"The government began expelling reporters, and those that were in the country such as me were ordered not to leave our office and almost all of my sources were jailed," Fathi said in an interview with The Dartmouth. "It was a coup d'tat."
During the lecture, "Uprising in Egypt and Iran, Similarities and Differences," Fathi compared the recent Egyptian uprising that resulted in the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak with the uprising following the disputed election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009. She contrasted the two uprisings to explain why a six-month long protest in Iran failed to help the citizens' achieve their political demands while protestors in Egypt forced Mubarak to resign in less than a month.
Many of the successes and failures of both revolutions rested upon the coverage of the events, because while "dissenting" reporters were thrown out of Iran, the Egyptian government gave reporters tourist visas, Fathi said.
The Iranian uprising stemmed from a disputed election in which the incumbent president, Ahmadinejad, defeated the expected victor and "more popular" reformist politician, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. The Egyptian uprising, meanwhile, stemmed from a desire to completely overthrow the leader, Fathi said.
Since the Iranian administration includes judicial, clerical and military institutions, there would not have been a power vacuum if Ahmadinejad had been removed from his position, according to Fathi. The president gains authority and legitimacy from a Shiite clerical system in which Iranians "consider the regime as religious" as well as a military force called the Revolutionary Guards, Fathi said.
The Iranian protestors were unsuccessful largely because they lacked a single goal or agenda, she said.
"What are people supposed to do to come out in the streets, to overthrow who, to overthrow what?" Fathi said. "It is not one guy like Mubarak we are talking about a regime like an octopus."
Focusing on differences in governmental restrictions and economic and military capabilities, Fathi linked relevant factors to the degree of success experienced by the Egyptian and Iranian protestors.
Following the Iranian protests, the government further tightened its grip over journalistic content, according to Fathi.
"Since 2009, the landscape [in Iran] has changed the number of independent newspapers has dwindled," she said.
Internet access in Iran is also restricted, which disrupts the spread of information and removes an important platform for democratic discourse, according to Fathi.
In Egypt, the government never restricted Internet access, which allowed for the continued exchange of pro-rebellion discourse, she said.
Groups also entered the revolutionary efforts differently, according to Fathi. While Egyptian protestors were joined by labor unions, civil service employees and low-ranking government officials, the working class joined Iranian protests on a more individual basis, she said. Union members and government and civil employees largely stayed clear of protests in Iran due to fear of job loss and financial ramifications, Fathi said.
"Workers have a grip on the economy and must join the activists in any uprising as the tipping point that leads to success," Fathi said.
The Iranian government prevented the delivery of food and other necessities to protestors while Egypt did not pursue such a policy, according to Fathi.
"Protestors cannot camp out in a square without provisions," she said.
Iranian officials' "heavy-handed" response to the uprising stemmed from the Revolutionary Guards, a military branch founded after the Iranian Revolution in 1979 to prevent dissident insurgents, Fathi said.
Following the 2009 presidential election in which Ahmadinejad retained his position, the Revolutionary Guard's influence over economics, politics, military and social administration reached new heights, Fathi said.
Although Western nations have the ability to help improve the political situation in Iran, trade bans with Iran are ultimately futile, she said.
"You can find any American product still in Iran regardless of the ban," Fathi said. "The Revolutionary Guards control the black market and after 30 years of sanctions, Iran has found ways to go about the system."
Fathi a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University, a year-long position offered to midcareer journalists who have made significant contributions in their field.
