The Times - Monday 3 November 1997

From Michael Theodoulou in Nicosia

PRISDENT KHATAMI of Iran has won a significant battle against Islamic hardliners by securing an exit visa for the country's leading intellectual dissident, who advocates less clerical involvement in government.

After an intense behind-the-scenes wrangle, Professor Abdolkarim Soroush was allowed at the eleventh hour to fly to Cyprus to address a conference on political Islam and the West. Professor Soroush, who studied at London University, said in Nicosia: "I am trying to give a new understanding of the content of Islam to make it more compatible with the age we are living in."

In doing so, the mild-mannered philosopher is challenging what clergy insists is their God-given right to be the sole interprets of Islam, an argument they use to justify their rule. "There cannot be any official interpretation of Islam, there cannot be any official class of interpreter of Islam", the professor said, adding that the clergy should "make room for others to have put forward their own interoperations."

Professor Soroush, 52, has been dismissed from his teaching post at a research institute and banned form speaking at Tehran University, where one of his last lectures, attended by thousands, was disrupted by mob of bearded street bullies brandishing a noose. Most newspapers dare not mention his name, let alone publish his articles. His passport was confiscated in July. Yet many of his 20 books remain bestsellers.

"He is making people think about the philosophical foundations of Islam and how people can wed Islam and democracy," said Dr Farideh Farhi, a lecturer in politics and international affairs at Tehran University. The Iranian Foreign Ministry hand assured the organisers of the Cyprus conference that Professor Soroush would be able to attend. But others said to be close to the office of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, objected even though Mr Khatami and the former President, Hashemi Rafsanjani, supported the professor. The President finally got his way, but only after the conference had begun.

"You can take it as a healthy sign," said Professor Soroush, who acknowledged that the President, said to be persona friend, hand played an important role in securing the return of his passport.

Things were looking up for intellectuals since Mr Khatami's surprise victory six months ago, but the President faced "formidable" challenges, said the reclusive professor, who has no political ambitions: "He knows what political freedom or intellectual freedom means, and he knows that there are many enemies there to restrict these freedoms."