Islamic-Iranian: The Islamic Republic in Search of Ideology

Ayatollah Khamenei

"The First Conference on Strategic Ideas: The Islamic-Iranian Development Model"

By Nader Uskowi

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Wednesday evening presided over a gathering of pro-government intellectuals and academics, or as the Iranian press called them the “scientific elites,” to examine what was dubbed the “Islamic-Iranian Development Model,” a roadmap for the future development of the country.

For those of us following the Islamic Republic, the use of hyphened phrase “Islamic-Iranian,” by no less authority than Khamenei himself, was the biggest news of the night. Khamenei was also seated under a large banner proclaiming the birth of the "Islamic-Iranian" model.

“The important elements of the Islamic-Iranian development model are ideas, science, life, and spirituality. This model is the supreme guide for the country’s development and strategic programs,” Khamenei said [IRNA, 2 December].

Khamenei added that the “Islamic” part in the model’s title was to recognize that the Islamic resources would be used in the country’s development. The “Iranian” part, he said, is the recognition of the necessities of the Iranian society and the contributions by Iranian thinkers and intellectuals in designing the model.

“In choosing the word Iranian in the Islamic-Iranian development model, we recognize the specific historic, geographic, cultural, economic and social conditions of Iran and we also recognize that the designers of this model are Iranian intellectuals and this model of development is indeed the fruit of labor of this country’s thinkers in painting the country’s future,” Khamenei said.

Ayatollah Khamenei also announced the formation of a center to formulate the Islamic-Iranian development model for the country.

The phrase “Islamic-Iranian” was not used in a vacuum. The most recent attempt to reconcile the government’s Islamic roots with Iranian nationalism was the reference by Eskandar Rahim Mashaie, President Ahmadinejad’s chief of staff, to the “Islamic-Iranian identity” of the country. At that time, the senior clerics and more conservative elements of the Islamic Republic attacked Mashaie for propagating un-Islamic thoughts. Last night’s repeated reference to “Islamic-Iranian” nature of the country’s future development by the country’s supreme leader indicates the willingness, and indeed the eagerness of the ruling elite to come to terms with Iranian nationalism and formulate a new ideology to replace the tenets of the Islamic Republic of the past three decades.

Photo: khamenei.ir/ISNA