Word: mirdammadi
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...separate interviews, conducted in Tehran over cups of tea, plates of sugary cookies and in one case a late-night pizza to go, Asgharzadeh and top planners Mohsen Mirdammadi, today a political-science professor, and Abbas Abdi, an outspoken newspaper editor, revealed fresh insights into their moment of history. They denied, to start with, that Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini had put them up to it. "The idea came to me while I was studying," Asgharzadeh recalled, joking. "I didn't mind getting away from the books...
...died in 1989. In 1991, Asgharzadeh found himself not only removed from his seat in Parliament but also heading for prison for criticizing the despotic tendencies of the ruling clergy. The student militants were again excluded from politics. "The embassy takeover was in defense of Iran's independence," explains Mirdammadi, 44. "But after Iman Khomeini died, the danger was to democracy. Iran moved away from the freedom of choice and expression that had been promised to the people...
Abdi and the others can still scarcely help themselves when it comes to blaming America for Iran's ills. Asgharzadeh says he is willing to say he's sorry if the repentance is mutual, but Mirdammadi disagrees: "I am sure that we will never apologize to America." Abdi is not looking for a lovefest but wants mutual respect and diplomatic relations for the sake of Iran's national interest. As he puts it, "The Americans were a nuisance to us, and we were a nuisance to them. Perhaps now we can talk to each other on an equal footing...
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