Taking part in the Iranian protests from afar
Cartoonist Nikahang Kowsar weighs in on the events in his home country from Toronto.
The dead on Tehran's streets attest to the rifle's power. But cellphone cameras — and protesters broadcasting the images to the world through the internet — might turn out to be mightier. At least Kowsar hopes so.
He knows what repression feels like.
During his cartoon days in Iran, he was also a consultant to the reformist deputy mayor of Tehran at the time. The municipality wanted the return of some land being used as military sites and gave Kowsar documents about them. Iranian authorities later claimed his possession of the documents threatened national security.
He received two death threats, one from an underground group suspected of being involved in the killing of Iranian intellectuals in the late 1990s.
“This is how it works in Iran,” Kowsar said.
In June 2003, he received permission to attend a cartoonists' convention in Quebec City. While he was in Canada, Iranian police questioned his family and relatives in Tehran and they made it clear they intended to arrest him. He stayed in Canada and has applied for citizenship. His wife and daughter, now 10 years old, joined him in 2007.
Kowsar was convicted in absentia for his crocodile cartoon and handed a four-month jail sentence. He has also learned that charges of threatening national security are pending.
His parents still live in Iran, but Kowsar hasn't called. He says their phone is tapped and calling would invite grief from authorities.
He is convinced that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the election from rival Mir-Hossein Mousavi. But he described Mousavi, a former prime minister, as a product and upholder of the Islamic regime.
A power struggle at the regime's highest echelons pits Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who supports Mousavi, against Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who supports Ahmadinejad, Kowsar said. Rafsanjani heads the Assembly of Experts, a cleric-run body with the power to remove the supreme leader.
On the streets are largely middle-class Iranians with an alliance of interests: more democracy, a better economy and the removal of a president they consider an international embarrassment, he said. Some desperately want an end to the rule of clerics, but dare not say so.
Hard-liners are reasserting their control of Tehran’s streets. On Wednesday, Mousavi issued a website statement describing any government led by Ahmadinejad as “illegitimate.” Kowsar is certain of one thing: Even if Mousavi somehow comes to power, it won't be safe for him to return.
“I'm very lucky to be in Canada,” he said.
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