What he does with his newly won power is of vital importance. He could listen to his predecessor Hashemi Rafsanjani who wants political reform postponed and economic reform accelerated. In other words, Khatami could adopt the Chinese model of an authoritarian state with a capitalist economic system. He could, on the other hand, listen to some of his own closest aides such as Ayatollah Abdallah Nuri, the liberal who was forced out of office as interior minister. Nuri told students in Tehran this week that there could be no economic development without democracy.
Freedom precedes economic development.
If Khatami listens to people like Rafsanjani he may well save the regime in the short run, but could condemn Iran to years of violence and chaos. If, on the other hand, he listens to people like Nuri, he could use the democracy movement as a springboard for genuine reform of the system. Elections are due in February 2000. An early election could allow the Iranians to choose between the two camps whose duel has turned the streets of Tehran into a battlefield during the past two weeks. The major powers should not back an Iranian version of the Tiananmen Square massacre.