Situation "getting ripe" for another uprising, says Ramin Parham, in Israel recently to gather material for new book on bilateral relations.
Ramin Parham, an Iranian exile, dissident and intellectual, says that if the current regime in Tehran falls it would open the way for strong Israeli-Iranian relations – perhaps even “a very important strategic axis.”
Parham was speaking to The Jerusalem Post on Thursday while in Israel to interview current and past government officials for a forthcoming book on ties between the two countries.
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Such an axis, he told the Post, could become the economic and security powerhouse in the Middle East.
He added that Israeli officials told him they were optimistic about relations if the Islamic Republic were to fall, saying he was impressed by their knowledge about the country. Some, he said, had been there during the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
Asked if Iranians really cared so much about the Palestinians, Parham said that aside from government-sponsored protests and those organized by pro-Palestinian activists, “have you ever seen any public Iranian protests” on the issue? He said that during the anti-government unrest in 2009 there had been two slogans: One called for a non-Islamic “Iranian republic,” and the other said: “Neither Gaza nor Lebanon, I give my life for Iran.”
“Despite all the propaganda and money, there has never been in 35 years outside the revolutionary chaos of February 1979 a genuine, spontaneous demonstration by the Iranian people in the streets for Palestine or some Arab cause,” Parham claimed.
He said US President Barack Obama ignored the 2009 Green Movement-led protests, saying the American leader instead was busy trying to engage the regime. He added, however, that the situation was “getting ripe for another uprising.”
Parham, who lives in Paris and is working on his third book, left Iran for the first time in 1982, returned in late 2001- early 2002, and then left for good in 2002, beginning his political writing in 2004.
“It is a difficult choice to make to be a dissident, but I love my country,” he said.
His family left Iran, as they would have been in danger due to his political writings.
“I will take the first plane back if the regime falls,” he exclaimed. “I would be happy to take it from Tel Aviv!” Asked about his relationship with Jews, Parham said that as a child, his best friend had been Jewish – and that his friend’s grandfather was killed during the aftermath of the Revolution. He has a number of Jewish friends from his time in America and France.
“I have a great admiration for Israel, what you have done here,” he exclaimed, predicting that “the real face of Iran will come back and Israel can resume the very good relations with the new Iran that we hope will emerge.”
