Iran Rallies Against U.S. Raids

The Islamic Republic’s first demonstration against the West for its campaign in Afghanistan took place this week in this holy city where Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini became a cleric. But even here, where hatred toward the U.S. government is as deeply rooted as the demand that women cover every strand of hair beneath the black drape of a chador, participants played down the significance of the rally.

“It wasn’t a protest. It wasn’t a sit-in,” insisted student Mahmoud Javadi, who attends the Shiite seminary made famous by the republic’s first supreme leader. The gathering called by religious teachers and attended by thousands of Javadi’s classmates lasted an hour Wednesday before noon prayers, he said.

There were no chants, no signs and no violence--just a statement from organizers, added another student who would give only his first name, Faez. “If someone wants to fight terrorism,” he said, “then it should be the United Nations, not America.”

The muted response exemplifies public reaction in Iran since the war began Sunday night in its neighbor’s skies. Although the country’s newspapers are packed with government objections to the war, as well as pictures of protests elsewhere in the Islamic world, Iranians are going about their regular business with nary a “Death to America” sign in sight.

Reasons abound for the public’s silence on the U.S. campaign. Some, such as Javadi, believe that people are waiting for permission from the Interior Ministry, which must authorize demonstrations before they can take place.

Others, such as lawmaker Elahe Koolahee, say Iranians are still trying to sort out what exactly America is trying to accomplish. Many more, such as Mariam, a graphic designer, worry that speaking out against the West will bring bombs raining down on them.

“Besides, the government is using this to its own advantage to provoke America, not protest the damage and injury to innocent Afghan civilians,” said Mariam, who would give only her first name for fear of government retribution.

Some Iranians, however, say it’s high time for people to take to the streets to protest what is widely seen as U.S. arrogance.

“I’ll be out there with a tight fist,” said construction worker Ahmad Khalili. “America itself is a terrorist. Look at how their Navy shot down the Iran Air jet” in 1988, he said, referring to the incident involving the U.S. cruiser Vincennes, which killed 290 passengers and crew over the Persian Gulf. The Vincennes mistook the airliner for a jet fighter, a U.S. report found.

“It’s stupid for them to attack Afghanistan. It’s a country destroyed by 20 years of war,” Mohammed Rasouli said as he stacked rows of plastic flip-flops in his tiny storefront shop. “What’s there left to shoot?”

Politicians and political analysts here ascribe a sinister motive to the U.S. action, however, one of trying to establish an even greater military and political presence in the Islamic world.

“There is a very strong idea in our country, like in many others in the region, that America is trying to use or abuse the situation for its special goal of spreading its dominance in the name of a new world order,” said Koolahee, a liberal member of parliament who serves on its National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

The United States should be “more neutral and less biased to avoid being seen as a patronizing power,” added Hadi Semati, a Tehran University political science professor.

Iranians may help their leaders start delivering that message today. Radio stations and newspapers are asking people in every city to turn out and demonstrate against the attacks.

“Hopefully, it’ll be big enough to make up for our lack of protest this week,” Javadi said of the Qom protest he plans to attend.

But many Iranians privately predict that even state-encouraged demonstrations are likely to draw small crowds compared with a much-anticipated Iran-Iraq soccer match being played in Tehran this afternoon, the first game here between the two nations since they launched into a bitter war 21 years ago.

Predicted one Tehran businessman: “If Iran wins, you won’t be able to move in the streets.”