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Why Iranians Like America Again

[Christian Science Monitor ] Azadeh Moaveni - Although their leaders still call America the "Great Satan," ordinary Iranians' affection for the U.S. seems to be thriving these days, at least in Tehran. This is evident in people's conversations, their insatiable demand for U.S. products and culture, and their fascination with the U.S. presidential campaign. Liking the U.S. is also a way for Iranians to register their frustration with their own firebrand president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. I lived in Iran until last summer and experienced all the reasons why Ahmadinejad has replaced the U.S. as Iranians' top object of vexation. Under his leadership, inflation has spiked at least 20%, thanks to expansionary fiscal policies which inject vast amounts of cash into the economy. Interminable lines have accompanied the government's new gas-rationing scheme. Ahmadinejad has also resurrected unpopular invasions into Iranians' private lives. Newspapers announced that police would begin raiding office buildings and businesses to ensure that women were wearing proper Islamic dress. Police swept our street to confiscate illegal satellite dishes. At the height of his popularity, Ahmadinejad successfully rallied public support around Iran's nuclear program with catchy slogans. But its defiance failed to win Iran much more than the disagreeable whiff of global-pariah status, moving many Iranians to reconsider the costs of nuclear enrichment. Of course, a minority of Iranians still hate the Great Satan. But the strain of anti-Americanism in Iran is more mellow than the rage found elsewhere in the Arab and Muslim world, and the Palestinian cause is less deeply felt in Iran. Those old enough to remember the shah's era are nostalgic for the prosperity and international standing Iran once enjoyed; those born after the revolution see no future for themselves in today's Iran and adopt their parents' gilded memories as their own.
2008-06-04 01:00:00
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