Former Sacramento State professor and Iran’s first ambassador to the United Nations, Mansour Farhang, discussed the political strides made towards democracy in Middle Eastern countries and the possibilities of the future of Iraq Thursday.

Despite years of what Farhang describes government rule through theocratic governments in the Middle East, Farhang has seen a change in the political attitudes and opinions of the people of Iran in the past 15 years.

“The people are discussing independent and concrete thoughts about democracy and new written material about democracy is being released,” Farhang said.

With Iran turning into a democratic nation, Farhang said that U.S. involvement in the Middle has both helped and hurt Iran’s position.

With the fall of the Taliban government in Afghanistan and the removal of Saddam Hussein in Iraq, Farhang said Iran has benefited in maintaining a democratic government by relieving hostile tension in the Middle East.

“The fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan was God’s gift to Iran, and the fall of Saddam Hussein in Iraq was like a Christmas gift to Iran,” Farhang said.

But if events in Iraq lead to further turmoil, Farhang said the best case scenario for Iraq would be a government with a weak center and a number of independent and self-governed districts.

He said the worst case scenario would be a full-scale civil war that would eventually engulf the entire Middle East.

Joanna Gautney, a senior majoring in anthropology, said she found Farhang’s comments to be intriguing.

“I thought it was very interesting that he said the best case scenario was a loose centralized government in Iraq and the worst case scenario of a civil war that would turn into a regional war,” Gautney said.

Sacramento State’s Iranian and Middle Eastern Studies Center sponsored the event, which took place in the University Union Hinde Auditorium.

Farhang taught in the Government Department at Sacramento State in the 1970s, and became an adviser to the Iranian foreign ministry and ambassador to the United Nations following the 1979 revolution in Iran, according to a press release.

Farhang has written two books and several articles on politics in the Middle East and is currently working on his third book, “A Theology in Power: The Iranian Revolution.”

William Dorman, a Sac State professor of government, co-authored a book with Farhang and described his experiences writing with the former ambassador.

“We agreed on far more than we ever disagreed upon,” Dorman said.

Matthew Beltran can be reached at [email protected]