Dr. Kingshuk Chattopadhyay is a Middle East expert and a Lecturer of History at Calcutta University in India.
In an interview with Voice of America, Dr. Chattopadhyay said that all the candidates in the recent Presidential election in Iran are veteran leaders since the early days of the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran. He argued that it would be wrong to think that if Mr. Mousavi were elected in place of Mr. Ahmedinejad he would have initiated a period of liberal reform. Furthermore, he said that supporters of a free and open economy would not support Mousavi, who is in favor of socialist economy.
Dr. Chattopadhyay also argued that Iran's
apparent division between the urban elite and student community and
the rural and working class people is also an over generalization. Students have become involved in politics after a long time to challenge
the leadership style of President Ahmedinejad. He said that no dramatic
change in Iran's state policy can expected simply with a change of leadership.
He also argued that the nuclear agenda of Iran will not change until
Iran can be assured of a serious security guarantee.
