Not a Kinder, Gentler Khamenei

Looks like Reza Aslan's sources might be wrong. Aslan, we noted yesterday, suggested that Friday's prayer message from Iran's leaders would be a reflection of whether attempts by opponents and reformers (not necessarily the same people) to forge a compromise were making headway. A softer tone in his Friday message would suggest the efforts were bearing fruit.

Well, the fruit is spoiled. The New York Times reports today:

At Friday Prayer in Tehran University, the senior cleric, Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami [not related to reformist former president Mohammad Khatami], referred to the demonstrators as rioters and declared, “I want the judiciary to punish leading rioters firmly and without showing any mercy to teach everyone a lesson.” Reuters quoted him as saying that demonstrators should be tried for waging war against God. The punishment for such offenses under Islamic law is death, Reuters said.

This morning at a press conference with visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Barack Obama repeated his condemnation of the violence against Iranian protestors. And he rejected the call for him to apologize to Iran, saying that he doesn't take Iranian President Ahmadinejad seriously when he makes such demands, and that Ahmadinejad should think more about apologizing to the families of the demonstrators who have been attacked.

Aslan will address The Commonwealth Club on September 1 in San Francisco.

Reza Aslan: A Deal in the Works in Iran?

There are reports of a deal forming in Iran that would end the current turmoil there, Reza Aslan writes on The Daily Beast today. He says that it's looking like there may be a run-off election between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi. This is apparently the work of former president Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, who heads up the council that picks the supreme leader, currently Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Rafsanjani has reportedly been in the religious center of Qum negotiating with other religious leaders in an attempt to put pressure on Khamenei and President Ahmedinejad.

Though the government's brutal crackdown has quieted things today in Tehran, Aslan says things are still raging in the provinces: "[D]espite the fact that protests in the capital city of Tehran have diminished, there are still reports of massive protests taking place in other parts of the country, including in Tabriz, Isfahan, Kermanshah, Mashad and Shiraz. These protests have been significantly smaller due to the brutal security crackdown, but they have also been much more forceful and violent."

He says that Khamenei's Friday prayers tomorrow should be a good indication of a softening of tone and therefore whether these reports of a compromise are real or not.

For some background, listen to this audio of Aslan's May 16, 2009, speech to The Commonwealth Club. And don' t miss his return engagement here when he comes to our San Francisco headquarters on September 1. See event and ticket information.

Firoozeh Dumas Stresses U.S.-Iranian History

Writer/humorist Firoozeh Dumas has written at length about the painful experience of being an Iranian immigrant in the United States after the beginning of the hostage crisis in Iran three decades ago. As American anger toward the revolutionary regime in Iran increased, Iranian-Americans found themselves dodging hostility from neighbors and strangers alike. It got to the point that when Dumas' mother was asked where she was from, she'd say without hesitating, "Turkey."

Dumas herself does more than her mother to try to bridge the differences between the two countries, and she -- like millions around the world -- is closely following the dramatic events in Iran. She does not, however, put herself on the side of those urging the United States to be like Europe and take a more combative public stance against Iran. She writes in a post on her blog:

Do I believe the election was rigged? Absolutely. Do I believe that Obama is doing the right thing by not getting more involved? Absolutely! Some of you have asked why [he] is not doing more. Here is a quick history lesson: In 1953, the CIA and the British staged a coup and ousted Iran’s only democratically elected leader Mohammd Mossadegh. Why did they do this? One word: oil. Mossadegh wanted to nationalize the oil industry which had been under British control. (This meant that oil was real cheap.)

That history is alluded to in the Iranian government's harsh response to the protesters, claiming Western interference in its internal affairs. But it's also possible that the current events will undo some of the automatic anti-Iranianism of some in the West and replace it with a growing respect for the bravery of the demonstrators.

Things certainly do appear to be changing. Dumas gave more context in her May 8, 2008, Commonwealth Club of California in Silicon Valley [watch the video], noting, "Over and over again, I see that stories that have to do with Iran tend to be frightening. I find that so upsetting.... Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, [Iran's] president, is not speaking on behalf of the Iranian people; he's speaking on behalf of himself." Now, perhaps moreso than ever.