Ahmad Ghabel is a prominent Iranian reformist theologian who has prison, deprivation and attacks because of his work and expression of his views on Islamic issues. Rooz spoke with him about the forthcoming presidential elections in June and particularly the possible candidacy of Abdullah Nouri, another reformist cleric who was a deputy for former president Khatami and had been removed from office and imprisoned for three because of his criticism of hardliners. Read on for the details.
Rooz: Mr. Ghabel, why have you decided to raise Mr. Nouri’s name when less than two months are left for the presidential election in Iran?
Ahmad Ghabel (Ghabel): Mr. Nouri had earlier said that because of the popularity that Mr. Khatami enjoyed among the public, he would not enter the presidential race. I knew that he would stand by this statement.
Rooz: So you have been his supporter from the past?
Ghabel: I prefer Mr. Nouri to Mr. Khatami. I had said, in an earlier interview with Rooz that if Messer Khatami, Mousavi and Karubi all ran as presidential candidates in June, I would not vote for anyone.
Rooz: So why are you raising Mr. Nouri’s name in the race again?
Ghabel: After Mr. Khatami withdrew himself from the race, I waited for a few days so see what Mr. Mousavi’s position. I saw that his position was the same that he had held before. So I contacted Mr. Nouri, particularly because many young people responded very negatively to Mr. Khatami’s withdrawal. But of course it is not just the youth and people like me believe that deeper reforms need to take place in society and the government.
Rooz: How did the meeting shape up in his house last week?
Ghabel: On the night when visits were made on the occasion of the Nowruz (Iranian New Year annually held on March 20th) with Mr. Nouri, we decided to organize an event for the next day. So we got in touch with our friends and invited 50 of them, without any consideration to their political leanings. Many were against Mr. Nouri’s participation in the race but we wanted all of them to openly talk about this in the presence of Mr. Nouri himself.
Rooz: So both supporters and opponents of Mr. Nouri came to the meeting?
Ghabel: At the meeting, 10 supporters and 10 opponents spoke so that Mr. Nouri could come to a conclusion. Initially the idea was not to include Mr. Nouri at the gathering. On the other hand we concluded that if he were present then he could hear the view points and made his own conclusion.
Rooz: Many reformers right from the beginning have been saying that Mr. Nouri may be disqualified from the race. Do you have a solution to this?
Ghabel: During the Thursday meeting with Mr. Nouri, I said that we were not yet at that point to decide how to proceed with his candidacy. Should he decide to enter the race, then we will have to quickly set up an advisory board and find practical solutions to this issue. I personally believe that if we cannot prevent his disqualification, we should not promote the idea of his candidacy. Still, there are many solutions to this problem.
Rooz: Such as what?
Ghabel: We should really not be revealing our plans to our adversaries at this time. We should have plans, but not announce them yet. Otherwise, all the doors will be shut.
