Is Iran’s Minister of Culture Leaving Office?
For his critics, Minister of Culture Ali Jannati was a man of back-to-back retreats. There was no consensus, however, on what he was retreating from. Liberals criticized him for giving ground on basic rights of the Iranian art and literature community, while hardliners believed he has been compromising the red lines of the Islamic Revolution and its cultural values.
Jannati was an unlikely candidate for the portfolio of Minister of Culture. He had spent nearly his entire career in public service in political and diplomatic positions: seven years as ambassador to Kuwait during Mohammad Khatami’s presidency, one year as Deputy Interior Minister for Political Affairs during the first year of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency. His term as Deputy Culture Minister in International Affairs had come to an end nearly 15 years earlier, in 1998. Rumors also had it that Jannati preferred to be introduced to the parliament as the candidate for ministry of interior. Nonetheless, he secured the fifth highest number of confidence votes from the ninth parliament, despite having vocal critics such as Hamid Rasaei, ultraconservative MP from Tehran.
Hopes for a ‘cultural opening’ under Ali Jannati turned into disillusionment a few months into his term. In one of his first challenges in the ministry, Jannati refused to authorize publication of Colonel, a novel by a towering figure of Iran’s literature, Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, whose translated version had been shortlisted for several awards overseas, and was a much-awaited piece for the literati inside the country. A stronger blow in confidence towards Jannati came when the movie “Asabani Nistam” (“I’m Not Angry”), was denied the Best Male Actress award in the 32nd Simorgh Film Festival, Iran’s equivalent of Academy Awards. Attacks by the hardliner media for the movie’s sympathy with ‘sedition’, the 2009 post-election unrest, removed all chances of the movie, even for public screening.
However, Jannati’s paramount challenge during his term has been, borrowing a term from Foreign Minister Javad Zarif’s nuclear lingo, the “manufactured” crisis over concerts. A non-issue during the eight years of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s presidency, concerts gradually turned into a battleground for Hassan Rouhani and his opponents to prove their resolution. Influential Friday prayers’ leaders across the country, and influential grand ayatollahs in the city of Qom, have hardly relented criticizing Rouhani’s administration for its insistence on holding concerts and for oblivion towards the assumed ‘moral corruption’ that they bring around. Opposition to concerts does not only target those pop musicales popular among the younger generation, but also performance by the more composed maestros of Iranian traditional musicians, among them the likes of globally-renowned Shahram Nazeri and Kayhan Kalhor.
Ten days ago, the official website of Grand Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi, reported that the influential cleric had “summoned” the chief provincial administrator of the Ministry of Culture over a musical performance in Qom, the center of Shia theological scholarship. “The Ministry of Culture is making a series of miscalculations with regards to the state of society” Ayatollah Makarem said. “[The Ministry] believes such deeds [holding concerts] serve the government well, but their adverse impact is becoming more and more clear.” The provincial official resigned a few days later.
Since early this week, Telegram® channels of Iranian websites cited rumors about Jannati’s imminent resignation, some even claiming that his letter of resignation has been handed to the president and immediately accepted. Hessamoddin Ashena, the president’s vocal cultural advisor, was named as successor to Jannati. “I can neither confirm nor deny Jannati’s resignation” Ashena said when questioned by the media, fueling speculations that the rumor may be true. Will Jannati’s final retreat be from his seat in the Ministry of Culture?
IRD/66