Omid Memarian is the World Peace Fellow at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Memarian worked as a journalist for reformist newspapers until the Iranian government cracked down on the press and shuttered most of the independent papers. Refusing to admit defeat, Mr. Memarian shifted to the Internet, pioneering a new medium of human rights reporting. His blog is dedicated to social, cultural and civil society issues in Iran.

As a result of his public defense of human rights, Mr. Memarian was arrested with more than 20 other bloggers in October 2004. He was detained in solitary confinement, tortured repeatedly and forced to make false confessions. Following protests from the international community, including Human Rights Watch, Mr. Memarian was released in December 2004.

Mr. Memarian has worked with Human Rights Watch to expose arbitrary detentions, torture and mistreatment of prisoners in Iran at great personal risk. Since 2005, when he moved to the United States, he has written extensively about Iranian issues in the U.S. media. Currently he is an IPS News Agency correspondent at the United Nations, and he blogs regularly for The Huffington Post. He spoke with Am Johal at the UN in New York.

Am Johal: Can you talk about your situation in Iran as a journalist?

Omid Memarian: I belong to the young generation of journalists in Iran who strongly believe that they can change the society by their efforts through the media, civil society organizations and also political activities. Since I started working, Iâe(TM)ve taken my job very seriously. In a way it became a part of me, far more than a profession, a part of my identity and dreams. After a few years of working, I received Iranâe(TM)s National Press Festivalâe(TM)s Golden Pen for my analysis of political issues. I think it was basically because of the connection to the ordinary people and the believable nature of my writings.

Many young journalists in Iran are successful and active in the public sphere, in the political sphere. They follow up the issues to the end. At the same time, being a writer and intellectual is a kind of threat. The government labels them with different kinds of charges on a regular basis, which makes life hard for many of them. The government perceives these areas of society – civil society, NGOs and free media as foreign interests trying to influence the society. They are always fearful of these people and skeptical of their function. They think that these bodies are being manipulated by the West.

Many journalists have been imprisoned. They are interrogated for months and years even if itâe(TM)s clear there is no basis to the government accusations. I think the government uses this excuse to suppress them and shut them up, forcing them not to talk about their demands. Thatâe(TM)s why many of us believe that the foreign pressure on the Iranian government is a gift for hardliners in Tehran.

What was the context in which you were detained?

I was editor-in-chief of a magazine focusing on civil society and democracy-related issues. At the same time, I was active in civil society as part of a resource centre where I was a board member. Concepts like democracy, civil society, free journalism âe” the Iranian regime perceived these concepts as a threat. They think that the U.S. is trying to collapse the Islamic regime by supporting networks of intellectuals, writers and bloggers, doing whatever they can to defeat the Islamic Republic.

There is a belief in Iran among hardliners and conservatives that the U.S. has chosen the way of the âeoevelvet revolution,âe like in the Ukraine, Georgia and Lebanon. Iran believed that the U.S. and foreign countries were trying to bring scholars and activists to change Islamic culture and push the government back. In this regard, I should confess that the United States has a very dark record of interference and supporting dictators and brutal rulers, and their support of democracy to a large extent is not reliable. Not only the Iranian government, but also many democrats and civil society activists are skeptical about the nature of U.S. support.

This fear and simplistic presentation of the issues by both Iran and the U.S. work against each other in international affairs. It also gives a black and white picture of the Islamic regime.

Itâe(TM)s an excuse to put more pressure on people that they should not push too hard. I had no idea, at the time, that I would end up in jail. I am a moderate and have never criticized the foundations of the Islamic Republic. I do not believe in revolution and or any sort of collapse. Itâe(TM)s impossible and unnecessary. But the Iranian people need to have a better life. In many of my pieces Iâe(TM)ve criticized the way officials make decisions and govern the society.

Prominent Iranian journalists and thinkers feel that the West misperceives Iran as an authoritarian dictatorship. They argue that it is more like Max Weberâe(TM)s idea of âeoesultanism,âe with aspects of authoritarianism and some areas where there are more the features of some democracy. What is an accurate picture of the regime and how it functions?

Iran has a bit of everything: some democracy, some sultanism and some authoritarianism. For instance, a part of the judiciary did many illegal things with my friends and I, but other parts in the same judiciary were trying to find the truth when I was imprisoned. Is it confusing? Yes, it is. It is even confusing for people like me who have been living there for a long time.

At the time of my detention, my mother sent a letter to President Mohammad Khatami and asked for the place they were keeping her son. He said, âeoeIâe(TM)m sorry I donâe(TM)t know where your son is.âe Even the president didnâe(TM)t know where a detained journalist was being held. It was devastating for my parents.

At the same time, unlike many countries in the Middle East, Iran enjoys a very vibrant civil society, educated people and an expanded middle class which makes it a very different country than most of its neighbors, particularly Arab countries around the Persian Gulf, which suffer from centuries of underdevelopment on different levels. You see even the oil money which has been poured into these countries has not been a reason to develop in terms of political culture and civil society. Iran is totally different than many countries in the Middle East. For instance, you hear that Ahmadinejad has said many inflammatory things about Israel and the Jewish people, but the Jewish community does have a Member of Parliament in Iran and they can criticize the president over his remarks.

Iranians, on the other hand, again unlike many countries in the Middle East, love the West and particularly its human products like education, philosophy and social science. When Juergen Habermas came to Iran, he was received like a rock star âe” so there is a big appetite to talk about democracy in Iran.

So, they are pushing the boundaries in a very constant struggle. They are using the Internet as a means to develop their activities and these kind of things should be seen in the West. The United States is blind when it comes to societyâe(TM)s dynamics. Thatâe(TM)s why they have made unbelievable mistakes in the Middle East. When you talk to them, you see how naïvely they think about the Middle East.

They should understand that marginalizing Iran just harms the Iranian people and has nothing to do with the government. If they attack Iran, everybody will rally behind the flag. I hope that, with the end of Bush era, cowboy diplomacy will be replaced with a more reasonable policy.

Am Johal

Am Johal

Am Johal is an independent Vancouver writer whose work has appeared in Seven Oaks Magazine, ZNet, Georgia Straight, Electronic Intifada, Arena Magazine, Inter Press Service, Worldpress.org, rabble.ca...