VZCZCXRO1571
PP RUEHBC RUEHKUK RUEHMOS
DE RUEHDE #2300/01 1131349
ZNY SSSSS ZZH
P R 231349Z APR 06
FM AMCONSUL DUBAI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9996
INFO RUCNIRA/IRAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHDE/AMCONSUL DUBAI 2942
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 DUBAI 002300 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL:  4/22/2016 
TAGS: PGOV PREL IR SOCI
SUBJECT: VIEWS FROM IRAN'S CULTURAL SECTOR 
 
REF: DUBAI 1217 
 
DUBAI 00002300  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
CLASSIFIED BY: Jason L Davis, Consul General, Dubai, UAE. 
REASON: 1.4 (d) 
 
1.(S) Summary:  A University of Tehran art professor, who until 
President Ahmadinejad came into office was director of a major 
Iranian museum, discussed with PolEconChief April 17 his view 
about the political situation in his country.  The professor, 
who defined himself as a member of the Iranian intelligentsia, 
said he was highly dissatisfied with the Ahmadinejad government 
and disappointed with the limited reform achieved under Khatami. 
 He urged the US to continue to push Iran on democracy and human 
rights, calling in particular for the US to push Iran on holding 
free and fair elections (the next round of elections in Iran, he 
noted, was expected in November for the Assembly of Experts). 
He and an Iranian music producer discussed the government's 
influence on culture.  End summary 
 
Intellectual's View of Government 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.(S) A University of Tehran art professor and former museum 
official, in an April 17 conversation, called on the US to 
continue to push on democracy and human rights, and particularly 
on the issue of fair elections.  In his belief, the current 
composition of the Iranian government -- in power through 
fraudulent elections -- would never reform itself, but officials 
who had been fairly elected could start the transition to a 
democratic government.  Free elections would change the country 
without a shot having to be fired, he said.  He lamented the 
Khatami government's failure to serve as the transitional phase, 
a la Gorbachev in the Soviet Union.  Unfortunately -- despite 
being a "nice man" -- Khatami had not been up to the task of 
fighting the conservative power structure. 
 
3.(S) The professor urged the US to speak out for fair elections 
in the upcoming Assembly of Experts election, projected for 
November 2006.  He described this election as critical in its 
importance because this body selects the supreme leader.  He 
mentioned ongoing attempts by reformist members to change the 
structure of the Assembly of Experts elections (reftel); he 
called its current structure self-propagating.  The Assembly of 
Experts chooses the supreme leader, the supreme leader appoints 
members of the Council of Guardians, and the Council of 
Guardians vets candidates for the Assembly of Experts.  "That's 
not democracy," he said. 
 
4.(S) On the other hand, the professor downplayed the importance 
of the supreme leader in Iran.  He said it was important to 
differentiate between Iran and other autocratic states, because 
in Iran, no one person is in charge, and it is possible to 
selectively ignore the supreme leader.  For instance, when he 
had worked at the museum, he had actively promoted artists he 
knew were disapproved of by the supreme leader. 
 
5.(S) The professor said there are reform-minded clergy in Iran 
who are worried that "this so-called Islamic government" is 
doing long-term damage to the religion of Shiism.  There are 
grand ayatollahs in Iran, he added, whose stance on the 
relationship between religion and government is more along the 
lines of Grand Ayatollah Sistani in Iraq. 
 
6.(S) The professor called the 2005 presidential election flawed 
but said no one in Iran would expose the problems.  He, like the 
intelligentsia in general, had never supported Ahmadinejad; in 
the absence of opinion polls, he said he could not speak on 
popular attitudes toward the president. He did not think, 
however, that scenes of people in the provinces cheering on the 
occasion of a rare appearance of a high-level official in their 
towns should be seen as a sign of deep support. 
 
7.(S) The Iranian population is expecting economic deprivations 
with the looming political crisis over the nuclear issue, said 
the professor, but nothing significant has happened yet.  The 
main indicator people are watching is the price of the dollar, 
and this has been relatively stable so far.  On a social note, 
he said, there has not been a crackdown on liberties since 
Ahmadinejad came into office, probably both out of fear of a 
popular backlash and because the nuclear issue distracts the 
government.  In fact, he observed, women on the streets are 
wearing their hijabs ever further back on their heads.  (Note: 
others have reported an increase in enforcement of Islamic dress 
on university campuses. End note) 
 
Government Impact on the Arts 
----------------------------- 
 
8.(S) The Iranian government does not try to dictate to visual 
artists a state-sanctioned artistic style, according to the 
professor, but it does make its influence felt indirectly.  The 
 
DUBAI 00002300  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
museum structure is all state-run, and artists whose work 
centers on religious themes tend to get more support.  There are 
private galleries, but they do not play a significant cultural 
or economic role.  Nonetheless, he said, one achievement during 
the Khatami administration was the formation of substantive 
artist organizations.  Now there are a number of groups, with 
graphic artists particularly active.  He said he used to let 
these groups meet at the museum, but that this is no longer 
allowed under the museum's new management.  He also mentioned 
that from a commercial point of view, there is no significant 
contemporary art market in Iran.  Paintings by contemporary 
Iranian artists are not bought for investment, and there is no 
secondary market for them. 
 
9.(S) The museum where he worked has a valuable Western art 
collection, acquired under the Shah.  In the past, he said, 
high-level politicians have approached the museum about selling 
them some of these paintings -- at low prices -- but the museum 
refused.  The collection, including works by significant US 
artists, has rarely been shown in Tehran since the revolution, 
but has been loaned to European museums.  The collection has not 
been loaned to US museums, out of fear the paintings might be 
seized for US court judgments against the Iranian government. 
 
10.(S) A music producer in Iran indicated the government imposes 
itself more directly in the sphere of music.  He said he has had 
occasional run-ins with officials when they had deemed his music 
"too pop."  He said Western music is not allowed on state 
broadcasting, but that pop music CDs can still be purchased.  He 
also said that when his brother in the US began a Farsi-language 
satellite television, ITN, a few years ago, unspecified 
officials made clear that he and his family would have problems 
if his brother broadcast anti-regime programming.  His brother 
has opted to stick to generally cultural material. 
 
11.(C) Comment:  The views of the professor echo what we hear 
and read elsewhere from the more liberal elite, and he admits to 
knowing little about the views of the Iranian working class. 
His recommendation that there be an international call for free 
and transparent elections for the Assembly of Experts raises an 
important issue.  We should consider what we will say publicly 
about the Assembly of Experts' elections, currently projected 
for November and held only once every eight years.  On the one 
hand, they are direct elections and significant in their 
importance (we hear rumors that both the Rafsanjani camp and the 
Mesbah Yazdi camp could be trying to assert itself in this 
round, with the possible goal of deposing Khamenei; as in last 
year's presidential elections, reformers are protesting as 
undemocratic the power of the Council of Guardians to vet 
candidates).  On the other hand, the body that will be elected 
is not part of what we would consider a democratic system; its 
main function is to select the supreme leader.  Furthermore, 
candidacy is currently restricted to religious scholars, with 
efforts to allow laymen and women to run so far unsuccessful. 
We will continue to pulse Iranians on their views of this 
election. 
DAVIS