international

there are two Irans and they couldn’t be more different: Many young Iranians love the United States and crave improved ties after decades of

hostility. But the hardline Islamic clerics who run Iran still detest the U.S., which suspects Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons to threaten America’s allies.

So it wasn’t surprising that a diplo-matic deal in November to temporarily halt Iran’s nuclear program led to a mix-ture of hope and fear. Critics fear Iran’s leaders, who claim the nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, can’t be trusted to follow through on their promises. At the same time, ordinary Iranians hope the deal might lead to a thaw in relations and an easing of the economic sanctions that have made their lives so hard.

“After I read the comments saying a deal was made, tears started rolling down my cheeks of happiness,” says Asal Khalilpour, 29, one of many young Iranians who took to social media after

What’s the Deal With

watch the video Iran: Rise of an Islamic Republic

www.upfrontmagazine.com

14 u p f r o n t • u p f r o n t m a g a z i n e .c o m

Iran?

the nuclear agreement was announced. Under the deal signed by Iran, the U.S.,

and five other nations (Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and China), Iran agreed to pause its nuclear program for six months and allow international inspec-tions while negotiators try to reach a more long-term agreement. In exchange, the U.S. agreed to ease the sanctions that have crippled Iran’s economy and probably pushed its leaders to the negotiating table.

President Barack Obama says the deal is proof that diplomacy can work in the Middle East.

“Today that diplomacy opened up a new path toward a world that is more secure,” Obama said when announcing the agreement. He spoke of “a future in which we can verify that Iran’s nuclear

program is peaceful and that it cannot build a nuclear weapon.”

But others disagree, including some members of Congress and U.S. allies in the Middle East, like Israel and Saudi Arabia. They have criticized Obama for compro-mising with a dangerous foe.

Because Iran has threatened Israel repeatedly over the decades, Israel con-siders Iran an “existential threat.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls the deal “a historic mistake.” Saudi Arabia, a Sunni Muslim nation, has long feared Shiite Muslim Iran getting a nucle-ar bomb. The violent rift between Sunnis and Shiites dates back 14 centuries to shortly after Islam’s founding.

The deal also faces criticism from hard-liners in Iran who don’t trust the U.S. or

a new agreement with the U.S. and its allies limits Iran’s nuclear program. But critics say Iran can’t be trusted. By patricia Smith

14 u p f r o n t • u p f r o n t m a g a z i n e .c o m

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the West. But Iranian President Hassan Rouhani was elected last June largely because he favored negotiations to ease the effects of the sanctions, which have made it almost impossible for Iran to export its oil or import foreign goods.

“It’s now time for action,” said Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister. “This is an opportunity for the West to make efforts to restore trust in the Iranian nation.”

To secure a permanent deal, the U.S. and Iran will have to overcome a long history of suspicion.

American Hostages It’s been 35 years since Iran’s 1979 rev-

olution, in which radical Shiite Muslims, led by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini,

ja n ua ry 1 3 , 20 1 4 15

Iran?

Iran at a GlancePoPUlation

about 70 percent of

iran’s population of 76.5 million people is under

age 35.

eConoMYiran is the world’s sixth-largest oil

producer but has very high

unemployment.

reliGioniranians are Shiite

muslims, not Sunni muslims.

etHniCitYthough iran is

part of the middle East, iranians are

persians, not arabs; they speak farsi, not arabic.

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SYRIALEBANON

JORDAN

ISRAEL

CYPRUS

EGYPT

GREECE

BULGARIA

QATARBAHRAIN

KUWAIT

ARMENIA

SAUDIARABIA

U.A.E.

OMAN

YEMEN

AZERBAIJAN

GEORGIA

RUSSIA

TURKMENISTAN

IRAQ

AFGHANISTANPAKISTAN

Persian GulfStrait ofHormuz

AegeanSea

RedSea 200 KM0

100 MI0

Nuclear facility

SOURCE: International Atomic Energy Agency

Black Sea

MediterraneanSea

Arabian Sea

Euphrates

Tigris

NW E

S

CaspianSea

TU

RK E Y

IRAN

ASIA

EUROPE

Area ofdetail

AFRICA

Natanz

Qom

Bandar-eAbbas

Tehran

Isfahan

Mashad

Arak

Bushehr

Tabriz

Young Iranians in the hills overlooking Tehran, 2012

“The average Iranian loves everything american [and] the freedom that america represents.”

Backing the Shah A coup engineered by the C.I.A. overthrows Iran’s prime minister (who had previously nationalized the oil industry) and puts Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi back in power.

Iranian Revolution The Shah is overthrown and a fundamentalist Islamic regime led by Ayatollah Khomeini turns Iran into a theocracy. Iranian students seize the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and hold 52 Americans hostage for 444 days.

‘Axis of Evil’ President George W. Bush includes Iran in an “Axis of Evil” along with North Korea and Iraq, which was then ruled by Saddam Hussein.

Going Nuclear Iran restarts its nuclear program, which it insists is for peaceful purposes, and refuses to cooperate with United Nations nuclear inspectors. The U.S. and the international community accuse Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons.

Today After signing an interim deal in November 2013, Iran and the U.S. are trying to hammer out a final deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program in exchange for relief from economic sanctions.

Iran & the U.S. Key Dates

1953

1979

2002

2004

2014

blocks Twitter and Facebook, many tech-savvy Iranians find ways to get around the restrictions.

In addition, says Amir Sassani*, an Iranian-American who lives in New York City, “the average Iranian loves everything American [and] the freedom that America represents.” Sassani, who moved to the U.S. before the 1979 rev-olution and regularly visits family in Tehran, adds: “If Iran and the U.S. didn’t have [political disputes], these two countries would be super close.”

Persian Pride Iran, historically also known as Persia,

has a long and proud heritage. “If you want to understand Iran,” says

journalist Robin Wright, who’s been traveling to Iran for 40 years, “take your most chauvinistic Texan and add 5,000 years. Then you begin to understand how

strong Persian nationalism is.” This national pride is part of

what brought Iran to the negotiat-ing table, says Gary Sick, an Iran expert at Columbia University in New York. “This is a group of people who have absolutely been appalled that Iran has been relegat-

ed to the position of a minor power and a pariah state,” he says.

According to the November agree-ment, Iran will limit its enrichment of uranium, the element that fuels nuclear reactors and can be used to make nucle-ar weapons. Critics say it’s only a matter of time before Iran is able to put a nucle-ar warhead on a missile and launch it toward Israel or Europe.

But some Iran watchers hail the deal as a potential breakthrough.

“No matter what you think of it, this is a historic deal,” says Vali Nasr of Johns Hopkins University. “It is a major seismic shift in the region. It rearranges the entire chess board.”

Nasr explains that Iran could be helpful to the U.S. in dealing with both Syria—where Hezbollah is fighting alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s government—and Afghanistan, where Iran could help a

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An American hostage is paraded before crowds in Tehran, 1979.

An Iranian missile test in 2010

overthrew Iran’s monarchy and imposed strict Islamic rule on what had been a Western-leaning country (see Key Dates).

Then a group of militants seized the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, holding 52 Americans hostage for 444 days. Blindfolded, terrified captives were paraded before TV cameras, making the U.S.—and President Jimmy Carter—look weak and helpless.

The U.S. and Iran have been at odds ever since, and tensions have risen in the past decade amid Iran’s defiance of the international community over its nuclear program. Iran has done other things to anger the West. It has armed groups like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which the U.S. considers a terrorist organiza-tion. Iran’s government has also jailed hundreds of political prisoners, accord-ing to Human Rights Watch.

Iran does hold elections, but real power is held not by the elected parliament or the president, but by the country’s religious leaders (see “Who’s in Charge?”), who try to enforce rigid social rules. Mingling between men and women is officially restricted, women must veil themselves in public, and alcohol is banned.

But young Iranians are increasingly testing the limits of their conservative soci-ety and demanding more freedoms from their government. While the government

16 u p f r o n t • u p f r o n t m a g a z i n e .c o m

Three-hour-long waits to buy bread because of U.S.-led economic sanctions

*this is a pseudonym. fearing that his family in iran would be harassed, he asked that his real name not be used.

broker a deal with the Taliban to stabilize the country as U.S. troops withdraw.

Any permanent deal on Iran’s nucle-ar program will be hard to get past some lawmakers in Congress, who still don’t trust Iran. Even President Obama, who called the initial deal “an impor-tant first step,” has said a final deal “won’t be easy, and huge challenges remain ahead.”

A Permanent Deal? A final agreement will also require the

support of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s top cleric, who has long been a harsh crit-ic of the U.S. Iran has good reasons to seek a deal—both to reduce its isolation in the world and to ease the burden of sanctions.

“The people who suffer the most are the average people,” Sassani says. a

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With shortages resulting from the sanctions, he explains, something as simple as buying bread can take up to three hours as people go from place to place and wait in lines. Anything import-ed, including medicine, is hard to find. Before he visits Iran, Sassani stocks up on items like Sudafed for his relatives.

Despite the challenges that remain, Gary Sick is optimistic that the U.S. and Iran can reach an agreement.

“Having crossed that line where the U.S. is willing and able to talk to Iran about issues of mutual significance, then all kinds of things are possible,” Sick says. “My guess is that momentum is not going to stop.” •

Who’s in Charge?Iran is a theocracy, with unelected religious leaders wielding a great deal of power

UNELECTED

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneithe Supreme leader is commander-in-chief of the military and appoints the head of the judiciary and six members of the Guardian council. he serves for life. ayatollah Khamenei was appointed in 1989 to succeed ayatollah ruhollah Khomeini, who led iran’s islamic revolution in 1979. Guardian Council made up of six islamic clerics and six jurists, the council must approve all laws passed by parliament and all candidates for parliament and president. in 2013, it approved only eight presidential candidates out of more than 700 who applied to run.

ELECTED President Hassan Rouhanipresidents are elected by the people and serve no more than two consecutive four-year terms. despite being the public face of iran, their powers are limited.

Parliamentthe 290 members of the parliament, known as the majlis, are elected by popular vote every four years. all bills they pass are subject to approval by the Guardian council. With reporting by Thomas Erdbrink and

Mark Landler of The New York Times.

. . . they hate us: Hardliners protest in front of the former U.S. Embassy, 2012.

ja n ua ry 1 3 , 20 1 4 17

They love us . . . A KFC fast food outlet in the city of Karaj