Last Saturday it was one year since Mahsa Jina Amini was killed by the morality police, which sparked large demonstrations in the country. On that occasion, the parliament president met Farah Pahlavi, Iran’s former Shahbanu or empress. Gharahkhani, who was himself born in Iran, met the widow of Iran’s last shah in the French capital Paris, where she has lived in exile after the Islamic revolution in 1979. He posted a selfie on Instagram after the meeting. The picture has created a great deal of interest, and many people think it is inappropriate that Gharahkhani meets Iran’s last empress. – I am disappointed. One of them is Dler Khurshidi, who is a board member in the Kongsberg Labor Party. Norwegian-Kurdish Dler Khurshidi has worked with the election campaign in Kongsberg this summer. Photo: Dler Khurshidi / Private – I am disappointed with Gharahkhani. We in the Labor Party are losing if he takes a picture with a woman who represents a dictatorship, he says. Khurshidi believes that the former queen does not represent freedom and democracy. Photo: INSTAGRAM / PRIVATE That people are provoked by the image does not surprise Iran expert Kjetil Selvik at the Norwegian Foreign Policy Institute (Nupi). The Shah is still hated by many Iranians, says Selvik. Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes / news Until the Iranian revolution in 1979, the country was ruled by Shah Muhammed Reza Pahlavi. According to the Nupi researcher, the king used torture to suppress the opposition that grew against him and his regime in the 1970s. The image of the Iranian royal family. Tehran, October 1967 Photo: Ap – For many Iranians, the shah represents a different form of dictatorship than today’s clerical rule. The shah used torture through the secret police SAVAK, says Selvik. Life under the Shah Several thousand opponents of the authoritarian monarchy are said to have been tortured and killed by the secret police in an attempt to keep the Shah in power. Demonstrations against the Shah. Tehran, November 1979. Photo: Sayad / Ap – It does not surprise me that this picture provokes people. The Shah is still hated by many Iranians, says Selvik. – Who is this empress then? – Queen Farah was a kind of celebrity in her time. He was a person you could often read about in international celebrity magazines. Empress Farah Diba and Shah Muhammed Reza Pahlavi. Photo: RANDY TAYLOR / AP – A paradox that he takes a picture with her Khurshidi’s family was among those who experienced this oppression and had to flee Iran because of the Shah. They were active in political parties that worked for independence in the Kurdish areas of Iran. Khurshidi believes it is a paradox that the president of the Storting, who represents a democratic country, allows himself to be photographed with the former empress. – My grandfather had to flee Iran because of the shah, says Norwegian Kurdish Khurshidi. – Do you think Gharahkhani should apologize for the photo? – It must be up to him. I’m not going to interfere, but I think it was wrong of him to take the picture with her. Has been criticized Former Storting President Masud Gharahkhani has been presented for the criticism directed at him in this article. He chooses not to answer questions from news about why he took the picture, but says in a text message that he hopes the young people in Iran win their fight for democracy and freedom. This is not the first time the president of the Storting has drawn criticism for expressing opinions about Iranian politics. In the days following the murder of Mahsa Amini in 2022, the president of the Storting engaged on Twitter/X, where he shared his support for the demonstrations in the country. The Speaker of the Storting, Masud Gharahkhani, sends a greeting in Persian to the Iranian people. There were several people who criticized it, including Michael Tetzschner, parliamentary representative from the Conservative Party. He believed that Gharahkhani should not comment on this by virtue of his role as president of the Storting. Tetzschner feared that the Iranian authorities could perceive his personal opinions as Norway’s official, political opinion. Iran expert Kjetil Selvik is not surprised that people are provoked by the image. Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes / news Iran expert Kjetil Selvik believes there may be a possibility that the Iranian authorities perceive it that way. – How do you think the Iranian authorities perceive this image? – It can easily be perceived as the Norwegian authorities working with their enemies, says Selvik.
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