Oral history books of Foreign Affairs Ministry criticized and reviewed

It is difficult to work in area of oral history

Faezeh Sasanikhah
Translated by M. B. Khoshnevisan

2017-10-31

According to the website of Iranian Oral History, a meeting for criticizing and reviewing the oral history books of Iranian Foreign Ministry revolving around three topics was held in Tuesday afternoon 17^th of October 2017 in the Gathering Hall of the Library of the Foreign Ministry. The meeting was attended by authors of such books, a number of critics and a number of the ministry’s employees and former ambassadors. The topics were “Political and Diplomatic Memories from Reformist Government”, “From Tripoli to Damascus” and “Diplomacy in Action”.   

Being pioneer in area of oral history

In the beginning, Hassan Ali Bakhshi, the person in charge of the Scientific and Research Group of the Foreign Ministry and organizer of the show explained about the activities of the ministry in the area of oral history and said, “The first oral history book of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Islamic Republic of Iran was published in 2015. We started writing oral history books since this date. The first book is titled “Diplomacy of Reformist Government in Arab World in 1380 (2001-2002)” by Dr. Seyed Mohammad Sadr. He has written his memoirs since 2001. It can be said that it is the turning point of Iran’s oral history in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

We carried out extensive activity in the area of oral history in Research Department of the Education and Research Center of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in 2016. Fortunately, we published six other books in that year. They were unveiled in the 29^th Tehran’ International Book Fair.”

Regarding the subject of the books and how it can be worked in this area, he said, “Our books are published in two types: personality-oriented and subject-oriented. And the work is also carried out in two ways: internally and externally. This means that we do the oral history work either by ourselves or through a deal with advertising and academic centers. But the year 1396 (2017) was the peak of our activities in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, because we started working on 20 books or memories which from five to ninety-five percent of their works have been carried out.” 

Our books were warmly welcomed in this year’s book fair. The development that has happened in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is that the Scientific Group of Oral History has been set up with the presence of three well-known researchers of other organizations as well as the experts and authorities of the Education Center of the ministry. The thing which has happened for oral history in general is that the Islamic Republic of Iran’s government passed a bill last year according to which the establishment of the oral history of government institutions and organizations became compulsory. This caused the institutions and organizations to pay more attention to oral history but it is our honor to announce that the oral history of Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the pioneer of all government organizations and institutions, and according to the accurate information I have, other ministries have not compiled and published any book in this field. After the ratification of the bill, other organizations have resorted to set up and launch oral history departments and this is an outstanding advantage for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”. 

Ali Bakhshi said, “Iran is among few countries which has oral history. In the second part, we tried to continue our programs on the basis of oral history. We did our best to keep in touch with the guardians of this area such as the Art Center and the Islamic Revolution Documents Center. It is difficult to work in the area of oral history since it is connected to red lines. We tried to write and compile our works in a way that they were not misused by others. Of course, there are solutions in this regard."

Paying attention to martyrs of Foreign Affairs Ministry

In continuation, he referred to the martyrs of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and stipulated, "The wiring of memories of the martyrs of Foreign Affairs Ministry is one of our priorities. Some friends in the University of Imam Sadeq (PBUH) suggested to write about the life of martyr Ghazanfar Rokn Abadi and we agreed some 80 percent of which has been carried out. Also, one of our other priorities is to write the memoirs of veteran diplomats such as Sheikh al-Eslam and Shams Ardekani."

In the end, Ali Bakhshi pointed, "One of the goals of oral history is to transfer experience. Translation of books is supposed to be one of our other programs in the future. One of our goals is also to boost the archive of the Foreign Ministry the main goal of which is not to write necessarily and just part of it will be written." 

Writing of memories as daily notes                    

In continuation, Dr. Seyed Mohammad Sadr referred to the significance of oral history in the Foreign Ministry and said, "Oral history was missed in the Foreign Ministry, because the ministry is one of state ministries through which many words, documents, analysis and viewpoints can be said and brought up. At present, the Foreign Ministry leads other ministries. One of the reasons behind this is the attempts made by the friends. And the other one is the appeal of the ministry for history. In other countries, the ministers and ambassadors write their memoirs, but this has been missed in Iran. I wish this process is continued in Iran for years so that the diplomats, researchers, historians and the public can use it."

Regarding how his memoirs were written, he said, "Oral history or memory-writing is carried out in different ways. Some people write their memoirs and important issues regularly on a daily basis. This is excellent, because it is more documented and accurate, and the historians refer to it; especially if they are referred to with documents. Those who write on a daily basis, their memories can amount to several volumes. The second group are those who publish the important events during their political or managing life. The memoirs of the third group are scattered notes and the memoirs of the fourth group are merely relied on mind in which the individual brings up a period of his or her service. My method of work was all four above cases.

I started memory-telling not memory-writing in 1996 for the first time. The Islamic Revolution Documents Center asked for memories of the Islamic revolution. I remembered good memoires of that period. I expressed whatever I remembered from the revolution time. This process took some eight months. My memoirs since birthday to the period of the Islamic revolution and till the end of March 1986 during which I was the Deputy of Foreign Ministry for European and American Affairs were published in this book. The continuation of my memoirs is from 1985 to 1989 concurrent with my service in the Interior Ministry. Of course this part of memories has yet to be published. My first book about the Foreign Ministry memoirs is related to the year 1380 (2001-2002), the second one to 1376 (1997-1998) and the third one to 1378 (1999-2000). In fact, the time order has not been observed and is vice versa. Before 2001, I wrote scattered notes in the annual calendar for memory-writing and following my works. The reason why my first book is related to the year 2001 is that Dr. Sadeq Kharrazi told me in that year, "Now that you are writing your memories, why don’t you do it regularly?" Dr. Kharrazi gave me ten volumes of special notebooks and since then I have written my memoirs very regularly. After the book's publication and encouragement of my friends, I collected the scattered memoirs I had the result of which is related to the year 1376 (1997-98). Then I continued and wrote memoirs of the year 1377 (1998-99). At present I have started the memoirs of the years 1378 and 1379 (1999-2001) that if they are published, I won't print any other book till the next five years."

Paying attention to privacy of red lines

Another speaker of the meeting was Mohammad Reza Baqeri, the current International Affairs Deputy Head of the Supreme Leader's Representative Office and the writer of the book "From Tripoli to Damascus". About how he wrote his book, he said, "Others were encouraging me to write my memories for a long time, but I did not find the opportunity to do this because I was very busy. After retirement, I found the opportunity to write about the countries I had been."

Former Iranian ambassador to Libya, Kuwait, Turkey and Syria added, "The rule is that the memory-writer takes a look at the documents of the Foreign Ministry and his notes and a system is set up, but due to the type of mission in which there were more confidential issues than the normal ones, I had to be careful to write the useful points and at the same time the normal not confidential ones. We still cannot make public many issues about Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and even Kuwait. With the permission of the ministry, I may be able to write about some issues regarding Kuwait – related to three years and three months and three days ago when I was fired from Kuwait – or the issues related to Turkish Kurds and what happened to me in Turkey. I may deal with them in the books' republication. But some issues regarding Syria, Lebanon and the council of the Lebanese Hezbollah are complicated and cannot be written. We went to Lebanon every week. Martyr Rokn Abadi accompanied me and had a great contribution to these missions which still cannot be written."

About the writing of his memoirs, the former Director-General of Central and Northern Europe of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Deputy Head of the ministry for Arab and African Affairs continued, "Many readers are not bothered to read large books. I tried to write my book in my own style and their contents are short, simple and informative. It was important for me that the youths know what the embassies do. In the attachment part, I tried to present documents. For instance, Niloofar Yalchin had questioned our system. I write this in the book so that the readers know how we responded to her. However, I believe that there are deficiencies in the book about which can be written more and there are lots of things that can be eliminated."

Educational approach in writing memories

Dr. Bahador Aminian, former Iranian Ambassador to Romania also said, "It is very good that the publication of any book is regarded as an event. Each of us live in our own world and we can get out of this restricted world only when we look at the world form others' perspective, this is outstanding especially in our work. The world of diplomacy is different, very evolving and dynamic. It has hard and attractive aspects about which few information exists. Being a diplomat of Islamic Republic of Iran has a unique experience which is different with other diplomats. If these experiences are registered, it will be good for the whole country and my memory book is important from this aspect."

The Dean of the International Relations College explained about the process of writing his memoirs and said, "I had made an appointment with my students to keep in touch with them after leaving. During this period, I sent them educational materials through e-mail and for explaining them, I wrote a memory of myself and sent for the students as a lesson. We worked on some 70 subjects. After returning, I was asked to complete my work and I did so. After a while, I saw that this was a self-explanation. I added another paragraph entitled "What mistakes we made and what were the shortages?" Of course, this was done by observing administrative issues and other issues of the Foreign Ministry. Sometimes, we have to make a decision in critical conditions, but on the contrary, the Europeans act very legally. I spoke about experiences in this field. I thought I fell short of humorous experiences but I saw that it was not correct."

The writer of the book "Diplomacy in Action" said, "The aim was to make the public familiar with the world of being a diplomat and training the young generation. It is not supposed that costly personal experiences are repeated for the young generation. The writings cause the experiences to stay in the organization and the young people use them."  

In the end, he pointed out, "The subjects we had worked with my students numbered 70 or more that I reduced them to 47. I wrote them with such titles as gift, formality, what does media mean? And what does diplomacy mean?"   

Criticizing three books

In continuation, Mahmoud Fazel criticized and evaluated the memory book of Seyed Mohammad Sadr, and said, "Oral history in the past three decades has undergone a critical and progressive trend. Its characteristic is the wringing of memories done mainly by political dignitaries. Oral history of ministries is a significant project. It is also very important to document the hidden and visible angles of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. The published books reflect only part of diplomacy and the publication of any book clarifies an angle. In writing his memoirs, Sadr has had order and seriousness. In his three volumes of book, he has less referred to his personal and pre-revolution memoirs."

He continued, "His first book is the result of 18 hours of interview, covering the most important events in the area of Arab countries. The second one is entitled "Political and Diplomatic Memoirs in 1376 (1997-98)" which we concurrently witness change of linguistic discourse. Special attention has been paid to the file of kidnapping of Imam Mussa Sadr in the reform period. Punctiliousness, gaining direct experiences and accuracy in observations has developed the narrator’s mind so much that contribute to him in different periods. He has tried to express his memoirs honestly. He has not intended to revenge anyone including the rivals, but in some cases, his interpretation may not be the same as others. Also the narrator has talked about the weakness of his colleagues very little.    

This critic added, “Dealing with domestic issues or managing differences or various managing interpretations are among his strong points. The three books are beyond historical greetings and the photos at the end of the book have added to its attractiveness.”

Javid Ghorban Ali, former Iranian Ambassador to Algeria and South Africa criticized “From Tripoli to Damascus”. He first stipulated, “There are differences between oral history and memory-telling. Oral history can be a series of characteristics in history from the language the interviewee and with the interviewer’s innovation and studies. Here, there is a difference between the books reviewed. The books have been written with three methods. I recommend that the oral history department should have a plan for organizing these works and criteria should be set so that they follow a pattern. These criteria should have educational aspect, because the memories are not for today, they are supposed to be used tomorrow.”

He continued, “I and Mr. Bagheri started and ended our work in the Foreign Ministry together. His book has two main parts; one is related to the content of his narration and the other part refers to how he entered the foreign Ministry and his short mission in Libya and then in Kuwait, Turkey and his incomplete mission in Syria. Apart from educational tips, they have referred to good points regarding our relation with these countries. Of course, it is not possible to bring up confidential issue, but historical points can be used which can be seen in memories part of Kuwait and Turkey. The point that I should say is that due to reasons, all three mission except the mission in Libya remained incomplete. I ask Mr. Bagheri to open these far from being confidential and put them in the subcategory of educational aspects. For instance, it should be explained what is the meaning of the third wandering missile? Or the reason behind expulsion from Turkey should be explained. Skipping some issues is not correct. He has valuable experiences in Turkey especially in confronting with Iranians which are among educational cases for others.”   

In criticizing “Diplomacy in Action”, Sara Mashahdi, the PhD student in the field of International Relations in Azad University stated, “Dr. Aminian’s book is a self-written collection from his experiences in Romanian embassy from the beginning until a long time after his settlement namely some two years. I was also one of them at the time of correspondence with his students. The book is in the atmosphere of diplomatic education in general. It tries to express in details more than anything else the issues related to an ambassador and the issues he faced with during work. These are effective in promoting the field conception of the students and audience, and in a way, document the activities of a diplomat. There is a prominent case in his work which differentiates it with other oral history works. The events have been written by him immediately or with one day or one week interval and have been described and analyzed later which have also been published in the book. This work has been written in the moment and because of this, it won't be forgotten."

He added, "Dealing with various subjects is another merit of the book. The narrator's concern in this book has been the transfer of experience. The tone's book is friendly. What has come in the book is in fact initial e-mails between the professor and student, and official framework is seen less. This is good from one aspect but in terms of editing points, the text is hesitant between official and friendly state."

Sara Mashahadi said, "The writing of the memories is related to the time when Islamic Republic of Iran was in a special situation due to sanctions and the exerted policies. Dr. Aminian was settled in a country which was not in the priority for the Islamic Republic and it was exposed to more limitations at that time, so it is important to know how an ambassador could pass the limits, and this work demands doubled effort. Efforts beyond sanctions for creating economic and cultural relations is among the book's attractive points which may not be seen in other oral history books. In part of the book, the gaffes are addressed, showing that any relation has a behind-the-scene too. In the beginning of each chapter, a sentence from the elders of diplomacy has been brought which has added to the book's attractiveness. This book could have been shorter, if some explanations in the footnote were deleted".

In the end, she pointed out, "It was better that two points were considered in the book. One is the role of the family and wife of diplomat which might have needed to be brought up and transformations within the family and in relation with environment were expressed. 

Efforts for writing the whole memories

In continuation of the meeting, Dr. Javad Mansouri, an Iranian veteran diplomat said, "You should not have any consideration in writing memoirs. They have to be written completely, and edited in compilation finally. If you study seven volumes of the memories of Asadollah Alam (Prime Minister under the shah's regime), you see that the most secret matters have been written. He wrote his memoirs every night from 11 to 12 AM. Then he entrusted his memoirs to a bank in Switzerland paid the cost and said, "Publish them ten years after my death. The next point is that literary and technical aspects such as writing of sources, names of people and listing should be observed."

It is necessary to observe methods of historiography

Regarding memories of Seyed Mohammad Sadr, Morteza Mirdar, the Deputy Head of Oral History Department of Islamic Revolution Documents Center said, "Dr. Sadr's memories are multidimensional. His memories in the area of domestic developments and important events in 1360s (1980s) should be included, and we miss such subjects in the memories. I interviewed all of the foreign ministers. The extent of matters and subjects are so high that a person feels feeble. We should make more attempt in this regard. The methods of historiography and compilation should be observed in the works and the contents should not be presented to the society in raw form, because they will be criticized later."

Paying attention to national interests in publication of memories

Dr. Morteza Daman Pak Jami was the last speaker of the meeting. He considered the meeting as one of the best ones in criticizing books, and said, "One of the goals of holding the meeting is to transfer experience from the previous generation to young diplomats and this is a great achievement."

The Deputy Head of the Center for International Education and Research of the Foreign Affairs Ministry added, "What has so far been carried out in the field of oral history of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Islamic Republic of Iran, was not a simple work in an organization which for various reasons including security, national interests in publishing documents should be considered. We tried to break the taboos and behind-the-scene of politics were opened to some extent as much as possible. The shortcomings of the early works entered the publication market were much, but through using the experience of the previous works and the experiences existing in the country in the area of oral history, we tried to promote the next works."

In the end, he pointed out, "The main goal in oral history is not publication. The goal is to register, record, and keep the things which are not said and written, and the priority is with the first generation who have more experience and maybe one day leave this world. We had been licensed to interview the late Ibrahim Yazdi but it did not. Our second goal is transfer of experience and the third one publication. We are supposed to hold face-to-face meetings for narration of memories. Perhaps if we did not start the work of memory-writing with Dr. Mohammad Sadr, the taboo-breaking did not happen and we could not break this obstacle."

On the sideline of the meeting for criticizing and reviewing the oral history books of Iranian Foreign Ministry, an exhibition from the published works had been held by the ministry.