World

Iran On The Brink Of Change

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 17, 2000 / 8:35 PM EST / CBS

South Carolina aside, the biggest election story in the world this weekend is a crucial vote in Iran, where a new generation is campaigning for freedom.

Millions of Iranians turned out to choose a new parliament that could challenge the Islamic hard-liners who've ruled the country for 20 years.

When the votes are finally counted, it seems likely this election will have changed the balance of power in Iran. The choice was between old-style religious leaders who have kept tight control over everything in the country, and new style reformers who promise new freedoms, and change for the better.

CBS News Correspondent Tom Fenton

"The result of the election will be in favor of the reformers in Iran, and I think more than 60 percent of the seats in Parliament will be for the reformers." says Reza Khatami, the leading reform candidate and the charismatic brother of Iran's current president.

Women and young people are behind the demands for change. At one last-minute reform rally, celebrities, soccer stars and a pop singer who was once a revolutionary guard had the crowd shrieking. But instead of "Death to America," they chanted, "Dictatorship cannot work forever!" That is a real change.

Tom Fenton / CBS

Reza Khatami

Most Iranians are too young to remember the Islamic revolution of two decades ago. What they want now are fewer restrictions on their lives and a more open society. Three years ago, Iran elected the moderate Ayatollah Khatami to the presidency, but his powers are limited.

Now his campaigning brother, Reza Khatami, promises real change, including an end to the banning of candidates the hard-line clergy dislike. He also promises that "For youth and women, we have some programs that make life better for them."

A better life for youth and women can't come too soon for most. Women still ride in the back of the bus and still risk imprisonment if they refuse to cover up. Millions of young people are unemployed in a failing economy that has been run for 20 years by incompetent and corrupt clergymen.

A new revolution for Iran?
21 years after the Shah's ouster, the nation's most freewheeling elections ever could begin to free its people from the grip of the mullahs.

Even if the reformers win a big majority in the parliament, reforms won't come automatically. The entrenched, hard-line clergy still runs things in this country. They control the army, the secret police, the revolutionary guards and the courts, and they have the power to throw out laws that they say are un-Islamic. The mullahs won't give up power easily.

Ayatollah Khamenei may be this country's supreme leader and final authority. But on this election day, it looks as if millions of voters have ignored his advice and opted for change.

Written by Tom Fenton