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Letter from the Publisher

April 2008

This year the first day of spring equinox arrived on the 20th of March, which marks the ancient Persian festival of NOROUZ and the start of the Iranian New Year of 1387.  NOROUZ, which means New Day, is celebrated by Farsi speaking people in several countries and we would like to wish a Happy New Year to everyone on this occasion.  We hope that this will be a year filled with peace, prosperity and social progress. 

This year NOROUZ came on the heels of the parliamentary elections in the Islamic Republic of Iran, with voters going to the polls on Friday March 14th.  Reports from Tehran indicated that the turnout was low due to the holidays coming up, but nevertheless officials claim that 60% of the electorate turned out for the vote.  Although the conservatives, or principlists, won a majority of the seats, their bloc is now split between those who follow President Ahmadinejad and others who have grouped under the Ali Larijani, Iran's former nuclear negotiator, who won a parliamentary seat with 70% of the vote from the holy city of Qom.  He is now a favorite to become speaker of the majlis and his alliance of pragmatic conservatives will be able to keep some of the president’s economic policies and inflammatory rhetoric in check.  The reformists, despite severe handicaps, also appear to have maintained their foothold in parliament and may have increased their seats from 40 to more than 50. 

Most analysts do not expect any major alteration in Iran's course in foreign policy, but perhaps with this blow to president Ahmadinejad's support in the public, Ayatollah Khamenei who holds the utmost power may find it easier to bend policy to his will.  The new round of UN Security Council sanctions are biting deeper, and with inflation hitting almost 20%, even Iran's middle classes are having difficulty making ends meet.  Therefore the triumph of conservatives over reformists has to translate to a better life for ordinary Iranians in the coming years, otherwise the supreme leader risks becoming associated with failures rather than successes. 

March 2008 also marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq by the United States and Great Britain and their coalition.  Interestingly enough, President Ahmadinejad, chose this month to make an official and fully publicized trip to Iraq, making him the first head of Iran to visit the country since the Islamic Revolution almost thirty years ago.  He received a warm reception by the Iraqi government and was able to have important meetings and sign economic co-operation agreements to help the development of Iraq.  This historic trip by the Iranian leader to the land of its past enemy, with whom it had fought an eight year war under Saddam Hussein, made international headlines and led many analysts to say that Iran seems to be the bigger winner from this five year Iraq debacle.  Nonetheless the Islamic Republic has to work harder to win the hearts and minds of its own nationals, rather than providing aid to its neighbors