In Iran's Disaster, an Opening for the Opposition

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43058-2003Dec30.html

By Nora Boustany
Wednesday, December 31, 2003; Page A16

Azar Nafisi, a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University who left Iran in 1997, says it took a natural disaster such as the devastating earthquake at Bam to cast the harshest light yet on the failings of the Iranian government.

Nafisi, who has been a consistent critic of the Iranian government, is the author of "Reading Lolita in Tehran," a memoir about repression and limits on freedom of expression in the wake of the 1979 Iranian revolution.

She said that the depth of the Bam tragedy was whipping up anger about the lack of preventive measures by the government, laxity in issuing construction permits and the leaders' general hypocrisy. The quake struck Bam, a city of 80,000 in southeastern Iran, last Friday; as many as 50,000 people may be dead.

"Like everything in Iran, this tragedy and its consequences will become symbolic," Nafisi said. "People in Iran are constantly trying to create alternative spaces which the regime is trying to take away from them. We are not talking about a minority here, but something much more elemental, more central to people's lives," she said.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Ordinary Iranians are cheering a warming of diplomatic ties between Tehran and the United States brought on by the Bam quake, and hope an end is in sight to a quarter century of isolation from a country many openly admire.

Even though conservative Tehran newspapers may rail at "earthquake diplomacy" by George W. Bush, many average Iranians on the capital's streets Sunday said they welcomed the American president's overtures that may rebuild severed ties. "I was overjoyed when I first heard America planes were going to fly in to help Bam," said Hassan Tayebi, 51, a retired civil servant, referring to the Dec. 26 earthquake that destroyed the southeastern city.

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Many Iranians said they were surprised the government accepted U.S. help and delighted by the astonishing sight of elite Revolutionary Guards protecting tents in Bam where American medics were saving Iranian lives.

"I was really touched by such humanity," said Ahmad Gholami, 45, a grocer. "It is unbelievable Americans offered aid. I will never forget their support."

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=4069974

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But if Tehran wants better relations, it must turn over any member of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network it has in custody, abandon efforts to develop unconventional weapons, and embrace political reforms.

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http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040101/pl_afp/us_iran_bush_040101220932