In Rabat I am (left) with Khalatbary and King Hassan
II. The King said: "There is a new President ( Carter ) he knows little about
international politics and has odd ideas that do not augur well for us. He is hazardous
."
 My wife Angela speaks to Boucetta Minister of Foreign Affairs of Morocco while I
enjoy a chat with Khalatbary
Angela accompanies Khalatbary to his private Mystère plane.
Always curious about planes, I am already inside looking at the commands. That
was departure day and the last time we saw him. The storm was on the horizon
Deliberating the words of King Hassan. What did he mean? Staunch
friends and allies just cannot do anything wrong. If so for what odd reasons?
|
|
QUESTION: "Pourquoi le fanatique préfère-t-il un
État religieux à un État laïque et démocratique?"
RÉPONSE: "Parce que la démocratie est caractérisée par un vide
de pouvoir, une absence de leader. Elle préfère la négociation, le débat et le vote.
Son péché est de nous forcer à réfléchir, à assumer nos responsabilités. Elle est
donc haïe en bloc, d’une haine phobique, par le fanatique enfermé dans une pensée
sclérosée, c’est-à-dire incapable de se mettre dans la peau de l’autre pour
comprendre son point de vue, incapable de débattre rationnellement, de reconnaître la
pluralité et la possibilité d’une coexistence pacifique des contraires." Afif
Lakhdar dans Courrier International - Nov. 2001
Although born in Switzerland
where my father was ambassador of Iran, I am rightfully from Tehran, Iran.
I have been in the United States for almost 22 years. Once upon a time, I was an Iranian
diplomat and visited almost all countries of the globe - but live now in faraway
Arizona. Needless to say the thoughts of my beloved homeland hardly leave me. My main
interest lies in history, culture, and at time in the effects that past traumatic
experiences including the recent loss of my beloved sister Parvine
in Tehran have had upon my emotional, psychological and spiritual self.
In thinking about my vanished family, my existence in Iran, thoughts of hopelessness,
pain, anguish, betrayal and emotional chaos/distress invariably ache me. Anger/sadness
takes place within my memory... there are moments when I feel haunted by my own history...
for what ensued could have been avoided. Since then, the world has never been the
same.Those years in bloody, chaotic Tehran manifest themselves, not only in the
unconscious mind (dreams), but also in concrete behavioral patterns that developed within
me because of those events.
These sorrowful happenings changed my basic perceptions of the world with regard to trust
vs. distrust, integrity, reality vs. perception, and colored the way I now relate to the
outside world. Yes, I am able to laugh at myself once in a while, maybe to relieve the
profound sadness I feel from time to time... however... I will always wonder how my inner
world would have been if I have not had experienced what I did...
Farhad Sepahbody -
AZ 2001.
|