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Local Iranian tells of election outrage

Friday, 26 June 2009

An Iranian man living in Tallaght has revealed how he told opposition leader Hossein Musavi that he had the support of the expatriate community in Dublin. Last Thursday proved to be a memorable day for Medhi Arfa-Kia (33), manager of ‘Sufis’ - a popular café in Lower Stephen’s Street. The Tallaght resident rang a friend in Tehran last week as the volatile political situation saw hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating on the streets over the recent election results. Medhi’s friend’s father is involved in politics and after a short conversation he enquired as to how opposition leader Hossein Musavi was bearing up after his defeat in the controversial elections. To Medhi’s surprise his friend replied that the opposition leader was actually present in the room having a meeting with his father. He then asked if Medhi would like to talk to him. “I couldn’t believe it when my friend said Musavi was actually there with him,” said Medhi. “I jumped at the opportunity to talk to him. It was quite a short conversation, maybe just two or three minutes, but Musavi was very interested in how people in Ireland viewed the elections in Iran and what had happened after them.” Medhi was able to assure the opposition leader that expatriate Iranians living in Dublin had staged their own silent demonstration that very day to call for another election in Iran. “I told him about the demonstration taking place in Dublin and I also told him how important it was that he didn’t give up the fight,” explained Medhi. “It was wonderful to actually talk to Musavi. I remember him well when I was a child and he was the Iranian Prime Minister.” According to Medhi, all the Iranian people that he knows living in Ireland want to see another election being called in Iran. “All we want is a democratic, fair and free election - that’s what the demonstration in Dublin was about,” he said. “It was a very dignified protest, there was no shouting or anything like that, but we used an old Iranian flag from hundreds of years ago to mark the occasion because we feel that the current flag does not now represent the people of Iran.” Medhi was also anxious to let people know that ordinary Iranians have nothing against American people, but rather that they oppose American government foreign policy. “Iranians have absolutely nothing against Americans, they’re very nice, cool people,” he explained. “There’s a joke that goes around Tehran about Iranians having a big demonstration about American foreign policy when some American tourists come up and ask where a certain restaurant is. “They don’t get told where the restaurant is, but they do get invited back to Iranian homes for something to eat. I think this sums up the situation quite well.” Medhi estimates that there could be as many as 200 Iranian families living in Ireland at the moment. “I personally know hundreds of Iranians in Dublin,” he said. “They all come in to my restaurant to have a coffee and a chat. We talk about everything and anything including Ireland, Iran, politics and football.”