“The Islamic Republic has been Wronged”

“The Islamic Republic has been wronged,” wrote Yasser Nabavi on IranWire Persian’s Facebook page. Nabavi was commenting on the NAJA Warriors video posted on the page, a satirical work created by a citizen journalist. The animated film takes the police force (NAJA) as its subject, and features officers racing through the streets of Tehran destroying satellite dishes and preventing households from viewing programs that do not meet the approval of authorities. In his comments, Nabavi also spoke out against the role the United States and the United Kingdom play in “shaping domestic events in Iran,” which he described as considerable. He also mentioned the recent series of acid attacks in Isfahan, which he linked to foreigners. His comments on Facebook ignited a string of further comments from other people visiting the page.

Nabavi, a 28-year-old software engineer who lives in the holy city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, agreed to an online chat about why he thought the video was offensive and what influence he thinks the West has on events inside Iran.

Your comments on Facebook say that the Iranian regime has been wronged. Why do you believe this?

Do you know how many young members of NAJA (the Islamic Republic Police Force), the Basij and the Revolutionary Guards lose their lives trying identify and infiltrate suicide bomber groups? They work to neutralize these conspiracies.  Do you know that just a few days before Muharram [an annual traditional mourning period for Shias, and one of their most holy months], a group of Wahhabis and Salafists wearing artificial arms and legs and pretending to be invalids who could only move with the help of walking sticks went into a crowd of people with the aim of blowing themselves up? That our boys stopped them by losing their own lives?

You don’t know, because the regime is the one that has been wronged here. This news is not reported because authorities believe that a perception of insecurity is worse than insecurity itself. They believe that if people know about these things, their peace of mind could be shattered. But to find out about the terrorist groups who come to Iran to carry out suicide bombings, you only have to visit Basij sites in Sistan [a southeastern Iranian province that borders Pakistan]. Suicide bombers come from Pakistan. Do not forget that after he was apprehended, Rigi talked about the assistance American intelligence agencies gave him. [Abdolmalek Rigi was the leader of the Sunni militant organization Jondallah and led terrorist attacks against Shias and the Islamic Republic. He was apprehended and executed in 2010.]

So you believe that whatever happens in Iran is directed by what happens outside the country?

When something gets started, foreigners support it. Rigi committed crimes for many years and foreigners supported him. They helped him financially, with arms and through the media.

In your comments, you also wrote that foreigners were to blame for the acid attacks. So do you think that the US and Britain gave money to people to carry out these attacks?

There has been no reliable news about it. How can I have an informed opinion about it? Your video was unprofessional for a journalist. It expressed a biased view and I gave my criticisms. Nothing is yet clear about the acid attacks. So how can I express any views on it?

How did foreigners assist what happened in Kahrizak Detention Center, when, after the disputed 2009 presidential election, many prisoners were abused and beaten and some died? Who created — and who paid for — this tragedy?

An excellent question. The events in 2009 were very chaotic. Many were arrested and released the same night. I was not part of the Green Movement but the police took me into custody by mistake and I was almost arrested. In the mayhem, many policemen disobeyed orders. They were not in their right minds because they had been on alert day and night for a few months without leave. Kahrizak happened in all of this chaos. Who made people come to the street? But what happened in Kahrizak itself had nothing to do with foreigners. The culprits at Kahrizak were tried and punished under orders from the Supreme Leader. Unfortunately, this news got lost in the media ruckus.

You believe that the US and Britain brought people into the streets?

You don’t remember how the media acted? Then you were not following the BBC and others.

So if the BBC did not exist, people would have not come out on the streets?

Weren’t they coordinating the events? The BBC and Voice of America were the coordinators. They just did not jut report the news, they also had commentary on it.

Well, this the job of the media.

These media were inciters. Media are a necessity of modern life. The viewpoint that the media give to their audience can incite. The media that conveys knowledge and news are not inciters, but they become so when they fan the emotions of their audience.

Did you believe at the time that the regime was wronged?

Yes, because it was libelled, accused of cheating.

So how it was handled?

As a reporter you are better informed about what went on. If you don’t believe Mortazavi was the culprit...but apparently you do. [Saeed Mortazavi, the former Tehran prosecutor-general, was identified as being responsible for the events at Kahrizak, according to a special parliamentary committee.]

What percentage of people do you believe think like you about these events and the regime?

Unfortunately, the percentage of people who think about events away from the influence of media sensationalism is small. But when the situation becomes sensitive a high percentage of people are behind the Supreme Leader. I have witnessed it myself.

What other sources for news do you go to besides the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting?

I get the news about Iran from various newspapers and sites. I read every kind of newspaper, from Arman to Kayhan to Vatan-e Emrouz. I don’t rely on any one news agency.

One main topic of discussion these days is the “promotion of virtue and forbidding of evil”. What do you think about this?

If I notice that somebody is wasting water, it is my duty to warn him. This is forbidding what is wrong. The idea is bigger than what people actually think.

Let me tell you about my own experience. In Iran people easily disregard a red light by turning left or right. This has become a norm in our town even though it is against the law. Every time I stopped for a red light, the cars behind me would object to me and honked to make me move. Once I stood my ground and said that this was illegal; that you could run over passers-by if you didn’t obey. You should have been there. Fifteen of my countrymen called me a stupid ass. This is one of the perks of forbidding the wrong.

Some people want to forbid the wrong in the streets. Do they understand it correctly?

Yes, and they get beaten up too. Like Khalili, who was martyred trying to save a girl who was being assaulted. [Ali Khalili was killed in March of this year trying to protect two women who were being forced into a car by half a dozen men.]

To finish, I give you some names. Please tell me the first thing the name brings to mind.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei: Intelligent and a good steward.

Former President Rafsanjani: At this moment involved in aristocracy and aristocratic rivalries in the Middle East.

Former President Khatami: A lovable and good human being who has allowed himself to become a tool for others to use.

Mir Hossein Mousavi: Eerie.

Former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Brave and a man of the people.

Saeed Mortazavi: He got swept up in events.

Ansar-e-Hezbollah [The Supporters of the Party of God, a conservative vigilante group]: The elders are rational but the newer members lose control.