The Revolution Within, by Joseph Puder on Jun 7th, 2010, FrontPage Magazine

Amir Abbas Fakhravar, 35, is a “graduate” of the infamous Evin prison in Tehran.  His friendly and youthful exterior hides a painful period of torture and isolation for five years – including 8 months in solitary confinement. When you ask Amir about his state of mind following his harrowing experience, he shrugs his shoulders saying “they broke my wrist, my knee, and few bones, but never broke my spirit.”

Fakhravar arrived in the U.S. four years ago and found no coherent voices speaking for the Iranian opposition movement.  “I thought that the Iranian opposition had an organization here, but nothing existed in 2006.” And when he gathered some of the opposition figures, he quickly learned that they had little information about the real situation in Iran.  Even more dismaying, according to Fakhravar, was the ignorance of U.S. policy makers regarding Iran.

With mentoring from Richard Perle, former Assistant Secretary of Defense in the Reagan administration (1981-1987), and currently a Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and critical help from Philadelphia’s Craig Snider, who has dedicated himself to fight for freedom and democracy for the Iranian people, Fakhravar established the Iranian Freedom Institute (IFI).

The Iranian Freedom Institute – a Washington DC based think tank, has set its goal to inform and educate American policy-makers, and the public in general, on the real state-of-affairs inside Iran.  Utilizing the latest technology, the IFI hopes to influence U.S. policy towards Iran, and simultaneously, educate the freedom-loving people of Iran who are living under a brutal dictatorship. Affiliated with the IFI is the Confederation of Iranian Students (CIS) – created by Fakhravar and Arzhang Davoodi, a teacher, writer and the co- founder of Confederation of Iranian Students (who also spent six years in Islamic Republic jails and still has nine more years to serve).  Earlier in 1994 while he was in medical school (he subsequently graduated from law school), Fakhravar helped in establishing the Independent Student movement in Tehran.  Fakhravar and Davoodi proceeded to form the nucleus of an independent worldwide student organization.  In 2002 they organized a student conference and three-years later, they launched CIS, which today has a membership of 6200 students. The Confederation of Iranian Students should not be confused with the Islamic Republic’s student organization cautions Fakhravar, which was created by the mullah regime, paid for by them, and run by them, according to Fakhravar.

One of the CIS’s goals is to bring down the Islamic Republic dictatorship according to Fakhravar.  “We have a three step plan,” he says.  1. Show the Iranian people and the world that the ruling Iranian regime is not democratic but rather a brutal dictatorship.  “We have already succeeded on that part of the plan,” Fakhravar added. The second goal is to “cut the lifeline of the mullahs in power” by pushing for a worldwide embargo on Iranian oil.  The $83 billion Iran earns from its oil sales is the only revenue that enables the Islamic Republic of Iran to pay for the nuclear program and provide the Revolutionary guards (RG) – the regime’s praetorian guards- with high incomes, which in turn insures their loyalty to the regime. According to Fakhravar “if the regime fails to pay the RG salaries – which are three times the average, the RG, who have long lost their revolutionary fervor and have gotten used to the ‘good life,’ are more than likely to abandon the regime.”

Oil revenue is also used by the Islamic Republic to fund Hezbollah and Hamas operations against Israel, to subvert the Sunni-Arab Gulf regimes and, to build cells in Latin America. “Our aim is to request that the governments of the U.S. and Canada impose sanctions on North American and European companies who buy oil from the Iranian regime,” Fakhravar stated.  He added, “We also plan to present such proposals to the G-8 and the G-20 to place sanctions on their respective companies.”
The third part of the plan, as Fakhravar sees it, is to build a free, democratic, and secular Iran.  “We need in addition to our existing website to set up Internet, satellite TV, and radio stations in order to educate the Iranian people inside of Iran, and the opposition parties outside of Iran. ” According to Fakhravar, the Iranian opposition groups “are confused and they don’t know what they want.”  He quickly added, “We wrote a manifesto or call it a constitution for a new Iran.”  Fakhravar recruited lawyers from the Green movement as well as a number of judges to draft a new constitution for Iran.


The Green Movement in Iran brought 4.5 million demonstrators into the streets of Tehran last June and Fakhravar is confident that the people of Iran, especially the younger generation, want a change. He reminds those he speaks with that, “The Iranian people have been repressed for over 30 years, and they want freedom.”  Many of the young people in Iran are turned off by Islam as a result of the corruption and abuses by the Islamic regime.  In Iranian schools, Shiite-Islam is presented as superior to all other religions and they are taught that killing Jews, who are presented as sub-humans, is permitted.  Fakhravar has no doubt that the Khamenei/Ahmadinejad regime would test a nuclear bomb on Israel.

Iran is, however, a nation of young people.  70% of Iranians are under the age of 35 and these young people respect Israel and love America.   In recent demonstrations the young protesters used posters with a modification of the regime’s slogans – instead of “Down with Israel,” they crossed out the word Israel and replaced it with Russia. During last year’s demonstrations in Tehran following the sham elections which gave Ahmadinejad a second term as President of Iran, the Green Youth shouted “Obama, are you with them (the regime) or with us.”  Obama’s decision to continue to negotiate with the Khamenei/Ahmadinejad Islamic regime gave this evil regime legitimacy, according to Fakhravar.

Asked about where he sees Iran in five years, Fakhravar replied, “We will have a free, democratic and secular Iran.  It will be a friend of Israel and an ally of the U.S. ”

First Anniversary of the "Iranian Green Revolution," Frontpage Interview’s with Amir Fakhravar

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Amir Fakhravar, an Iranian writer, student leader and former political prisoner. Currently he serves as president of the “Iranian Freedom Institute” and is Secretary General of “Confederation of Iranian Students.”

FP: Amir Fakhravar, welcome to Frontpage Interview. I would like to talk to you today about where the freedom movement stands in Iran today. Let’s start with you telling us a bit about your background and how and why you ended up being a student leader.

Fakhravar: Thank you Jamie for having me here. Let me start by giving you a little background on the atmosphere in the universities in Iran in 1994 when I was a medical student. To combat student protests after the 1979 Revolution, a Supreme Cultural Revolution council was formed that closed the universities for 4 years (1980 to 1984) and after reopening purged thousands of students and professors, with an unknown number of them killed and imprisoned, and banned all student organizations except Tahkime Vahdat (a pro-Khomeini organization). For the following ten years, an ominous aura of fear dominated the campuses in Iran.

I had formed a theatrical group on campus that year because all other sorts of student organizations were prohibited. On December 7, 1994, we held a conference in conjunction with the department of cultural activities of the Urmia Medical School entitled “A study of the impediments to student participation in political activities.” Nobody else volunteered to speak, so I went first. During that speech, I asked, “How is it that during the reign of Reza Shah, a dictator by your account, a penniless cleric could enter the parliament and declare that he had the power to depose of the first person in the country but today can we cannot utter the mildest criticism against the two hundredth person in the country?” I added that I was aware that with this speech I could be arrested and that is exactly what happened. I was 19 years old at the time and this was just one of a series of arrests.

FP: Can you talk a bit about your imprisonment? I apologize very much for asking about such painful things.

Fakhravar: Probably the worst days of my imprisonments were the ones in solitary confinement.
But oddly enough, it was during that period that I re-evaluated everything: my religious beliefs, my purpose in life and my vision for the future. My later speeches on campus, my repeated arrests and my tenacity earned me a reputation within the student body and, in time, I formed the “Independent Student Movement.” The Student Uprisings of July 9, 1999 was the biggest protest to challenge the Islamic Republic. Although I was arrested again, along with other student leaders and activists, and endured the longest prison term up to that date, this was a pivotal point in the Islamic Republic’s history. This was the first time that the regime felt threatened and it was also the first that the Iranian people realized it was possible to challenge the Islamic Republic.

FP: What is the state of the Iranian Green Revolution a year after?

Fakhravar: Last year, millions of Iranians took to the streets to protest the fraudulent election of Ahmadinejad and shocked the leaders of the Islamic Republic. For the first time, ordinary citizens and world leaders alike witnessed in plain view the divide between the Iranian people and their government.
Fearing his own demise, the Supreme leader responded by unleashing his thugs to arrest, torture, and murder enough people to crush the protests. His solution to quell the protests had two results. One, the Iranian people’s demands extended far beyond their votes being counted. Now, they were content with nothing less than a regime change and were willing to pay the price. Two, a powerful symbol for this movement was created by the murderous hands of this regime: Neda.

Every important date, such as Ashura, thereafter became a nightmare for the regime. Their armed forces had to occupy all the major streets and intersections in the major cities of Iran. Their crimes against unarmed Iranians became more and more heinous- running over people with cars on the streets, horrific sexual crimes against prisoners and so on. A year later, contrary to what some analysts predicted, the Green Revolution has endured victoriously. It has evolved from its infancy to a purposeful and experienced movement that is planning for the right moment to inflict a final blow to this regime.  The footage of scattered protests on this day does not show the strength of this movement. But you can clearly see it in the vast presence of the police forces, Revolutionary Guards and plain clothed Basiji forces in an undeclared martial law in Tehran and other major cities. As the Green Movement gains strength, the Islamic Republic grows weaker. Its bewildered leaders have inflicted every possible atrocity on the Iranian people to no avail. They will soon realize that every murder, every torture and every arrest has only strengthened the Iranian people’s resolve to abolish this illegitimate and criminal regime and to replace it with a free, secular and democratic government.

FP: What is the best way for the West to fight the Iranian regime?

Fakhravar: I think that oil sanctions are the only sanctions that will harm the Islamic Republic and not ordinary Iranians. Prolonged sanctions of any kind have never been effective and have always harmed ordinary citizens. Sanctions should be paralyzing and the results must be quick. In the case of the Islamic Republic, this can only mean targeting Iran’s oil industry.
Oil sanctions will paralyze the Islamic Republic because the sale of oil is 80 to 90 percent of Iran’s export revenues. The results will be quick because the Islamic Republic cannot sustain the armed forces that keep it in power without this revenue

FP: Before we conclude, tell us a bit about the role of VOA Persian service to support Freedom and Democracy in Iran.

Fakhravar: VOA Persian has been broadcasting its programs to Iran for the past 30 years. Up to now, it has been a source for news and programs that have done more damage than good towards the principles that are supposed to govern it — representing America and covering the news accurately, objectively and comprehensively. VOA can be tremendously effective in supporting the Green Movement and the cause of democracy in Iran. In representing America, it can educate ordinary Iranians how modern democracies work and familiarize them with the inner workings of the U.S. system of government. It can also report comprehensively all the efforts made by Iranians and non-Iranians outside Iran in support of their movement. These and many other helpful programs can help give Iranians the confidence and optimism they need to speed up their movement. I am hopeful that with the new management at VOA Persian, a new direction will be taken and I know that members in both the House and Senate are closely monitoring this progress.

FP: Amir Fakhravar, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview. It is an honor for me to speak with such a brave and heroic freedom fighter. I wish you all the strength and energy in your valiant battle to liberate your beautiful nation and people from the vicious and sadistic despots who rule it. Take care for now and may God bless you and your struggle for liberty. And here at Frontpage we are all thinking of Neda — she will never be forgotten. And may her tragic death at the hands of the Iranian Gestapo end up being the shining light from which the tyrants will desperately scurry in their fast-approaching hour of devastating and humiliating defeat.