"Ignorance is power," wrote George Orwell in his classic "1984," referring to the information police that kept bad ideas from the eyes of good people. The rationale of the Big Brother has, unfortunately, appeared too often throughout history. According to this approach, the only way to maintain the strength of an idea is to eliminate all suspicion or doubt. If one has no alternative upon which to question a belief, then that belief will endure, and if the absence of questioning can be sustained indefinitely, then the belief will be upheld indefinitely. Welcome to Iran.
As the West prepares for engagement, Iran has issued yet another broad offensive against what their authorities consider immoral Western culture. Consistent with its policy of censorship, Iran now targets the New York Times, the online encyclopedia Wikipedia.com, the online book store Amazon.com and online movie portals imdb.com and YouTube.com. Iran's Internet service providers (ISPs) were recently ordered to reduce the speed of private Internet access to a maximum of 128 kilobits per second (KBps), a speed reminiscent of the now obsolete dialup modems that disappeared from the developed world over a decade ago. The slower speed will prevent the use of Internet applications such as VOIP communication that would permit phone conversations outside the tightly controlled Iranian phone system. The new regulations will further hinder the work of researchers who already have limited access to the government-censored Internet. And if that is not enough, the head of the Agency for the Development of Information Technology in Iran, Vafa Ghafaryan, told the official news agency ISNA that the government will increase surveillance over "harmful" text messages as well.
These latest decrees are a component of an escalating clampdown on the media following President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's rise to power. Recent victims of the campaign have been Shargh, a reformist newspaper, and Nameh, a political journal. Their crimes? Shargh published a cartoon that seemed to lampoon Iranian nuclear negotiations. Nameh was forcibly closed for the publication of a poem by dissident female poet Simin Behbahani. And we also have people like Arash Sigarchi, who began blogging on a collective site called "The Man from Gilan," and later on his personal site, called "The Window of Hope." Twenty eight-year-old Mr. Sigarchi was arrested in early 2005 and sentenced to 14 years in prison for "propaganda against the regime," according to Reporters Without Borders.
In a resolution last week, even the UN expressed "serious concern" over Teheran's "harassment, intimidation and persecution" of human rights champions, interest groups, political opponents, religious dissenters, journalists, parliamentarians, students, clerics, academics, Internet bloggers and labor union members.
But Iran seems to have its own sense of reality. Here is the comment given by Hossein Maleki, Iran's Representative to the Special Political Committee of the UN General Assembly:
"News monopoly by the media networks of developed states created a roadblock in the way to peace and security of the international community," Mr. Maleki announced, calling on the international community to adopt new measures to "guarantee justice and free flow of information." Unconcerned by Iran's ranking number 162 out of 168 countries surveyed in Reporters Without Borders' 2006 World Press Freedom index, Mr. Maleki demanded an "international campaign against one-sided and purposeful news broadcasts."
"Freedom of expression should be accompanied by a sense of responsibility and respect to ideas and religions of others " he concluded. Irresponsible or insensitive information — such as any criticism of the Iranian government — should not be permitted on the airwaves.
Thus the Orwellian saga continues, constantly adding new chapters to the story. As Iran develops nuclear weapons, incarcerates its journalist, persecutes its religious minorities, denies the Holocaust and further limits its communications with the world — its former president Seyed Mohammad Khatami received an honorary PhD from St. Andrews in recognition of his contributions to tolerance.
Mr. Khatami, who was found guilty by a German court for the September 1992 assassinations of opposition leaders in Berlin and for his responsibility in carrying out the 1994 bombing of the Jewish community center in Buenos Aires (leaving 85 killed and hundreds wounded), received a doctorate of laws in recognition of his "efforts to encourage interfaith dialogue." He should, rather, have received a PhD in public relations for a brilliant propaganda operation.
"Ignorance is power" appears ever so relevant in this evolving story that epitomizes the sad truth of the Western approach to Iran. Those who militate for engagement, such as Baker and Hamilton, may quickly fall into the 1984 trap that confuses good with bad, war with peace and nuclear weapons with chopped liver. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad is watching and laughing with delight. First he fooled his own people, then Europe and now he has fooled the U.S as well. He reached for the sky and soon enough – at this rate - he will be able to push the button. And then it will really be 1984.
Nir T. Boms is the vice president of the Center for Freedom in the Middle East and a member of Benador Associates. Elliot Chodoff is a military and political analyst for MidEast: On Target.
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