"Democracy is the dream of every Iranian," Religious Studies Prof. Abdulaziz Sachedina said. Students of universities in Tehran go so far as to whisper that they want the Americans to come, that America "did good" in Afghanistan and in Iraq.
In the Dome Room of the Rotunda, so full that some students had to be turned away, Sachedina delivered a hopeful and sometimes controversial lecture on recent Iranian elections and the possibility for a true democracy in the Middle East.
But not all Iranians hope for the arrival of American troops. Two of the biggest issues for candidates in the election were the development of nuclear energy for peaceful use and a firm stand against President Bush and America's foreign policy. All candidates said they would support both.
One reason for their anger is the effect of economic sanctions on their economy, which is limited mostly to oil.
"How can a country change its general poverty when it has been caused by economic sanctions placed by the U.S. and other countries?" asked an Iranian-American University student who wished to remain anonymous. "The U.S. is so quick to criticize the Islamic Republic of Iran and place economic sanctions -- how can the IRI bring any new money into its country?"
The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. Many said they feel the religious class is to blame.
In recent elections, Iran voted for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the first non-cleric to become president since the Iranian revolution against the Shah and his government over 25 years ago. He held his first cabinet meeting on the floor. He also removed all the old Persian carpets from the Shah's time and put them in museums. That kind of image of Ahmadinejad as a regular person is appealing to the people.
Originally, the academics in Iran were saying "Don't vote." Then Bush made a statement along the lines of "This election is a mockery of democracy," Sachedina said. Iranians in the capital reacted by voting in masses.
"Tehran is the political pulse of Iran," Sachedina said, and the city determines what happens in all of Iran.
The vote for a non-cleric shows Iranian anger and hatred of clerical authority, especially among young educated university students, Sachedina explained.
"No taxi driver would pick up a mullah," Sachedina said, laughing.
One Iranian-American University student reacted to this statement by pointing out that it isn't the authority itself that is the problem but the "hypocrisy" of the class.
"These scholars will do what the people know to be non-Islamic," he said, adding that this is what upsets the people.
And the people did vote against religious hypocrisy, with 60 percent voting for Ahmadinejad in the final runoff.
Although he is hopeful, Sachedina said he has doubts the new president will be able to fulfill the expectations of true reform from the people. Sachedina predicts that, despite his own wishful optimism, Ahmadinejad himself also will be corrupted and be "the same kind of president" as his predecessors, just as entrenched in the hypocrisy and just as lured by the potential for great financial wealth. But for now, he still drives the cheapest car in Tehran.
The first vote in Iran was cast 27 years ago when Ayatollah Khomeini declared an Islamic Republic. Since then the turbaned, privileged class (the religious class) has held power. In the last election, however, Ahmadinejad, "an unturbaned politician," won the vote of the people.
Ahmadinejad is not unreligious -- he is also ideological like those before him -- but his identity as one outside the religious class shows his election as part of the power of the people.
"You should've seen the enthusiasm for voting," Sachedina said.
Politics Prof. William Quandt agreed.
"People are kind of fed up with the clerical establishment," in Iran, he said. "The public has been wanting change."
They proved it with their vote for a reformer, the previous president Mohammad Khatami. The youth vote brought him to power, but the clerics discredited him by crushing his attempts at reform.
Khatami's regime made promises that went unfulfilled.
"Any reforms that smacked of Western influences" were rejected, Sachedina said.
Iran's culture is one of protest; it is part of Shi'ism, Sachedina said. If Iranians are unhappy with their "lack of freedoms" and see a problem with the effects of the revolution, they have two choices, he pointed out. They can wait for a messianic leader to sweep away the problems or they can participate.
Quandt described Iran as a "lively dynamic society," and said the potential for change is there in the form of people's discontent. For example, Iranian-American students he has spoken to here at the University do not have a high regard for the current political setup.
United States criticism of Iran has often called the system theocratic.
"I have a problem calling it theocratic," Sachedina said. "There is no divine claim to authority, and no human being besides the Prophet and his imams are infallible."
Some see the Islamic revolution which deposed the Shah in the 1970s as one which has failed its people. But there has been a cultural revival in a very Iranian sense.
When asked to speak to a group in Iran, Sachedina said he was nervous initially.
"If I do speak on something like [democracy, ethics], I was afraid I would be targeted," he said.
He said he has seen a recent change, however, in the country as a result of the revival. When he expresses fears of persecution to those who ask him to speak, they insist he speak freely. Sachedina even offered to give them a copy of his lectures ahead of time for approval -- an offer they refused. This, he points out, is a great change from the atmosphere in 2001.
Iran is taking "steps in the right direction" towards democracy, Sachedina said.
Religious authorities learned a hard lesson in this election, Sachedina said. They learned that their authority is not guaranteed. The new attitude in Iran towards government leaders is one that decisively says, "I chose you," a healthy change in modern day Iran, according to Sachedina.
"Is democracy compatible to Islam?" he asked.
He said he sees a future in Iran of guaranteed human rights for minorities and the second class: women. With "vibrant" universities being set up for women in Iran, the possibilities are opening up.
Women form civil associations and charities, as well as founding health care services. These are professional, educated women from the time of the Shah, and the services they provide parallel the government, Sachedina said, except the quality of the women's charities is exceptional. Now England and France provide funds for female workshops. More women than men are in medicine and other professional fields. Sachedina noted some reasons for this: Men must work and bring home money for the family. Women, at least, have a choice between working and staying at home.
For women in Iran, the problem isn't covering up, Sachedina pointed out, "The problem is the man." Veiled students in the audience reacted with smiles and quick nods.
The Gulf States are worried when they look at Iran, but also are impressed. The Iranian experiment is watched very carefully, Sachedina said. Iraq is being watched as its citizens write their own constitution.
"If they are successful, then we are going to see an era of new development [in the Arab region]," Sachedina said.
The mock election in Egypt, and Mubarak's essentially guaranteed re-election, also points to changes in the Middle East.
Quandt said he does not see Iran as an experiment but simply as subject to the same influences as the rest of the Middle East: Internet, education, satellite television, an emerging middle class and an activist youth. Iran is simply experiencing the same changing forces. Iranian film, novels, and other arts are expressing the people's discontent.
It was as though Sachedina was delivering his own "State of the Union" address for the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI). Named one of the axis of evil by Bush, Sachedina's Iran is a place of political activism and an experiment in Middle East democracy.
Iranians dream of adapting democracy to their needs and so do citizens of other countries in the Middle East.
People have to change their docile attitudes and take action, Sachedina said.
As Egypt prepares for the results of its first multi-party election, Iraq writes a constitution and Iran tries out a non-cleric president, the world watches.
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