Canadian hero shares views on Mideast
During the Iranian Revolution in 1979, a group of students took over the American embassy in Tehran. The new Islamic Republic then held 52 embassy staff and other Americans hostage for 444 days.
Fortunately, six Americans managed to escape before being grabbed and found refuge in the Canadian embassy. Canadian Ambassador Kenneth D. Taylor helped hide the group for three months and, eventually, spirited them out of the country to safety. When the news broke, Taylor became a Canadian – and American – hero.
Taylor related his views on the revolution, along with a myriad of other topics surrounding past and present Iran and the Middle East, to 250 Concordia alumni, students, faculty members and others on September 21. His talk, called “Iran – The Middle East Power,” was part of the Henri Habib Distinguished Lecture Series and a featured event of the university’s Homecoming ’11 festivities.
Faculty of Arts and Science Dean Brian Lewis introduced the former ambassador to the audience, which included Habib, a Concordia Distinguished Professor Emeritus. Taylor recalled talking to one of Habib’s political science classes back in 1983. He added that the same year Habib arrived at Concordia – 1960 – Taylor had just begun his foreign service career.
Nearly two decades later, Taylor found himself in Tehran during the historic revolution. “It stunned everyone,” he admitted. “The revolution introduced a hybrid: a republic and Islamic government.”
Taylor described the rebellion as one of the three major Mideast events of the 20th century, along with the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the creation of the State of Israel.
He did not pass judgement on the current regime as he discussed its controversial political leadership and nuclear pursuit. “Iranians feel passionate about their country,” he said, adding that “it was, you could say, the world’s first superpower,” since the Persian Empire emerged in the sixth century BC. Taylor contended that Iran will remain a central player in the region thanks to its huge oil reserves and it location at the “crossroads of the world.”
Taylor clearly enjoyed seeing the world through his foreign service; he advised the university students to “graduate, get a passport and leave town.”
The lecture ended with an audience question-and-answer session moderated by Concordia Political Science professor and chair Csaba Nikolenyi.
Watch former Canadian ambassador Kenneth D. Taylor's Henri Habib Distinguished Lecture, called “Iran – The Middle East Power”, delivered on September 21, 2011:
Related links:
• Henri Habib Distinguished Lecture site
• Homecoming