Blogging in Iran

The Internet is wildly popular in Iran, and blogging has become a vital source of information and analysis due to the systematic rollbacks of press freedoms (such as they were) during the last few years. Censorship and self-censorship takes its toll, as does intimidation and imprisonment of bloggers. But how-to-blog sites are among the most visited by Iranians, I reckon an indication that huge numbers of Iranians feel they have something to say and are doing their best to say it.

That brings me to Omid Memarian, one of Iran's most courageous bloggers. A reformist journalist, he took up blogging in 2002 and has paid a heavy price, including arrest, imprisonment and torture. Lately he's been in the U.S. as a fellow at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, and I phoned him from Tehran last week to ask him about his blogging from there. He's been writing a lot about America and the U.S. presidential election campaign in both Farsi (http://www.memarian.info) and English. Here's a bit from our exchange. I'll have some other posts from inside Iran soon, but wanted to get this one out while we were still on the subject of Iran and the U.S. elections:

SM: Why are you doing the Farsi blog from the U.S.?

Memarian: Iranians love the U.S. Surprisingly, many Iranians differentiate between U.S. politics and American people or culture. People think that their government's animosity toward America has done more harm than good. I've grown up with two myths about the United States: Ayatollah Khomeini's depiction of the U.S. as “Great Satan” on one hand, and the idea of the American dream on the other. Many Iranians prefer to choose the second option. So I write about the myths of America and the real America. The Islamic government spends lots of money to create a dark, evil picture of the U.S. —the same picture that the Bush administration creates of Iran. I simply share my firsthand experience and write about different aspects of this country that people in Iran cannot see.

SM: Why are you writing so much about the U.S. elections?

Memarian: The Islamic government portrays the United States political system as corrupted with a huge amount of conspiracy, and magnifies its obstacles and shortcomings with regular basis via its powerful propaganda machine. But I think the U.S. political system is complicated, unpredictable and amazingly transparent, in a way that seems brutal for countries like Iran that suffer from a very unaccountable, nontransparent and corrupt political system. For many Iranian politicians and officials, the U.S. political atmosphere is an impossible one in which they could not survive.

I also think this election is very unique because of the digital nature of campaigns, which has brought extreme transparency to the political arena. This helps my readers see how simplistic the majority of remarks by Iranian officials about the United States are. I write about how, just like in any other country, Americans are suffering from race and gender discrimination, poverty, corruption and injustice, but there are incredible aspects to living in the U.S. which should not be ignored.

SM: What are you trying to get across to Iranians?

Memarian: I'm trying to explain how the major issues in this society are similar to those in many other countries, even Iran, but on different levels. People in the United States have an opportunity to talk about their political and cultural problems. I would like to show Iranians how the media works here, how bloggers criticize politicians and what makes America unique.

SM: What are you picking up from your reader comments about the election?

Memarian: Many Iranians are obsessed with Barack Obama. If he goes to Iran, I'm sure he could fill Tehran's Azadi Stadium, which has a capacity of 100,000. To a large extent this is because of the nature of Obama's message about change and hope. Iranian people truly want to change their situation, get rid of decades of marginalization and restore their reputation in the world. They feel connected to his message of change. They are tired of living under the threat of economic sanctions and military attacks. Obama's remark about initiating a dialogue with Iran translated for many Iranians into hopes of normalizing the relationship between the countries and Iran rejoining the international community. For many Iranian women struggling for women's rights, Hillary is incredibly inspiring. Senator McCain, on the other hand, they see as just as a third term of President Bush, and I see no reason for them to connect to him.

SM: How do you think the American election will affect U.S.-Iranian relations, or perhaps next year's presidential election campaign in Iran?

Memarian: I think the U.S policy toward Iran has been consistent over the past two decades. I believe that none of the candidates will tolerate a nuclear Iran. None of them will take the military option off the table, either. Iran should prepare to reach a compromise following the U.S. elections. However I do not think any of these candidates will do much before Iran's presidential elections. They would prefer to talk to a new leader rather than President Ahmadinejad.

Iranian officials know that they should not take sides in the U.S. presidential elections because it is very risky for them. Imagine they show their desire for Senator Obama then he goes to the White House and proposes incentives for Iranians. There will be consequences if they are not ready to solve their problems with the U.S. To preserve the current no war-no peace situation, McCain will be the best option for Iranians.

--By Scott MacLeod/Cairo