The Iranian spectacle: an Istanbul dispatch.

• Author: Molavi, Afshin
• Position: REFLECTION

The Iranian delegation entered the conference with a thud. Parviz Davudi, the first vice-president of the Islamic Republic of Iran--flanked by several burly, bearded bodyguards and surrounded by a coterie of Iranian diplomats in Nehru collars, camera-wielding journalists from the Islamic Republic's state news media and a few assorted hangers-on--plowed through the ornate Ciragan Palace Hotel lobby in Istanbul, brusquely pushing past the assembled political, business and media elite who gathered for the November 2006 World Economic Forum--an annual event that showcases Turkey's economic achievements to the "Davos crowd."

Coffee-sipping delegates looked on with what seemed like a touch of wonder and dash of fear. One of the Iranian bodyguards elbowed his way past a small group of chatting participants, spilling coffee on a Swiss delegate. A Turkish journalist nearly fell over to avoid a crash with another bodyguard. A Lebanese businessman joked: "The Iranians, it seems, have once again sent 'the dream team.'" A British banker chuckled. The Swiss scurried to the bathroom to clean his shirt, tsk- tsking on the way.

It was an inauspicious beginning to what proved to be an even more inauspicious afternoon. On stage with Ahmad Nazif, the prime minister of Egypt and Abdullah Gul, the foreign minister of Turkey, Parviz Davudi threw a few elbows himself and, as one red-faced Iranian member of the delegation whispered to me later, "embarrassed us all."

Ahmed Nazif, the suave technocrat prime minister who leads Egypt's real "dream team" of economic reformers that have managed to finally wake the slumbering giant on the Nile, spoke first. He used his five minutes of allotted time to hail Egypt's considerable economic achievements in the past two years, inviting participants to see for themselves, and noting the rise in foreign direct investment to $6 billion (up from less than $2 billion two years earlier). (1) Abdullah Gul made a brief, articulate pitch for Turkey's admission to the European Union and investment opportunities in the "Turkish tiger." In early February 2007, the Turkish government announced a record-shattering $19.8 billion in foreign direct investment for 2006, up from less than $2 billion in 2003.2 From the bullish conversations about Turkey held by assembled bankers at the World Economic Forum, Turkey can likely expect to keep up that torrid pace of attracting investment. Indeed, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the year 2006 witnessed a 34 percent rise in global foreign investment inflows, with investments in developing countries reaching a record high--Turkey among the top.

Meanwhile, Iran lags far behind neighbors like Pakistan and Turkey--countries that are raking in investment dollars. According to UNCTAD's 2006 report, Iran ranks dead last out of all the countries in the Middle East as the nation that attracts the least amount of foreign investment.

When it came to Davudi's turn to speak, he used his time not to promote investment opportunities, but to blast Zionism. He also lambasted imperialism, decried the Bretton Woods economic system, said something unintelligible about the gold standard, denounced Israel and the United States, and rambled for more than twenty minutes, reading from a prepared text in Persian (translated into English by a shrill translator). When he finished his speech, a somber mood descended on the room, mingled with heavy doses of eye-rolling. What to make of such a speech? It might have been "appropriate" at the United Nations where politics is the main currency, but why such thunder and fire at the World Economic Forum, a gathering of business elites who might one day invest in Iran and "do-gooder" social policy elites looking for philanthropic opportunities? What's more, why be so imperious and defy the five-minute rule granted to the three speakers (one of whom outranks the Iranian VP)? And why, as the same Iranian diplomat whispered to me afterwards in disappointment, deliver such a defiant speech to a crowd that is generally sympathetic to Iran?

The irony of the "Davos" crowd is this: Though they represent the elite establishments of their countries, there is an underlying resentment of U.S. power among many of the delegates, especially those from the developing world and Europe. American senators and congressmen who attend Davos often return home shocked by the level of anti-Americanism among the world's elite.

When Davudi completed his speech, Klaus Schwab, the venerable chairman of the World Economic Forum and prominent philanthropist, stood up to, as he described it, "register a note of protest." Dr. Schwab is no stranger to the rantings of blowhards (not all of whom are political elites; the Hollywood elite at Davos can be far more insufferable). Still, he felt the need to conduct a highly rare intervention. "The World Economic Forum," he said, "is a place of dialogue and constructive criticism to move towards a better world. The speech by the Iranian delegate went against the spirit of the forum."

A stunned silence. And then waves of applause, including several who stood up from their seats. Davudi, who understood little English, just smiled.

Later that night, the Iranian delegation failed to turn up at the dosing plenary dinner and cultural evening at the stunning 16th century Ottoman palace, where CEOs, bankers and political leaders mingled and modestly dressed women in Ottoman-style clothing performed traditional dances from Turkish regions. Perhaps if the Iranian delegation were present, they might have justifiably had the occasion to register their own "note of protest;" the Turkish government trotted out poets to sing verses from the "great Turldsh poet" Jalaladdin Rumi, whose poetry, written in Persian, owes far more to Persian traditions than Turkish ones. (I made a mild protest of my own.)

Alas, the Iranian delegation was nowhere to be found. The problem'? Alcohol was being served--an issue that other Muslim country delegations easily brushed aside, with full cups of pomegranate and watermelon juice at their tables. While the Saudis managed to avoid the issue, the Iranians could not fathom the thought of being in the same room with wine. A few years earlier, former Iranian President Khatami caused a diplomatic stir and produced global headlines when he refused to attend a ceremony in Spain where wine was being served...