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The Lesley Stahl Interview | 06/23/2009 3:55 pm

The Lesley Stahl Interview: Christiane Amanpour, at the Height of the Iranian Election Crisis

Image courtesy of CNN

Editor’s Note: CNN Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour joined Lesley Stahl this morning for a wOw exclusive interview, in which these incredible journalists cover topics ranging from reporting on the crisis in Iran to the counterintuitively dominant role of women there to Christiane’s Iranian upbringing with her "accidental refugee" family. Read on.

LESLEY STAHL: Christiane, thank you so much for joining us this morning. I understand that you were in Iran and basically got thrown out. Is that true?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: Well, look, the way it works is the Iranian officials give you a work permit. It usually lasts either a week or ten days. So I stayed for about ten days and I was asked to leave as it expired. You know, obviously CNN is a very visible, very sensitive news organization over there. So it’s closely monitoring, you know, everything we do and everything we say. And you probably noticed, in the last week or so, our correspondent on the ground has been banished from reporting, and also the government there, the foreign ministry there yesterday held a government-sponsored press conference accusing CNN and the BBC and others of promoting unrest. And this was obviously something that we at the network reject categorically. But it doesn’t offer restrictions on what we’re able to do.

LESLEY: Well obviously you’re watching the situation. You’re in London right now. I want to know your read. It’s the morning of Tuesday, June 23. What’s your read of what you’re seeing right now? Is this thing fizzling out in your opinion?

CHRISTIANE: Well, look, I’m not going to make a judgment … because you never know what could happen and what could spark anything. And as a reporter I prefer to just tell you what we saw. What we saw was extraordinary – unprecedented in 30 years. A lot of my reporting, which I’ve done over the years, suggests that the young people in Iran really do want their voice to be heard. And the truth of the matter is, this did not start as an attempt at revolution. In fact, many people in the West who would like to see regime change, including your own United States government, have always been frustrated and wondered what it is. Why is it that the people of Iran rise up against their government? The truth is, the so-called Green Movement, the Mousavi Movement, was all about reform from within. Mousavi himself is one of the establishment, a longtime revolutionary who was prime minister during some of the most difficult years during the Iran-Iraq war. I think that he is simply the vehicle for the young people’s frustration, for their desire for freedom, for their desire for reform. And who knows where it’s going to end? But if you compare it to the revolution in 1979, they had a leader. His name was Ayatollah Khomeini. He was exiled and he led the revolution from outside, and he tapped into what was a popular revolt. This right now is not that, at this precise moment.

LESLEY: What about the women? I am so struck by how the face of this current movement, more than any other factor, is dominated by women. Obviously this young girl who was killed, Neda Soltani, but also Mousavi’s wife, who campaigned with him, is a major figure, and was a university chancellor at some point. Even Rafsanjani’s daughter, who was arrested. How big is the women’s movement, first of all, in Iran? And how much of a factor have they been in keeping this going?

22 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

JudyK
With cell phones and e-mail and Twitter, et al, women are making themselves heard.  The old ways are being made public and men cant hide their controlling ways without the worlds judgment.  I always thought that womens input in political and formerly considered mens jobs would make men have to modernize and not just go with the old ways.  Todays global world is bringing all the dirty laundry to the forefront in any Country and thats a good thing.
By JudyK on 06/23/2009 4:48 pm
DianaT
Christine Amanpour is one of the most dedicated and courageous female correspondents in the world.  And, one of the most reliable.
By DianaT on 06/23/2009 6:24 pm
WowedbywowOwowNYC
Kudos to Leslie on a great interview. Amanpour has guts and integrity.
By WowedbywowOwowNYC on 06/23/2009 6:55 pm
samantagebremiceal
i loved it  amanpour is one person i belive has integrity and knows how to delv the news sad not many ppl left like that even in cnn the only one in her class is the host of gps on cnn/thx u..
By samantagebremiceal on 06/23/2009 7:53 pm
MaggieW

Christiane and Lesley… two magificent women who tell it like it is.  A few weeks back, I watched Ann Curry in Iran. ( pre election).  Many things I found interesting.  First, so many of the youth not only spoke English but were fluent.  How so?  Yo develop fluency in any language calls for much dialogue. Also, it was so clear then, their voices  were filled with agitation and wanting to be heard…. and for good reason. 

The young woman who was so senselessly killed was taking singing lessons underground.  Women are not allowed to sing in public.  One young couple interviewed by Ann spoke of how they were not allowed to hold hands in public, yet as the cameras rolled, there were many young lovers seated in parks and just strollling.. hand in hand.

It was so obvious there was much discontent before the June 12 election.  The election was the vehicle needed to spark their outrage on many fronts.  The Iranian regime is nuts to try to kill their voices on Tweeter and Facebook.  They know how to get around it.  One British tech said, " One out  of 3 of the best techs in Silicone Valley is Iranian."

By MaggieW on 06/23/2009 7:58 pm
sibelledaubigne
Why would some posts be deleted for recognizing Fareed Zakaria as a strong and top international journalist in the US ? No, Lesley Stahl and Christianne Amanpour are NOT TOP international journalists. Amanpour for different reasons could’nt get Fareed Zakaria’s position on CNN. While i respect her very much, she is a bit "Passee".
By sibelledaubigne on 06/23/2009 8:03 pm
marylous
i respect and admire christiane amanpour, lesley stahl, and fareed zakaria. we need them all. i seek out their work, even to the extent of coming to wow to read it.
By marylous on 06/23/2009 8:45 pm
PatriciaM1
Same for me Mary Lou S, all are very intelligent, seasoned journalists, something ALOT of these WoW posters are not used to.  ;-)
By PatriciaM1 on 06/23/2009 10:23 pm
DawnSmith
I received this interview in 2 parts on my email. I commented on the first one I read and now that I’ve read it completely I have to say one thing. I truly appreciate a journalist who gives the facts and not their own interpretation. The news media is guilty of spin doctoring. Sway public opinion one way and then the other so that after awhile nobody cares anymore. It becomes too complicated to find the truth beneath the lies.  Americans are watching their country go through great turmoil right now. Recession, depression, people losing their jobs, their homes, their health. As much as I feel bad for other countries that have civil unrest I think we as Americans had better turn the mirror toward ourselves.We need to fix what’s wrong with us before we fix what we perceive is wrong with you.
By DawnSmith on 06/23/2009 10:50 pm
phyllisDoylePepe

Dawn:  Re: your last sentence: We have to do both. We are all in this together––even those tiny little islands that we forget are there and yet may have one of the thousands of bases we have situated all over the world. We are ONE as  the that song told us years ago.

Interesting interview. C A is one of the best and we are mighty lucky to have her. 

By phyllisDoylePepe on 06/24/2009 11:03 am
JHolmes
"…the more foreign news and the more understanding about our complicated world for Americans, the better." Definitely need to have on the ground reporting in other countries to better understand what is going on outside the U.S.
By JHolmes on 06/23/2009 11:34 pm
MichelleMehlhorn

Christiane Amanpour is a such a remarkable, valuable and refreshing reporter.  The only disagreement I have with her is that there is, indeed, another place for in depth reporting on TV and that is The Newshour.  Every day they have balanced, in depth discussions.

Michelle Mehlhorn

By MichelleMehlhorn on 06/24/2009 12:43 am
KristyB
I’ve always enjoyed Ms. Amanpour’s reports and documentaries.  She’s truly talented! 
By KristyB on 06/24/2009 11:11 am
KatyDidWells

I’ve always had deep respect for Christiane Amanpour.  If listening to or watching the news and I hear her name, I stop and listen/watch everytime.

I am firmly in the camp of wishing all journalists kept their opinions to themselves.  It’s called the "news", not the opinion hour - just tell me what I need to know so I can form my own opinion. 

This may sound cynical, but I think there are a great number of people who have stopped thinking for themselves, simply because there are so many people in the media willing to do it for them.

I’m not sure where and when it changed along the way, but I’m sorry to see it so. 

By KatyDidWells on 06/24/2009 1:11 pm
MaurineH
I found this interview very moving, especially since Christiane Amanpour was born in Iran and is obviously deeply concerned about the future of her native country. But it is her clear insistence on speaking to the facts and not allowing biased interpretation of events to cloud her reporting that impresses me most. She is correct in criticizing the sort of reporting we see so frequently on TV now, interpretive and politically biased. This reporting seeks only to skew the facts rather than simply presenting them to the public. Amanpour has always been successful in divorcing her own opinions from her reporting assignments, and this is the reason I have respected her for years. She is a strong, intelligent, courageous reporter. She educates us. And, furthermore, she is a woman. We need more women like Christiane Amanpour covering world events.
By MaurineH on 06/24/2009 1:47 pm