Student stuns Iran by criticising leader

06/11/2009 - 08:11:50
An Iranian maths student has become an unlikely hero to some of his countrymen for daring to criticise the country’s most powerful man to his face.

Mahmoud Vahidnia has received support from government opponents for the challenge – unprecedented in a country where insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a crime punishable by prison.

But Mr Vahidnia has so far suffered no repercussions from the confrontation at a question-and-answer session between Mr Khamenei and students at Tehran’s Sharif Technical University.

In fact, Iran’s clerical leadership appears to be touting the incident as a sign of its tolerance – so much so that some Iranians at first believed the 20-minute exchange was staged by the government, though opposition commentators are now convinced Mr Vahidnia was the real thing.

Details of the encounter were reported on the state news agency IRNA and in a pro-government newspaper, Keyhan, which reported it under the headline, “The revolutionary leader’s fatherly response to critical youth”.

Some of those at the October 28 forum say Mr Khamenei appeared taken aback by the questioning and left the meeting early.

The session began with a speech in which Mr Khamenei told the students the “biggest crime” was to question the results of the June 12 presidential election that returned hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. Mr Khamenei himself declared Mr Ahmadinejad the victor despite opposition claims of widespread fraud.

After the speech, Mr Vahidnia raised his hand, then for 20 minutes criticised the Iranian leader over the fierce crackdown on post-election protests, in which the opposition says 69 people were killed and thousands were arrested.

In brief excerpts broadcast on state TV, the thin, bespectacled student was shown standing behind a podium, gesturing at times for emphasis.

“I don’t know why in this country it’s not allowed to make any kind of criticism of you,” said the student.

Mr Khamenei countered, “We welcome criticism. We never said not to criticise us ... there’s plenty of criticism that I receive.”

During the face-to-face exchange, Mr Vahidnia also raised allegations of abuse of imprisoned opposition protesters.

He also criticised state-run Iranian television and radio for their depiction of the protests as the work of troublemakers and pawns of Iran’s foreign enemies. “Do you think radio and television have portrayed the recent events accurately or broadcast a caricature-type image of them?” he asked.

The supreme leader countered that he had his own criticisms of state media, including their failure to give enough coverage to the government’s “positive achievements.”