
I should hide for a while for there was a plot to assassinate me. I
told him that I don’t hide. He then asked me, at least, not to go
to my office for a few months and offered his own home office in the
basement of his sister’s house. I accepted and spent my office hours
in his basement, but went home every night. After 2 or 3 months I
got tired of seclusion and went back to my office. It took no more
than two weeks before I was arrested in my office and taken to the
infamous Evin prison. My experience in Evin prison is a story all by
itself. Soon after, they also arrested both my younger brothers, one a
Maoist group theoretician-leader and one a student activist. This was
1983 when some two dozen other INF activists were also in prison or
being arrested. Evidently, I was supposed to be executed in prison;
however, after the communist party fell out of favor with Ayatollah
Khomeini and their leaders were arrested, I survived and was released
after some 4 or 5 months.
Before my imprisonment, when threats against me were becoming more
frequent and obvious, some armed political groups offered assistance
to protect me and/or to take my family to safety. One was the Armenian
nationalists, who promised protection of family and the transporting
of them outside the country in case of my arrest or death. Soon after
my arrest, my wife and two sons of 6 and 4 were zipped out of the
country with the help of our Kurdish fellow countrymen on horseback
through and over the snowy mountains into Turkey. This must have been
one of the most dangerous trips and the most frightening experience
my family had to endure. In Turkey, they were received by the Turkish
Ambassador, who arranged for their flight to the United States.
NMJ: They have not visited you since then — do you believe it will
be safe for them to visit soon, or is it a bad idea because of who
their father is?
Zaim: No, but I had the opportunity to visit them a few times in
between periods when I was forbidden to leave the country. The last
time I saw them, they were 12 and 10 years of age. Yes, I believe it
will be safe now for them to visit Iran except that they might be
under scrutiny. But, now, any inconvenience caused them will be so
widely publicized that it would be counterproductive for the regime.
NMJ: Your eldest son is a poet or musician, and an activist of
sorts. Do you feel you imparted some of your ideals to him before he
left? What did you try to teach your children at that young age?
Zaim: Yes. My eldest is a highly talented poet and musician. He used to
write poems when in grammar school that would boggle the mind. He has
perfected a talent I tried when young, but didn’t go far with it. My
second son is also talented in theater, writing plays and directing.
NMJ: What is your hope for Iran-U.S. relations and what do you think
is the best path for the lion and the eagle?
Zaim: Normalization of relations between Iran and America is
inevitable. We have suffered much for our mismanagement of foreign
policy and must correct our course very soon. Over the past 30 years
we have fallen behind the equivalent of a century or more. We cannot
make up the loss, even running at top speed using all resources, is
less than a quarter century. And, for that we have to make friends
with every country in the world.
NMJ: Do you have hope for new dialogue if Senator Obama is elected
president of the U.S.?"
Zaim: It doesn’t matter who the American president is as long as the
Islamic Republic is running the country. If dialogue means support
for the current system and for their longevity, I don’t believe it
will happen. I hope things will begin to change course before the
U.S. has a new president.
Foreign Affairs, National Defense
Amil Imani is an Iranian-born American citizen and pro-democracy
activist residing in the United States of America. Imani is a
columnist, literary translator, novelist and an essayist, who has
been writing and speaking out for the struggling people of his native
land, Iran.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
