The Fall Of 'Satan'

ONCE again the oppressor has tasted the bitter gall of defeat." That's how spiritual leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei views Iran's 2-1 trouncing of the "great Satan", the United States, in a first round match of the football World Cup. Actually, June 21 may go down as a turning point in Iran's history. For not only did Iran's World Cup team triumph, President Seyed Mohammad Khatami stood by his pro-reforms agenda despite the fact that one of its strongest votaries, interior minister Abdullah Nouri, was defeated in a censure motion in Parliament.

Within a hour of the ouster, Khatami shot back by installing Nouri as vice-president and insisted that "reforms would go ahead". Says senior journalist D. Sajjadi: "The ouster of Nouri by the conservative-dominated Parliament and his re-appointment as vice-president demonstrate the strong will of President Khatami that his reforms will continue. And the victory against the US is a confirmation that the Iranian nation has a strong will to play and win...."

But for once, football took centrestage, not politics. Though Iranian television did not show it, BBC's Persian service announced that US and Iranian players exchanged gifts and posed for a joint photograph just before their Group F clash in Lyon. At around 11.30 pm local time, as soon as Parliament's debate on the censure motion ended, the entire nation sat down in front of the small screen to watch their team play—and win. Afterwards, in a rare public display, hundreds of thousands of exhilarated Iranians poured into the streets. With horns blaring and headlights flashing, they drove around the city. In northern Tehran, hundreds of men and women danced together—another rarity—on the streets. In Lyon, the team's spokesman said the government had announced a prize of $7,000 for each player for defeating the US.

The match was symbolic for both countries, who have had no diplomatic relations for almost two decades. Iranian revolutionaries in most of their official ceremonies still refer to the US as "Great Satan", while some officials in Washington including President Bill Clinton have often described Iran as a 'rogue state.'

The leaders also took the opportunity to exchange a word or two—Iran, of course, harped on its ability to "fight on every front". In a message to Iran, which the local media ignored, Clinton announced: "The World Cup is beloved across the planet because it offers a chance for people around the world to be judged not by the place they grew up, the colour of their skin, or the way they choose to worship—but their spirit, skill and strength." Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Khamenei remarked: "The players gave a very good impression of the Iranian people who know how to fight...." The victory of the Iranian team "is the victory of national unity of all Iranians, whatever their opinions," added President Khatami in a televised address.

Hours earlier, Khatami, whose government was formed in August 1997 on a promise to implement political, economic and social reform in Iran, had suffered a severe political blow at the hands of the conservatives. His advisor, Nouri, was ousted in a censure motion. A conservative faction leader, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, accused Nouri in Parliament of allowing "insecurity" to develop in the country, thus being a "source of tension" for the Islamic system. He later denied Nouri's charges that the motion was "politically motivated".

Khatami could instal Nouri as vice-president because unlike in the case of a minister, he does not require parliamentary approval for the appointment. The vice-president is also entitled to sit in the Cabinet.

One section feels that Nouri's ouster was necessary as he was creating divisions. They recall Nouri's statements last April when another reformist, Tehran mayor Ghulamhussein Karbaschi, was arrested on financial and mismanagement charges.

Karbaschi was released on April 15, after being held for 11 nights in the notorious Evin Prison. Nouri, who was in Saudi Arabia for an official trip, immediately issued statements in support of the mayor.

Says Sajjadi. "Both reformists and conservatives had edged closer for an open political conflict following the ouster of Nouri, but Iran's soccer victory avoided the head-on collision, for the time being."