Plot Allegations Stir Complex Nationalist Feelings in Iran

•  tehran
• Tuesday, October 25, 2011
• Inter Press Service

For the first time since the disputed 2009 election, both supporters and opponents of the government are responding in similar fashion, voicing considerable scepticism about the charges and questioning U.S. intentions and objectives regarding Iran.

At the same time, this outpouring of nationalist feelings cannot be entirely comforting to Iranian officials as the public is demanding prudence from the regime in handling what it sees as an increasingly dangerous situation.

Reactions to the alleged plot by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to assassinate the Saudi ambassador were initially muted. The public display of outrage on the part of U.S. officials, including President Barack Obama himself, stirred fears of a possible military attack.

At the same time, the public anger generated by the contested June election against the IRGC and its role in suppressing the popular movement made many people hesitant to take the side of Iranian officials who, like Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called Washington's claims 'nonsense'.

However, as the verbal attacks against Iran have intensified over the last two weeks, concern about increased sanctions, fear regarding the possibility of war, and even indifference have given way to a deep and complex sense of nationalism.

For many, the idea of the IRGC plotting to assassinate a Saudi ambassador in Washington is hard to believe. According to Alireza, a 55-year old shop owner, 'Saudi Arabia has done many nasty things against Iran, including the killing of Iranian pilgrims [in Mecca] in 1987 and support for Saddam Hussein during the war, but Iran has never retaliated.'

'Why should it give a pretext to the United States now?' said Alireza, who, like others interviewed for this story, asked that his full name not be used. The possibility that the alleged plot might pave the way for sanctions against the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) has led to even harsher reactions.

Hussein, who has a degree in economics, insists that until now he never believed the narrative peddled by regime hardliners that the West wants to destroy Islamic Republic. But with the loud public pronouncement of Iran's guilt 'before a trial is held and solid proof is offered', he says, he no longer has any doubts. 'There is really no difference between the sanctioning of the CBI and the humiliating oil-for-food programme that was implemented to weaken the nation of Iraq and pave the way for the military invasion of that country.'

That view was echoed by Cyrus, a master's degree candidate in electronics at the University of Tehran and an active participant in the now-underground Green Movement. 'The pride and power of every country is its people, and by sanctioning the Central Bank they want to humiliate and weaken the people (of Iran) and invade the country,' he told IPS.

A friend of Mohsen Rouholamini, who was killed by guards in Kahrizak prison after his arrest during the post-election protests, Cyrus stressed that the task of opposition in Iran has become much more difficult in Iran since it has to 'fight for freedom and democracy inside the country and against foreign threats in the international arena'.

The fact that Saudi Arabia is accusing Iran along with the United States has provoked additional reactions on the public's part. Most Iranians have never really forgiven Saudi Arabia for its financial support of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, although they appreciated the improved relations with Riyadh during the presidencies of Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mohammad Khatami. But recent Wikileaks revelations that Saudi officials prodded the U.S. 'to cut off the head of the snake', in reference to Iran, have revived old suspicions.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service