Since my post last Friday (below) on the report in the Canadian National Post that Iran was introducing yellow badges for Jews and other identifying badges for other faith members, it has been reported that this story was not true and even that it was a hoax.

The Post itself published a subsequent story casting doubt on the original, containing strong denials by an Iranian embassy spokesman in Ottowa and second-hand denials from the Jewish community in Iran:

Sam Kermanian, of the U.S.-based Iranian-American Jewish Federation, said: in an interview from Los Angeles that he had contacted members of the Jewish community in Iran — including the lone Jewish member of the Iranian parliament — and they denied any such measure was in place. Mr. Kermanian said the subject of ‘what to do with religious minorities’ came up during debates leading up to the passing of the dress code law. ‘It is possible that some ideas might have been thrown around,’ he said. ‘But to the best of my knowledge the final version of the law does not demand any identifying marks by the religious minority groups.’

But the same story also sounded a note of ambiguity:

Ali Reza Nourizadeh, an Iranian commentator on political affairs in London, suggested that the requirements for badges or insignia for religious minorities was part of a ‘secondary motion’ introduced in parliament, addressing the changes specific to the attire of people of various religious backgrounds. Mr. Nourizadeh said that motion was very minor and was far from being passed into law. That account could not be confirmed.

Now a report today in the New York Sun offers yet another twist to this disconcerting series of revelations and denials. Pointing out that the writer who first made the claim was Amir Taheri, an Iranian analyst whose finger is usually on the pulse, it reports that Taheri is sticking by his own story.

This is what Taheri published today in response to the controversy:

Regarding the dress code story it seems that my column was used as the basis for a number of reports that somehow jumped the gun. As far as my article is concerned I stand by it. The law has been passed by the Islamic Majlis and will now be submitted to the Council of Guardians. A committee has been appointed to work out the modalities of implementation.

Many ideas are being discussed with regard to implementation, including special markers, known as zonnars, for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, the only faiths other than Islam that are recognized as such. The zonnar was in use throughout the Muslim world until the early 20th century and marked out the dhimmis, or protected religious minorities. (In Iran it was formally abolished in 1908).

I have been informed of the ideas under discussion thanks to my sources in Tehran, including three members of the Majlis who had tried to block the bill since it was first drafted in 2004. I do not know which of these ideas or any will be eventually adopted. We will know once the committee appointed to discuss them presents its report, perhaps in September. Regarding the dress code story it seems that my column was used as the basis for a number of reports that somehow jumped the gun.

As far as my article is concerned I stand by it. The law has been passed by the Islamic Majlis and will now be submitted to the Council of Guardians. A committee has been appointed to work out the modalities of implementation. Many ideas are being discussed with regard to implementation, including special markers, known as zonnars, for followers of Judaism, Christianity and Zoroastrianism, the only faiths other than Islam that are recognized as such. The zonnar was in use throughout the Muslim world until the early 20th century and marked out the dhimmis, or protected religious minorities. ( In Iran it was formally abolished in 1908). I have been informed of the ideas under discussion thanks to my sources in Tehran, including three members of the Majlis who had tried to block the bill since it was first drafted in 2004. I do not know which of these ideas or any will be eventually adopted. We will know once the committee appointed to discuss them presents its report, perhaps in September.

But -- now two named members of Iran’s Jewish community – including its lone Jewish member of parliament – have denied the story:

Over the weekend, the representative of Iran's Jewish community in the Iranian legislature, Maurice Motamed, denied that the proposed dress code changes would require minorities to wear distinctive clothing or badges. The chairman of the parliament's cultural committee, Emad Afroogh, also told wire services that the initial reports of such restrictions were ‘worthless.’

Yet Mr Kermanian’s own tune has changed, and he is now saying that he thinks the proposal was a ‘trial balloon’:

‘I am not sure if we have the whole picture. The person who originally reported this, Amir Taheri, is someone with fantastic credibility. In my heart, I think there must have been something that triggered this,’ Mr. Kermanian said.

The Sun’s report goes on to say this:

An Iranian-American anti-regime activist living in New York, Banafsheh Zand-Bonazzi, said the formal legislation does not contain language on the special insignias, but added that Mr. Taheri was correct in saying this measure is being discussed and considered.’I have spoken to quite a few people and it is a subject being discussed,’ she said. ‘This is about being able to decipher who is who, so they can pinpoint the dissidents who make trouble for the regime and determine what ethnic group they come from.’

Yet, the Sun goes on, the denials of the story have spawned an instant conspiracy theory among the usual suspects (natch):

Some who fear that President Bush may be planning a land war against Iran, or at least the aerial bombing of its suspected nuclear facilities, pounced on the fact that the central claim of the National Post story has not been confirmed. On his Web log yesterday, the former president of the Middle East Studies Association, Juan Cole, called the original National Post story a ‘black psy-ops operation,’ implying it was deliberately planted to demonize President Ahmadinejad.

But as the Sun also points out:

...the prospect of a dress code for non-Muslims in an Iranian theocracy is not so far-fetched. Iranian religious leaders historically mandated dress codes for non-Muslims. The country’s current constitution already carves out special status for non-Muslims, prohibiting them from obtaining senior posts in either the army or government. Muslims in Iran officially enjoy preference over non-Muslims in gaining admission to universities.

So before this story is consumed altogether by the global politics of intellectual warfare, can someone please establish the truth here once and for all?

Update: See later post, 27 May 2006.

Posted by melanie at May 22, 2006