Abdollah Nouri does not look like a dangerous counterrevolutionary. In a nation run by clerics, he ranks among the most senior, not quite an ayatullah but a hojatolislam, or "proof of Islam." Over dates and tea in his office, the diminutive religious scholar turned newspaper publisher spoke with tones of bureaucractic conformity. But his words were far from blather. "Transferring power to the people was an objective of our revolution 20 years ago," he told TIME in a rare interview. But, he added candidly, "power has a tendency to create authoritarianism."
And that kind of outspokenness is one reason the powers...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
