TEHRAN – A combination of light entertainment, talk shows and politics beamed into Iran by a dozen or so satellite stations set up by Iranian exiles in the United States is proving to be explosive in the Islamic country.
Iranian hardliners have denounced foreign satellite broadcasts for trampling on Islamic values and say they are used increasingly by exiled opposition groups, especially those based in Los Angeles, Calif., to stir anti-government unrest.
According to official estimates, about three million households have access to satellite television, while security forces have in recent years only managed to seize 70,000 sets.
A couple of these TV stations are also the mouthpieces of new self-styled "prophets." The latest is a man called Mostafa Makkei in his early sixties who claims, "I am the reincarnation of Mohammed, the holy prophet of Islam."
He not only brings up a new concept of reincarnation into Islam, but also says: "My fingerprint is the same as the holy prophet’s." His proclamation has amused many Iranians, and psychologists in the country claim he suffers from schizophrenia.
While Iranians are tickled by the antics of these self-proclaimed prophets, when it comes to politics they are so desperate for change that they are willing to believe anything that is transmitted by these dissident stations.
A case in point is the recent broadcasts of Ahoura Pirouz Khaleghi Yazdi, who for the past two months has been addressing Iranians inside the country through the Los Angeles-based Rangarang (Multicolor) satellite TV station.
These broadcasts, however, received scant attention overseas.
Khaleghi promised the "liberation" of Iran from the grip of the ayatollahs on Oct. 1. He also said he will charter 50 planes to bring over 2,000 exiles home to see Islamic rule end.
"The Persian people have the ability to take back their country and it will happen in a short period of time," he says in an interview published on his Web site, which features a clock counting down to his return.
He urged Iranians to come out on Sunday Sept. 26 for peaceful demonstrations.
Local reports indicate several thousand people milled around streets in downtown Tehran, many of them driving cars up and down major avenues, honking their horns and flashing victory signs in a rare display of defiance. Hundreds of militiamen arrived on the scene, but there were no violent clashes.
Of course, on Oct. 1 the promised "liberator" never arrived.
Khaleghi’s satellite TV broadcasts have become hot gossip in Iran and officials have heaped scorn on him.
"This person [Khaleghi] has serious psychological problems and is trying to brainwash Iranian youth," the Etemad newspaper quoted Tehran police chief Morteza Talai as saying.
"He has five wives and is not even able to manage his own personal life," added Talai.
Those who have heard Khaleghi speak say he seems to be a bit illiterate, his Farsi is weak and he lacks charisma.
"Now, you can call it schizophrenic disillusion, humor, or even extreme patriotism, but I call it insanity. This unfortunately is nothing new for some elderly Iranians living in exile for more than 25 years, striving to see their homeland once again before it’s all over," wrote an overseas Iranian blogger known only as Ehsan.
"Khaleghi’s words defy all the principles of logic, and his arguments do not connect. He is obviously out of touch with reality and out of touch with the majority of Iranian population," Ehsan wrote in his site.
But how does one explain the presence of so many people on the streets of the capital in a country where expressions of dissent can be met with brutal force?
"That so many people come out on the invitation of a man who was the center of jokes and laughter for the last two to three months tells you about the depth of hate Iranians have for the ruling ayatollahs. It also shows that society – frustrated, humiliated, oppressed and insulted by the clerics, has reached the explosion point," an Iranian journalist told the Persian service of Radio France International.
Abdullah Ahmad, a psychologist in Esfehan south of Tehran, told IPS that people have had enough and are willing to carry out civil disobedience.
Many have also pointed out that people are still waiting for a messiah to liberate them from this regime, and for this reason, they are willing to accept any sign.
"He [Khaleghi] himself said he has liberated the spirits of the Iranians," said Fershteh Miladi (not his real name), a 34-year-old executive in an international service company.
But Potkin Azarmehr, an Iranian dissident in exile in London, was more cynical.
"It wouldn’t be the first time in Iranian history when extreme conditions of despair have helped the emergence of a new prophet," he said in an e-mail interview.
"After all, Iran has probably produced more poets and prophets than any other country, and perhaps the two go hand in hand. How I wish we had more inventors and worthwhile statesmen instead of poets and prophets," he added.
In the meantime, radio stations like KSRI, also Los Angeles-based, are circulating petitions calling for the Iranian regime to be replaced by a democratic and secular one.
