Kayhan newspaper, run by an appointed editor in chief, dedicated its main front page headline and picture on its Sunday, December 14, 2008 issue to the “Oil, Development and Democracy” conference, organized by colleagues of the former Iranian president, and to Seyyed Mohammad Khatami’s meeting with Ebrahim Yazdi, head of an opposition group called the Iran Liberation Front. As the 2009 presidential race approaches, it appears that Khatami’s possible participation in the race has unnerved the autocrats in Iran.
The publication of this outsized photograph of Khatami and Yazdi on its front page is not a small event in Iran, especially because Kayhan added biased and pointed captions to the photograph, revealing the motivation of its publishers: "A large number of so-called reformers ranging from Khatami, those who support him in next year’s presidential race, and even well known figures who oppose the Islamic Republic such as Ebrahim Yazdi - who today serves as the main contact between America and certain domestic factions aligned with the West - participated in the conference."
Kayhan warns that the goal of those who speak in academic seminars for the need to break the government's monopoly of oil revenues in these terms: "Westerners hope to lock Iran's economy by 'bankrupting the government' and eventually putting the key for unlocking this lock in the pockets of reformists as their desired foot soldiers in Iran in the hopes that people will abandon the Principalists and are forced to revert back to the reformists" (Kayhan, issue 19255, December 14, 2008).
The newspaper under Hossein Shariatmadari's management does not provide a response to serious questions and criticism raised in the "Oil, Development and Democracy" conference regarding how tens of billions of dollars in oil revenues were spent during the past three-and-a-half years. Indeed, the important factor for the political-security team managing Kayhan is to open a new "case" and devise a new "project" to create serious doubts in the mind of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's most formidable competitor in the upcoming election.
Iranian autocrats are so fearful and intolerant that they cannot tolerate even a meeting between Khatami and a critical citizen. Kayhan reports, "Ebrahim Yazdi today serves as the main contact between America and certain domestic factions aligned with the West." It appears that from the perspective of these autocrats the former president of Iran does not have the right to carry a casual conversation with a critical Iranian citizen either.
The tyrants know well that Khatami's return to power would create more opportunities for critics and supporters alike to voice their opinions. Khatami has repeatedly emphasized that he wants Iran for all Iranians and even loudly says, "Long live my opponent!"
These autocrats desire absolute power, and from their perspective no one must be allowed to criticize their ideology and policies and programs. Obviously, those who endorse such a viewpoint will not shy away from taking any measure to deny the reformists a share of power. From the point of view of the autocrats, the opponents of the regime in Iran must be thankful for the fact that they remain "alive," even though this opposition has a history of tens of years of struggle for a free, developed and independent Iran.
These tyrants who have positioned themselves in seats of authority will not easily relinquish even a tiny ounce of the "power, wealth, prestige and information" present in the ideological and rentier state. As a result, those who pursue democratization must be prepared to accept more pressures, threats and restrictions than before.
From this perspective, the 2009 election with Khatami's candidacy will become another turning point in Iran's contemporary political history.
