From Gonabad to the nuclear agreement!

Ahmad Zeydabadi

After the necessary planning and preparations for holding the tribute ceremony for Dr. Hadi Khaniki in the city of Gonabad, the organizers now announce the cancellation of the ceremony!

The reason for the cancellation of the ceremony was apparently the gathering of about a hundred people as 'Hezbollahis' in opposition to the commemoration of Dr. Khaniqi!

Gonabad is an ancient city in the south of Central Khorasan known for its famous qanats. The Qanat of Qasabeh, as the most water-rich qanat in Iran, is a relic from the Achaemenid era with a depth of hundreds of meters. Nasir Khusraw recounts a story about the strange depth of the Gonabad qanat in his famous travelogue. According to the Shahnameh of the wise Abul-Qasim Ferdowsi, the Battle of 12 Rokh took place in the plain between Gonabad and Zaybud.

When the old ones drive the army from the tent, there will be no light left in the day... From their appearance, the army will darken the town and the fields, making them blue and black.

Gonabad has peaceful, calm, and kind people. In the few months that I was exiled in this city and actually a guest of its people, I saw nothing but patience, tolerance, respect, and kindness from the locals. Dr. Khaniki hails from the village of Khanik in the eastern plain of Gonabad, at the foot of the Barakouh mountain. On this occasion, a group of intellectuals from Gonabad had planned to hold a ceremony in honor of Mr. Khaniki's scientific and political achievements, which has now been canceled.

It seems that one of the reasons for the opposition of the hundred-member group protesting the commemoration of Mr. Khaniki is his connection with the People's Mojahedin Organization in the 1950s! If connection with the organization in the 1940s and 1950s is to be considered a 'charge', then the majority of the revolutionary clerics, both left and right, who came to power after the revolution and many of whom still hold positions, would find themselves in a position of being accused, as there is no revolutionary cleric found during the Pahlavi era who did not support the People's Mojahedin Organization or provide some assistance to them at some point!

The problem is not that this type of excuse-making is ridiculous. The problem is that a hundred protesting people can prevent an event that even some cabinet ministers were supposed to speak at! The question is where these people are connected? Where did they gain this level of power? Why is the law enforcement submitting to them and declaring inability to 'ensure the security of the event' simply due to their protests?

Since the beginning of the Islamic Republic's existence until now, there has always been a small group 'more equal' than the general citizens of Iran! Under the title 'Hezbollah', whenever they felt inclined, they held gatherings themselves while simultaneously preventing the holding of any licensed ceremonies by others or disrupting them with acts of violence!

Apparently, every government is powerless and constrained against this small group. For this very reason, I have come to the conclusion that the possibility of an agreement with the United States regarding the nuclear issue, even if it were balanced, is out of the question because this small group opposes it and, despite the apparent situation, still has the power to disrupt it!