Or how we learned to ignore the shit in our own back yards to piss on the neighbours’ lawn!

Doesn’t it feel horrible when every time someone asks Donald Trump a question, he responds by attacking Hillary Clinton?  Didn’t we hate it when Ahmadinejad would answer a question about human rights in Iran with statistics about 4 million prisoners in the US or by denying the holocaust?  Then why are we doing the same?

Recently I see many of my friends and fellow Iranians jumping on the bandwagon of taking the piss out of Saudi Arabia!  The Saudi regime is arguably one of the most atrocious autocracies of our time.  One can play blind darts on the Middle-Eastern map and would be hard pressed to hit a country with a government that meets even the lowest standards of civility.  This “schimpfing” at my friends is not a defence of these countries by any stretch of the imagination.  What I am concerned with is how Iranians are distracting from the mess in their own country by taking the moral high ground on easy targets abroad.  Criticizing the Saudi regime gets you in no trouble but try hinting at any of the dozens of grave issues right inside the Iranian back yard and you face living in an adjacent cell right beside Ms. Homa Hoodfar if you are lucky!  Odds are, you will find yourself in far deeper trouble than that.  I’m assuming that my friends are genuinely morally compelled to focus on the Saudi atrocities yet let this be a warning that this shifting of focus is at a cost to our fellow Iranians who are suffering.
The question for my fellow Iranians living inside and out of that wonderful land of multiculturalism, art and civility is the following;  Are we better off focusing on the mess in our own backyard and cleaning that up before distracting ourselves with the mess everywhere around us?  By addressing and helping to solve the issues in Iran wouldn’t we be in a more relevant and consequential position to help our fellow neighbours in their plight?  Are we being “channelled” and deceived by the Islamic Republic of Iran Regime who would rather we ignore the problems at home and pick on the Saudis?  Not that I don’t care, but let’s consider for one moment that all of this, our “Facebook Activism” against the Saudi regime, will result in an overnight catharsis and democratic reforms.  Would that help Iran?  Wouldn’t the meddling of the IRI regime continue wreaking havoc in the region as it has for the past nearly four decades in destabilize any attempt at civility?  Have we forgotten Lebanon and the contributing role of IRI in destabilizing that wonderful country?  Do we need to be reminded of Syria?  A wise old Persian proverb says, before poking someone else with a nail, try poking yourself with a needle first!
Let’s agree on the obvious;  The Saudi regime is despicable.  Other countries including world powers from the north, west and everywhere else are stirring the mess for their own interests.  Does that exonerate the IRI regime of its atrocities?  Notwithstanding my personal priorities in being concerned with the well being of the country in which I was born, there is also a rational discourse.  Iran is a highly important country in the region.  Just imagine for one dreamy moment if you will care to oblige me;  How would a peaceful, democratic Iran that guarantees the well being of its own citizens be able to help the entire region?  The importance of Iran from a geopolitical, cultural, historic and economical standpoint is a fact beyond debate.
Is the IRI regime that much better than the Saudi Regime for Iranians to drop everything in our own backyard and rush to teach them a lesson in civility?  Let’s look at some facts;  According to this Amnesty International report, Iran has conducted over 977 executions in 2015 (that we know of).  The IRI detains, tortures and imprisons thousands of students, journalists and private citizens for so-called crimes of conscience, religious or sexual orientation and simply by telling the truth as a doctor studying AIDS or a journalist reporting on crimes of the State.  Only in the first half of 2016, several Iranian Sunni, Kurdish and Arab minorities have been executed.  They detain their own former government officials for years without any charge or trial.  Kiillers, assassins and mass murderers of opposition prisoners are rewarded with priviledge, immunity and high level positions.  The IRI admits to billions of dollars of public funds being lost from it’s coffers with no explanation – entire oil tankers and oil rigs disappear with no explanation and/or proper investigation.  The IRI has admitted to killing thousands of previously sentenced prisoner in summary executions within a matter of weeks.  The IRI has admitted to and accused of conducting assassinations and terrorist bombing around the world over the span of thirty-eight years.  The IRI is known to have meddled in the affairs of several countries in the region, most visibly through Hizbollah in Lebanon and aiding the Assad Regime in Syria.  Where is our moral high ground in calling the kettle black?
There is nothing to gain from a comparative analysis of Saudi and IRI atrocities.  It is clear that both have a shameful record and perpetuate violence, destruction and oppression domestically and regionally.  Democratic forces in the Arab community including Saudi citizens, intellectuals and activists are as qualified as they are capable to address their problems and inform the world of their plight.  If they do solve their own problems, they would be expected and morally obligated to help their neighbours in plight.  More importantly, they would have the moral authority to lecture others.
As bad as the situation is around the Middle East, Iranians have a better chance at understanding and solving their problems in Iran than they do in Saudi Arabia or any other country.  The Ahmadinejad and Trump epidemic of evading one’s own issues by pointing away at someone else’s problems is counterproductive at best.  Do we have to follow that fallacy?
Let this be a moral challenge to facebook activists and my fellow Iranians around the world;  how do we find the moral authority to pick on other countries when we are ignoring our own problems?  For every Facebook activist posting rightfully about another country, we are morally bound to issue ten posts about the problems and atrocities in our own country and of our own government.  Iran has the capacity to set the moral high ground and help put out the fires in the middle east, as long as we start with the shit in our own back yard!