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Editor's note: Michael Rubin is a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of "Dancing with the Devil." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Grand jury dismissal of charges against police officers in the July 17, 2014, chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York has returned racism to the forefront of the American political debate.

The entrance of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei into the fray, with tweets condemning American police and racism and using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, has turned the debate into a farce. It's the equivalent of David Duke condemning anti-Semitism or North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un condemning prison overcrowding.

But perhaps Khamenei's tweets can be a teachable moment, for Iranians and Americans both, about racism and injustice in Iran.

Michael Rubin

In America, journalists discuss racism, politicians debate it and academics study it, because Americans enjoy free speech, a free press and can speak truth to power without fear or risk of torture. Not so with Iranians.

In the months preceding the Shah's 1979 ouster, Iranians joined the revolution because they were tired of dictatorship, wanted democracy, and chafed under the SAVAK, the Shah's dictatorship. Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rallied Iranians to his cause. Before his return to Iran, Khomeini spoke the language of social justice and disavowed any interest in personal power.

After the success of his revolution, Khomeini changed course. He may have executed many top-ranking SAVAK officers, but he soon took back their deputies to build the VeVAK (or Ministry of Information and Security), a new intelligence service different only in name.

Iranians might be disillusioned with the regime's revolutionary fervor, but Khamenei, his top deputies and the Revolutionary Guards are not. Whether it's Evin or Kahrizak, Iranian prisons can make their American counterparts look like Club Med.

Read this article:
Iran's 'hypocritical' stab at U.S.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Editor's note: Michael Rubin is a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute and author of "Dancing with the Devil." The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.

(CNN) -- Grand jury dismissal of charges against police officers in the July 17, 2014, chokehold death of Eric Garner in New York has returned racism to the forefront of the American political debate.

The entrance of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei into the fray, with tweets condemning American police and racism and using the hashtag #blacklivesmatter, has turned the debate into a farce. It's the equivalent of David Duke condemning anti-Semitism or North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un condemning prison overcrowding.

But perhaps Khamenei's tweets can be a teachable moment, for Iranians and Americans both, about racism and injustice in Iran.

Michael Rubin

In America, journalists discuss racism, politicians debate it and academics study it, because Americans enjoy free speech, a free press and can speak truth to power without fear or risk of torture. Not so with Iranians.

In the months preceding the Shah's 1979 ouster, Iranians joined the revolution because they were tired of dictatorship, wanted democracy, and chafed under the SAVAK, the Shah's dictatorship. Revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini rallied Iranians to his cause. Before his return to Iran, Khomeini spoke the language of social justice and disavowed any interest in personal power.

After the success of his revolution, Khomeini changed course. He may have executed many top-ranking SAVAK officers, but he soon took back their deputies to build the VeVAK (or Ministry of Information and Security), a new intelligence service different only in name.

Iranians might be disillusioned with the regime's revolutionary fervor, but Khamenei, his top deputies and the Revolutionary Guards are not. Whether it's Evin or Kahrizak, Iranian prisons can make their American counterparts look like Club Med.

See original here:
Iran's tweet on race, cops is a farce

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep interviews President Obama in the Oval Office. Kainaz Amaria/NPR hide caption

Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep interviews President Obama in the Oval Office.

Update at 5:10 p.m. ET

President Obama's remarks on Iran in an interview with NPR are being labeled "one of the most conciliatory" ever on the Islamic republic by a modern U.S. president, and excoriated as "naive."

Here is some of what Obama told Steve Inskeep, host of Morning Edition, about Iran.

On the possibility of reopening the U.S. Embassy in Tehran: "I never say never, but I think these things have to go in steps."

On Iran's nuclear program: "[I]f you look at the negotiations as they've proceeded, what we've said to the Iranians is that we are willing to recognize your ability to develop a modest nuclear power program for your energy needs. ... They have legitimate defense concerns, but those have to be separated out from the adventurism, the support of organizations like Hezbollah, the threats they've directed towards Israel."

On Iran's possible future: "They have a path to break through that isolation and they should seize it. Because if they do, there's incredible talent and resources and sophistication ... inside of Iran, and it would be a very successful regional power that was also abiding by international norms and international rules, and that would be good for everybody."

NPR's Peter Kenyon tells us that last comment by the president appears to boost optimism, but "for now it all remains a matter of atmospherics."

(You can read the full interview here and watch clips here.)

The rest is here:
Obama's Iran Remarks Labeled Conciliatory, Naive

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