Reflection (4)

Do you eat with our hands?

The greatest gift to our future is a connection to our past.
There should be no contention in the face of animosity

Although the Iranian Diaspora seems to be one of the most successful emigrant communities in the world to adapt to its host culture, it has unfortunately not been smart enough to learn one of the most fundamental western traits. Namely that of setting one's differences aside and rallying around issues of common importance against outsiders.

As I mentioned in previous remarks, I was assigned to Norway as Minister-Consular from 1968 to 1973, when the debate for or against the Persepolis 2500 years celebrations was in full swing.

One night our best diplomat friend, Senior Lasidess, the Ambassador of Colombia in Oslo, invited my wife and me to attend a 'sitting' dinner party in their Embassy.

Senior Lasidess did not speak Norwegian or English. He only spoke his native Spanish language; however since I spoke Italian we could understand each other and had become very good friends. His wife was a beautiful Japanese girl, whom he had met during an earlier assignment in Tokyo. Prior to taking his post as Ambassador to Oslo, he was Minister of Education in Bogotá, Colombia.

Ambassadorial seated dinners are semi-official functions, usually attended with long evening dresses for Ladies & Black Smoking attires for men. At the dinner table of twelve, I was placed to the right of the hostess.

A well-known Norwegian journalist was seated right opposite me at the majestic mahogany dinning table. Suddenly out of the blue this correspondent from the other side of the dinner table burst out: " Mr. Hakimi, is it true that you eat with your hands in Iran?!! " I replied: "Perhaps sir, it may be true, but your question is manifestation of the depth of your ignorance and effrontery. "

Suddenly there was complete silence in the dinning room. Then I added: "Sir, by this inquiry you imply that the inventors of knives, spoons, forks, bowls, plates, chairs, dinning tables or any other dinning utensils are Europeans. But if you go to Persepolis, a place difficult to avoid nowadays given all the publicity about the site, then you will find the specimen of all these utensils in the archeological museum of Persepolis. You should also have a good look at the stone carvings for the same utensils engraved on the walls & the staircases of that colossal palace. And if you remember that the Persians erected Persepolis 2500 years ago, then you should also realize that at that time you were just cavemen!

True, we do eat with our hands too, the same way that you eat your Pizzas, Sandwiches, fish & chips in a piece of paper & with your fingers. That makes life so enjoyable and colorful, doesn't it sir? Further more if you examine the history of your Royal Families up till 100 year ago, did not they eat with their hands and throw the bones back over their heads?"

Needless to say, what remained of the dinner party passed in absolute silence? Nobody uttered a word.
Following the dinner the guests just vanished. I apologized to Senior Lasidess and his wife for ruining their party.

Senior Lasidess, with a very friendly gesture patted me on the shoulder and replied: "Dear man, do not worry your self. These arrogant snobs, especially their journalists who think they know it all and have nothing to learn from anyone, had it coming to them." He added, "I am fed up with their arrogance and prejudice towards us".

I forgot to mention that Senior Lasidess was a fantastic cook. He attended to his guests with a long white chef's hat. His dinner parties were the talk of town.

Yet some of us Iranians believe that the 2500 Year Celebrations was a shameful blunder, both inside as well as out side of our country! I have no comments for one.

But one point remains and that is, regardless of our inherent dissension on whether these celebrations were necessary or not, we should always try to set out our differences aside when it involves dealing with outsiders on matters involving the prominence of our country and our national interests.

---

Reflection (5)

I am proud too!

Diplomatic efforts to remove visa restrictions for Iranian subjects

I was inspired by a recent article in The Iranian.com to write the following article. The fact is that we so called Taghooties (Tagootie is a term for those worshipping Taghoot or Taghut which is Arabic for anything worshipped other than God, e.g. Satan) did our duty as best as we could towards achieving a better life for our countrymen and women, in any position we had held. The idea was not to only improve our lot but also for all of us to be proud of whom we are namely Persians. This is particularly poignant nowadays that Iranians are treated as undesirables, specifically the restriction placed by the U.S. Government on entry for Iranian subjects.

One of the priorities of any diplomat's duty is to facilitate the procedure of traveling of his or her countryman to other countries. The travelers should be received adequately, with due respect and dignity.

I was assigned to Norway as a Consular Minister from 1968 to 1973. Right from the start of my assignment, I had in mind to work with the Norwegian authorities to eliminate visa regulations for the subjects of the two very friendly countries.

After consultations with my peers in Copenhagen & Stockholm, we decided to approach the three governments - to the extent possible - at the same time to request elimination of visa regulations between Iran and the three Scandinavian countries.

We knew very well that the governments of these three countries are in constant consultation. This is done in order that neither makes a decision on its own which could potentially inconvenience the others.

My colleagues Taghie Amid in Copenhagen and Abbas Malek Madany in Stockholm took up the task with gusto and each sent a note to their respective Foreign Ministries asking for elimination of visa regulation between Iran and their host country.

After four years of lengthy discussions with the authorities of the three Scandinavian countries, we had almost given up hope. Then one day I was summoned to the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, to meet the Joint Secretary for Consular Affairs. I was quite pessimistic and thought I should prepare myself for some lengthy turgid arguments, which at the end we would be back where we started.

When I met the gentleman, after usual diplomatic niceties, he said that "You keep pressing us for elimination of visa regulations, the problem is, that if we agree with your request, then the other nations will want the same right for their own nationals that we can never agree".

I immediately responded: "Your excellency, I think you have forgotten that you are talking to a long-standing carrier diplomat. You are probably aware that what you just said is an irrelevant pretext to deny our request. To refresh your memory elimination of visa regulation between countries comes under the jurisdiction of Exercising the Right of SOVEREIGNTY of any sovereign government and has nothing to do with the provisions put forward by the Most Favored Nation Convention. You may flatly refuse our request, which is your sovereign right to do so. But you cannot justify your refusal by clinging to the clauses of Most Favored Nation Convention, which is absolutely irrelevant in this particular case".

We ended the meeting and having taken my leave I left feeling deflated. I kept thinking that four years of haggling was fruitless and the case is probably closed for good.

Upon my return to the Embassy I immediately informed my two colleagues in Copenhagen and Stockholm that they might face the same treatment.

To our surprise within two weeks of that meeting with the Norwegian Joint Secretary, we all received a note from the three Scandinavian Foreign Ministries that they have agreed with our proposal to eliminate visa regulations for Iranian subjects who do not intend either to work or to study in Norway. These two categories needed entry visa, since they were going to stay longer than three months stay admitted to ordinary tourists or visitors.

I would like to emphasize that we did it on our own. Our Foreign Ministry had never asked us for the above; neither had they ever hinted that such an agreement was desired.

I am sure that my other colleagues in other countries were also doing the same thing because by 1979 we had managed to eliminate visa regulations with 33 different countries.

So like Dr. Majidi, I am proud too for what I did for our countrymen and women. Nobody can ever deny the respect with which the Iranian subjects were treated upon their arrival to the ports of any other country prior to 1979.

You can call us Taghooty, we are proud of it!