It's interesting because normally when we hear about jailed dissidents in Iran, it conjures mental images of a doomed and horrible society. But this story is about someone who is trying to create change from within, and there are hopeful signs that he and others like him can succeed - and most importantly, succeed without foreign intervention.

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I was editor-in-chief of a magazine focusing on civil society and democracy-related issues. At the same time, I was active in civil society as part of a resource centre where I was a board member. Concepts like democracy, civil society, free journalism – the Iranian regime perceived these concepts as a threat. They think that the U.S. is trying to collapse the Islamic regime by supporting networks of intellectuals, writers and bloggers, doing whatever they can to defeat the Islamic Republic.

There is a belief in Iran among hardliners and conservatives that the U.S. has chosen the way of the “velvet revolution,” like in the Ukraine, Georgia and Lebanon. Iran believed that the U.S. and foreign countries were trying to bring scholars and activists to change Islamic culture and push the government back. In this regard, I should confess that the United States has a very dark record of interference and supporting dictators and brutal rulers, and their support of democracy to a large extent is not reliable. Not only the Iranian government, but also many democrats and civil society activists are skeptical about the nature of U.S. support.

This fear and simplistic presentation of the issues by both Iran and the U.S. work against each other in international affairs. It also gives a black and white picture of the Islamic regime.

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Iranians, on the other hand, again unlike many countries in the Middle East, love the West and particularly its human products like education, philosophy and social science. When Juergen Habermas came to Iran, he was received like a rock star – so there is a big appetite to talk about democracy in Iran.

So, they are pushing the boundaries in a very constant struggle. They are using the Internet as a means to develop their activities and these kind of things should be seen in the West. The United States is blind when it comes to society’s dynamics. That’s why they have made unbelievable mistakes in the Middle East. When you talk to them, you see how naïvely they think about the Middle East.

They should understand that marginalizing Iran just harms the Iranian people and has nothing to do with the government. If they attack Iran, everybody will rally behind the flag. I hope that, with the end of Bush era, cowboy diplomacy will be replaced with a more reasonable policy.

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