Mehdi Bazargan (Persian: مهدی بازرگان; September 1, 1907 – January 20, 1995) was a devout Shiite Iranian-Azeri intellectual, academic, and the head of Iran’s interim government.

A pivotal figure in the Iranian Revolution of 1979, Bazargan was appointed as the country’s first prime minister after the Revolution by ‘Ayatollah’ Khomeini in February 1979. Disillusioned by the increasingly radical direction of the revolution and Khomeini’s policies, he resigned from his position in November of the same year. Bazargan narrowly escaped an assassination attempt by the Khomeinist regime and spent his final years in Switzerland, where he passed away in 1995.

In November 1982, he expressed his frustration with the direction the ‘Islamic Revolution’ had taken in an open letter to the then-speaker of parliament ‘Ayatollah’ Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

“The government has created an atmosphere of terror, fear, revenge and national disintegration. … What has the ruling elite done in nearly four years, besides bringing death and destruction, packing the prisons and the cemeteries in every city, creating long queues, shortages, high prices, unemployment, poverty, homeless people, repetitious slogans and a dark future?” (“Khomenin’s grip appears at its tightest”. The New York Times. 21 November 1982)

However, his most striking statement, which resonated with the Iranian masses then and resonates even more today, was his insight into a sentiment that every Iranian and anyone familiar with Iran’s reality cannot ignore or deny. Even the staunchest Khomeinist, deep down, recognises it as an undeniable harsh truth.

In the year 1993, the late Mehdi Bazargan made a significant statement in an interview with the now-defunct monthly magazine Kian, which I will cite to conclude this article:

In that interview, Bazargan said:

حاصل رسالت پيامبر گرامي اسلام پس از 23 سال اين آيه بود که “و ‏رايت الناس يدخلون في دين‌الله افواجا”(و مردم را مي‌بيني که فوج فوج به دين خدا وارد می شوند) ؛ اما پس از گذشت ‏‏15 سال از انقلاب اسلامي، “و رايت الناس “يخرجون” من دين‌الله افواجا” و متاسفانه مردم ايران “خسر الدنيا و ‏الآخرة” شده‌اند

مصاحبه با مهدی بازرگان ، ماهنامه کیان، 1372

“The result of the Prophet of Islam’s mission after 23 years was this verse: ‘And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes.’ (Quran 110) However, 15 years after the ‘Islamic Revolution’, instead of people entering in multitudes, they are leaving the religion of Allah in multitudes. Unfortunately, the people of Iran have become ‘losers in this world and the Hereafter.’” (Interview with Mehdi Bazargan, Kian Monthly, 1993)

Following the publication of this interview, ‘Ayatollah’ Khamenei, who had recently assumed the position of Supreme Leader and had been in office for just over four years, responded sharply during a Friday prayer sermon in Tehran, stating, “Your world is one of misery, and your Hereafter is one of loss.”

Nearly five decades after the Iranian Revolution, anyone with a basic understanding of Iran’s religious dynamics and the general religiosity of most Shiite Iranians can decide for themselves whether Khamenei was and is delusional or if he is, in fact, a malevolent figure who fully understands that Bazargan’s statements were the truth.