In 1979 more than half of the people of Iran were illiterate. The constitutional monarchy was also approved by the people of Iran, nearly 50 years before the Islamic revolution. Khomeini himself said:
اگر پدران ما انتخاب كردن كه مثلا نظام شاهي بر سر كار باشه حقي ندارند تعيين كننده براي آينده خودشان باشند
A rough translation would be who the hell are our fathers to decide for our future.
In Iraq during Saddam Husein's rein there were elections with huge turnouts. In soviet union there were elections. In north Korea they have elections. Having elections is NOT the right indicator of a country's level of democracy.
In Iran liberal parties are banned. Nationalist parties are banned. Socialist and Marxist parties are banned. Secular parties are banned. Dr Mossadegh's party is banned, its leaders are in jail. Only a select group of people approved by the guardian council are allowed to run. Even Islamists with slightly liberal views are not tolerated Election without political parties is just a joke.
Khobregan is just another sick show of " democacy " by the mullas. Alam al hoda, one of the members of the council explicitly said we have no power in observing the leader's performance.
مشهد- ایرنا- امام جمعه مشهد گفت: خبرگان، ناظر بر عملکرد رهبری نیستند چون رهبر ولی همه است و خبرگان نمی توانند بر عملکرد ولی خود نظارت کنند.
If participation in elections shows support for the ruling elite, in the last Israeli election 65 percent of Israeli Arabs participted. Hence, 2.5 million Arab residents of Israel are satisfied with what they have.
The reason Iranians are not in the streets is because under the current circumstances we recognize that the weakening of the central government could lead to the collapse of the entire country and ultimately its partition. The costs of a revolution is just too high. That's why we are giving the gradual reformation a chance.
Being illiterate does n,t mean their vote can not be counted as effective... In USA that most people are literate the majority of people have no sense of politic and who is who in reality.. democracy is that people chooses for itself..no matter how and what they choose... Today Iranian people are more than %95 literate... but still when it comes to approving the current Islamic Republic, the majority support it....
Alam al hoda is a psycho and everybody knows he is very extremist... Khobregan can do this if the conditions are ready... for now, the leader is well fit into the criteria... I personally was an enemy of him...but recently I realized that he is a very reliable leader who is smart and very capable and is very good for Iran and Iranians in whole..
I agree our fathers should not decide our fate... But most democratic states in world today have their form of government formed decades ago if not centuries... This is the norm that people get tired of one system... they will make arevolution again and change it... then after a while through elections people get asked if they still support the system... This is what people do in France or USA or Iran...
Have no doubt for one second that if the majority of Iranians do not want current Islamic republic then they will never come supporting it through even SHOW elections or memorandums and marches and other forms of democracy...
I used to be in your state of mind for a long time.. I always looked at around me and conclude that because my friends and family is watching foreign satellite TVs and object each and every issue of current government and go to parties and drink then Iran as a whole is like us and people don't want this system...
But after I got older and engaged with different peoples from different classes and religions of Iran, I easily saw that whether we like it or not, Iranian still are in support of this system and to my surprise, I feel people are growing in their support for current Iran as it is... I even had very anti-gov friends that are now a supporter...
Most of my friends are now satisfied that Iranian people are shia and most of them loves this religion and want it to be their system,... they are satisfied that current Iranian government despite its weaknesses and some bad points, still is a good government that are helping Iranians getting what they lost a while ago...
I had two friends who were brothers, they went working as managers in different countries... they were in Kuwait, Iraq,
Doha, Seul, Australia and after long years they are back home... they are changed dramatically... They now say, "we did not know what we have in Iran and we did not appreciate it before".... Despite failure in economy due to many factors, they are well convinced that Iran is better in science, tech, literacy, modern life style, good infrastructure even in distant rural areas, security, political and military strength and how Iranians rising up again as an empire... IF you ask them they clearly have objections regarding many issues of Iran after revolution but when asked if you prefer previous regime or an European style liberal state, they say, Iranian style is better for Iranians... We have to agree that with Iranian culture, religion and emotional life style, a society like liberal gay promoters of europe w'on,t work in Iran...
I agree that Iranian system must let other different parties to compete under republic constitution but I be fair that parties with absolute gay promoter liberals and communists or such parties are better not being in Iran...
I personally never sell my culture and religion to any imported democracy... Iran is a shia democratic republic, has miles to go to be perfect but still is a good example and it works for Iranians...
Believe me my younger brother, Iranian in majority love this system whatever it is... since they love it,,, it is a democracy... I think if Iran continue to play big and bring more pride to its citizens while improving its economy, Iranians will keep supporting this system until it is not working...
Fathers can not decide for us, but what if the current generation also support the system?
based on my observations, if we take all Iranians inside Iran into account, at least %75 to %80 of people are supporting this system... let us not forget that even 15 or %20 opposition is a big number and could exceed 15 million Iranians who don't like current system...but still majority is majority...we can not be a democracy supporter and then ask for minority to decide for whole nation... Altough, I think Iran should give more space to Iranian who oppose current system to live their desired life style... I support hacing night clubs, khaneye efaf, unisex beaches and mosques, religious preaching, family oriented teachings on state TV... This is my ideal system