This year's annual meeting of the National Council of Resistance of Iran in Le Bourget, near Paris, was particularly important due to the emergence of the radical regime of Iran as the biggest threat to security and stability in the Middle East, causing tensions with its continued interference in Arab affairs. Recently, the annual report of the US State Department on terrorism has identified Iran as the leading state sponsor of terrorism on account of its support to designated terrorist groups and proxy militias in Lebanon, Syria and Iraq. The report also notes that Iran has been implicated in investigations of armed Shiite political dissidents in Bahrain. The Saudi Foreign Ministry has also published a detailed report, documenting copious evidence of Iran's support for terrorism in the region and the world. Since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Tehran has also adopted the policy of exporting the revolution, inciting sedition, unrest and turmoil in the region with an aim to undermine the region's security and stability by flouting all international laws, treaties and agreements, and even ethical principles. I believe that the core problem with Iran runs deep and lies in two key things: Firstly, there has been difficulty in transition from revolutionary legitimacy to constitutional legitimacy. Iran is still acting as a revolutionary regime not yet committed to abiding by certain international conventions, including respect for international borders and non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries. This revolutionary legitimacy has led to constitutional provisions. The foreword of the Iranian constitution states that "With due attention to the Islamic content of the Iranian Revolution, the Constitution provides the necessary basis for ensuring the continuation of the Revolution at home and abroad. Particularly in the development of international relations, the Constitution will strive with other Islamic and popular movements to prepare the way for the formation of a single world community, in accordance with the Qur'anic verse, ‘This your community is a single community and I am your Lord, so worship Me' (21:92) and to assure the continuation of the struggle for the liberation of the oppressed and disadvantaged peoples in the world." In confirmation of the revolutionary legitimacy, the constitution names the highest position in the country as the "Supreme Commander of the Islamic Revolution" and the "Supreme Commander of the Islamic Republic". Thus, according to its constitution, Tehran views interference in internal affairs of other countries and subversion of their stability and security, in the guise of saving oppressed and disadvantaged people all over the world, as a part of its makeup, an obligation, and the basis from which it derives its legitimacy. The revolution led to Iran's disregard for sovereignty of states and international regulations, non-cooperation with the international community and its continued tendency toward conflict and confrontation with countries, with total disregard for the equation of international reality, i.e. the revolutionary legitimacy is the strategy of radical change or the point of no return. Secondly, difficulty in transition from the mandate of the faqih, Welayt-e-faqih, to the mandate of the people. Mandate of the faqih is the legal cover for the continuity of the revolution. This is similar to the Papal States in the medieval ages in which the pope was treated as the representative of God and the deputy of Jesus. According to the Iranian Constitution, Article 5 states that "in the absence of Al-Imam Al-Mahdi, authority and leadership of the nation in the Islamic Republic of Iran shall be in the hands of the Faqih, who is just, pious, with knowledge of contemporary issues, brave, and capable of management and rule in accordance with Article 107." The constitution also gives the Faqih, the Supreme Commander of the Islamic Revolution, the right to lead the Shiite nation with the legitimate ruler originally being the absent Imam Mahdi. This means that the absolute loyalty of every Shiite in the world shall be to the Supreme Commander of the Islamic Revolution. Hence, Iran has incorporated sectarianism into,constitutional provisions by bringing Shiites of the world, who believe in mandate of the faqih, onto its agenda under the mandate of the faqih. It recruited them in armed organizations, spy cells, militias and political movements with their total loyalty to the faqih on account of their patriotism. Therefore, Iran failed to make the transition from mandate of the faqih to a country that has a national agenda with a national Shiite culture. It has rather, as I said earlier, dedicated the principle of loyalty to the order of the overall mandate of the faqih on account of the principle of loyalty to the nation. I count very much on the upcoming generation in Iran to give up the revolutionary thought, overcome the concepts of revolution, and believe and have real awareness of patriotism and the concept of a country. The 2008 protests against Iranian presidential elections, also referred to as the Green Movement, are a real indicator of the cultural and political change in the younger generation that looks forward to real development at all levels — social, economic, political and cultural — and also strives for normal relations with the world. I am very optimistic about the young people in Iran. We must build bridges of understanding and communication with them, involve them in seminars and activities, and arrange meetings for dialogue with them. Dr. Ibrahim Al-Othaimin is a Middle East affairs specialist and security analyst based in Riyadh. He can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @Alothaimin
