City boy

So I finally found the time to sit and write about meeting Fakhravar when he was here for a week or two in London, where he spent his time wisely meeting with number of ex-pats, students, policy makers, human rights organisations, etc.

Siavash has always been a controversial figure. Since his escape from Iran and arrival in America there have been a number of attempts to discredit him, mainly through accusations by the anti-American and lefty organisations like Stop the War and CASMII, who only seem to come short of time when it comes to the human rights of the Iranian people, but never the right’s of their dictators to gain nuclear power! Yet being a true democrat, he is not afraid of criticisms – that’s why he has linked to all the articles criticising him on his website.

Fakhravar is a character that is rather new in the Iranian opposition to the Islamic Republic. He is a student leader, a very charismatic young man who truly appeals to much of the Iranian community, unlike what Iranian opposition is used to; Old men, writing articles for themselves and fighting among themselves over the same old things.

That is why when Fakhravar met with a number of Iranian students and youth, a number of the participants were not even politically active but they had just came to see him and hear what he had to say. This is rather unheard of, even in London which has always been home to a huge number of Iranians students.

He speaks with conviction about how the reform movement is long dead, and the vision he has for a regime change to lead to a democratic and secular Iran and what he has been doing in order to gain popular support for it.

He is a realist about the current situation in Iran and that’s why his words were taken seriously every time he spoke. However his optimistic vision for the future of Iran is always followed by thoughtful and convincing reasoning and plans, which was rather motivating, as even I feel hopeless sometimes!

Fakhravar has been rather successful at confronting those who still believe in a dialogue with Islamic Republic. He has identified the main bases for the Islamic Republic lobbyists who have been actively using the anti-war feeling among the British and American people to promote and legitimise the Islamic Republic dictatorship.

It is very important to seek international coverage and support for the pro-democracy movements inside Iran. After 28 years the Iranian opposition has always been seen as a rather weak force, creating a question mark for the West on how to deal with the Iranian government. This is exactly what we must focus on and change.

The other thing I like about Fakhravar personally is that he is farsighted – he has both short and long term plans for future. These include beating the Islamic Republic lobbyists and creating a united student front in both Iran and also in the Diaspora, being his short term plans that he is quickly achieving, and of course a well timed civil disobedient movement in the near future to overthrow the ruling Mullahs and send them back in to the mosques.

We have to acknowledge that Islamic Republic is currently at it’s weakest times of it’s 28 year rule. The harsh crackdown on dissidents on all fronts show that the regime is truly scared. The people are finding it harder to go from day to day because of the ever growing cost of living, and they feel that they have had enough. The time has come to unite and realise that regime change is possible.