The FP Interview: Mohsen Makhmalbaf : Mousavi as Iran's Obama

[tocqueville]

The FP Interview: Mohsen Makhmalbaf

In an exclusive interview from Paris, Mir Hossein Mousavi's external spokesman describes this week's protests in Iran as another revolution -- and Mousavi as Iran's Obama.

Foreign Policy sought out his external spokesman, renowned filmmaker and reformer Mohsen Makhmalbaf. In an interview from Paris, Makhmalbaf speaks of this week's protests as another revolution -- and Mousavi as Iran's Obama.

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These young people who are in the streets are looking for peace and democracy. The previous revolution was a revolution of traditionalism against modernism; but now this is a revolution of modernism against traditionalism. The previous revolution had a frown; this one has a smile on its face. The previous revolution was red; this one is green. We can say that this is a 21st-century revolution, but the other was a 20th-century revolution. That revolution was led by the people who were educated by the epoch of the shah, and this generation was brought up by the mullahs inside the Islamic Revolution. We have many young people, and maturity is killing the fathers. In each generation, we kill our fathers. And our fathers are the mullahs.


FP: There has been growing criticism here in Washington that U.S. President Barack Obama hasn't said or done enough to support those demonstrating in the streets of Iran. Do you think Obama is being too careful? Or even that he is helping Ahmadinejad by being cautious?

MM: Obama has said that there is no difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi. Does he like it himself saying that there is no difference between Obama and Bush? Ahmadinejad is the Bush of Iran. And Mousavi is the Obama of Iran.

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FP: Does Mousavi have a message that he'd like to deliver to the international community?

MM: that the governments pay attention to the people in the streets and do not recognize the government of Ahmadinejad as the representative of Iran -- do not recognize the government of Ahmadinejad as a legitimate government. Iran is a very important country in the region, and the changes in Iran could have an influence everywhere. So as a result, it's not only an internal matter -- it's an international problem. If Iran could be a democratic Islamic country, that would be a pattern, a role model, for other Islamic countries. And even if Iran has a terrorist image , it would be a model for other countries .

Mohsen Makhmalbaf is the official spokesman for Mir Hossein Mousavi outside Iran. He is also an award-winning filmmaker based in Paris.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=5018

[Oregone]

1. For fucksakes. This guy is no Obama. He is an asswipe