New York Post Amir Taheri September 13, 2006

SOME 40-odd years ago, Iranian filmmaker Shin Nazerian produced a movie about a tough guy from a rough Tehran neighborhood who ends up in New York. A comedy of the clash of cultures, it was an instant hit.

One of the first things our tough guy did on arriving in the Big Apple was to “edit” his name to Mr. Small, to reassure the natives. This week, another visitor from Tehran came to New York as part of a U.S. tour that included a session at Harvard University – and took a cue from Mr. Small.

The visitor was the former president of the Islamic Republic – Hojat al-Islam wa al-Moslemeen Sayyed Muhammad Khatami. He too, decided to “edit” his name to cut a less outlandish image with his American interlocutors. Gone was the title Hojat al-Islam wa al-Moslemeen (”Proof of Islam and of Muslims”) and the sobriquet of Sayyed (”master”) used by those who claim to be descendants of the Prophet Muhammad.

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