IRAN has a new “reformist” President, Masoud Pezeshkian (News, 19 July). We can all sit back and watch with relief, as Iran leaves behind the reign of the “Butcher of Tehran”, Ebrahim Raisi, (Comment, 31 May), and bask in the new light of President Pezeshkian — except, of course, that that is not how it works in Iran.

In contrast with the procedures of democratic nations, the “candidates” presented to the people of Iran for a final vote — initially six, whittled down to two — have already been rubber-stamped by the man who really holds the power: the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

While hopes have been raised around the world by the election of the more moderate final “candidate” — the other was the tough-talking former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili — the news has been received by most Iranians, at home and in the diaspora, with a shrug.

One amusing portrayal that I saw of the difference between Iran under a “reformist” and a “hardline” President was a pair of photos of three female members of the “Morality Police”. The photos were identical in every respect, except for pink bows superimposed on one group’s chadors.

ALL of this leads up to saying: we have been here before. In 2013, the smiling Hassan Rouhani took over as President from Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was well known for his threats to “wipe Israel off the map”.

After two terms in office, when President Rouhani was replaced by President Raisi, who was closer in style to President Ahmadinejad, the situation of ethnic and religious minorities had actually worsened. All this was in spite of the softly spoken President Rouhani’s “ten-point pledge” to address these minorities’ issues and establish a “free” society, in which “discrimination in all its dimensions and forms” would be “eliminated”.

Indeed, it was during President Rouhani’s final year in office that one of the elements of Iran’s draconian penal code, Article 500, was amended. The amendment empowered judges to convict individuals of the offence of engaging in “propaganda contrary to the holy religion of Islam”. In short, anyone wishing to preach a message other than the Twelver school of Shia Islam, on which the Islamic Republic was established, could be prosecuted, with horrific consequences.

During the first three years after Article 500 was amended, more than a dozen Christians were sentenced, most of them to five or even ten years’ imprisonment.

So, when the newly “elected” President Pezeshkian speaks of the “dignity” of women and minorities, do not be surprised when Iranians roll their eyes and tell you that they have heard it all before.

Among all President Pezeshkian’s placatory words in recent weeks, it should also be noted, he has made frequent mention of his loyalty to Ayatollah Khamenei and how “indebted” he is to him, while acknowledging that it is the Ayatollah “who determines the general policies” in Iran.

In short, without a sudden 180-degree turn by the Ayatollah, do not expect substantive change in his Islamic Republic.

I RECENTLY had the pleasure of interviewing Anoosheh Ashoori, a British-Iranian who spent more than four years in Evin Prison, in Tehran, before being released as part of the deal that included Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (News, 18 March 2022). He spoke to me of the “veneer” that the Iranian regime likes to coat itself with, so that — to the untrained eye, at least — things do not look so bad. Scratch underneath the surface, though, Mr Ashoori says, and you soon see the “filth”.

That has been my own experience, having spent the past five-and-a-half years documenting the stories of persecuted Iranian Christians with the London-based NGO Article 18.

I had travelled twice to Iran before taking up my position. Just as Mr Ashoori described it, I saw little sign of the nation’s deep malaise. I was actually very taken with the country: the people, for one thing, were (and still are) among the very best you can find.

I later worked out that, during my most recent visit to Iran, while I was enjoying Iran’s rich history and culture, another British citizen, Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe was being arrested, and would be detained for six years.

Both Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Mr Ashoori — who told me that he had never been “political” before his arrest — were exposed to the ugliness of life in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which you find when you scratch the veneer.

Whether that veneer has a softer and more Western-friendly sheen, as with a Rouhani or a Pezeshkian, or the bristling exterior of an Ahmadinejad, a Raisi, or a Jalili, you can be sure that there is still the same filth beneath the surface. There it will remain, until Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his regime are finally removed.

Steve Dew-Jones is News Director for Article18, a non-profit organisation based in London, which advocates religious freedom in Iran.

articleeighteen.com