It is a dilemma for many why the so-called Western “leftists”, “democrats”, “socialists” and “liberals”, as well as the mainstream leftist media outlets, often appear to beat the drum for the Islamic Republic of Iran.
It seems ambiguous and perplexing that how and why some educated leftist people appear to defend the Iranian government which constantly lashes out at the West, particularly the US “The Great Satan”; which advocates and promotes “Death to America” or “Death to Britain”; which is ranked top state sponsor of terrorism in the world; which regularly delivers incendiary speeches; which is ranked top in the world when it comes to executing people per capita; which represses its own citizens on a large scale; which subjugates and dehumanizes its ethnic and religious minorities; which intervenes in almost every country’s domestic affairs in the region; which pursues militaristic and expansionist policies; which seeks to advance its hegemonic ambitions, regional superiority and preeminence; which is governed by a Shia theocracy; which supports Bashar Al Assad and many militia and designated terrorist groups; and the list goes on.
Some people strongly argue that some of those so-called “leftists”, Iran “experts” filled in almost every sector including think thanks, or as professors in academia, or “liberals” get paid to secretly and illegally lobby for, and in the favor of, the Iranian government. I am not talking about these groups; my question is directed towards the other leftist groups.
The answer to this question is multidimensional and is linked to preserving ones economic, financial and career interests, as well as related to the American or Western educational systems. I will focus on the second dimension since the first one – the self-interest financial and career dimension- is self-explanatory.
In Western academic systems, including highly regarded ones, students are normally taught utilizing teaching methods that encourages enhancing critical thinking and taking the students out of their comfort zone. It appears that a significant part of shaping this critical thinking is to focus on literatures that examines Western imperialism, colonialism, and orientalism.
As a result, when it comes to Iran-US or Iran-West relationships, many develop a picture of “we” (the imperialists, colonialist, aggressors, and orientalists) versus “they” [the Iranian government] (the repressed and victims). Since the focus becomes how the US treated or mistreated Iran, the whole picture of what is happening inside Iran, what the Iranian government is doing to its people, how the Iran government is exploiting the situation, or how the Iranian government is acting in the region becomes irrelevant and is disregarded.
As a result, if you examine every Iran-West or Iran-US scenario from the above-mentioned framework, you are regarded as highly “educated”, “sophisticated”, “humane”, and “civilized”. In addition, even if Iran commits any acts that violates international law, those liberals will find ways to justify it as a way to take the blame off the Iranian government’s shoulder and put the blame on the West or other countries in the region. This is how they are trained. On the other hand, if you do not follow this theoretical framework, you will be attacked with all different kinds of labels, and your credentials and qualifications will all be questioned.
The Islamic Republic Loves Western “Liberals” and “Leftists” Too
The Islamic Republic tends to love these kinds of Western “liberals” and “leftists” because they fit into Iran’s agenda of demonizing and blaming the West while disregarding or justifying Iran’s aggressive actions. Many are repeatedly invited to speak on Iranian media outlets or participate in other activities.
Many fail to realize that this framework of thinking, which is like a box itself, has become their new comfort zone.
The major problems with this predominant framework of Western liberal and leftist thinking, which is pro-Iran government in this case, is that: it is binary, simplified, and unsophisticated, it does not reflect the nuances, and complexities of Iran’s politics, and does not do any justice to the overwhelming majority of the Iranian people and others in the region, such as the Syrian people.
By only focusing on criticizing the West when it comes to its relationship with the Islamic Republic, we are overlooking the injustices and military adventurism being conducted by the Iranian government on a daily basis.
“Leftists” and “Liberals” Need to Stand By The Values They Call For
In fact, by adopting such pro-Iran government thinking, we would be indirectly assisting, empowering and emboldening the Iranian government to repress its own people, torture political and human rights activists, help Assad bomb his own people, and fuel conflicts in other countries.
The questions that these “liberals” and “leftists” do not like to be asked, because it again intrudes on their comfort zone, are: Why would you stand on the side of the Iranian government which commits such violations domestically and is top state sponsor of terrorism? Can you criticize the Iranian government for ranking top in the world for executing people? Why do you defend a government that regularly detains, tortures, and imprisons its own people? Can you criticize the Iranian government that does not allow any peaceful opposition or criticism to its hold on power?
Unfortunately these leftists have the megaphones and resources; their actions are hindering the abilities of millions of Iranians, human rights and political activist to democratize Iran.
In my opinion, if the leftists and liberals, as they argue, truly stand for values such as peace, social justice, freedom of speech, press and assembly, liberty, democracy, and human rights, they ought to forcefully condemn the Iranian government for violating all these values. Not only it is hypocritical not to do so, but also they would be complicit in Iran’s actions and it is a betrayal and disrespect to millions of people across the region as well as the Iranian people who suffer on a daily basis under the Shia theocracy of the Islamic Republic.
This article was originally published by the Arab News. For more details and nuances you can read full version on Here.
You can sign up for Dr. Rafizadeh’s newsletter for the latest news and analyses on HERE.
Harvard-educated, Dr. Majid Rafizadeh is a businessman, an American political scientist, president of the International American Council on the Middle East, and best-selling author. He serves on the advisory board of Harvard International Review. Dr. Rafizadeh is frequently invited to brief governmental and non-governmental organizations as well as speak, as a featured speaker, at security, business, diplomatic, and social events. He has been recipient of several fellowships and scholarships including from Oxford University, Annenberg, University of California Santa Barbara, Fulbright program, to name few He is regularly quoted and invited to speak on national and international outlets including CNN, BBC World TV and Radio, ABC, Aljazeera English, Fox News, CTV, RT, CCTV America, Skynews, CTV, and France 24 International, to name a few. . He analyses have appeared on academic and non-academic publications including New York Times International, Los Angeles Times, CNN, Farred zakaria GPS, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, The Nation, The National. Aljazeera, The Daily Beast, The Nation, Jerusalem Post, The Economic Times, USA Today Yale Journal of International Affairs, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, and Harvard International Review. He is a board member of several significant and influential international and governmental institutions, and he is native speaker of couple of languages including Persian, English, and Arabic. He also speaks Dari, and can converse in French, Hebrew. More at Harvard.
You can also order his books on HERE. You can learn more about Dr. Rafizadeh on HERE.
You can contact him at Dr.rafizadeh@post.harvard.edu or follow him at @Dr_Rafizadeh.
