By removing a despot who was the main obstacle to democracy, the Tunisian revolt has immense importance for the Arab and Islamic world. Above all, it has opened up a future which, due to the iron grip of an authoritarian political system backed by European and Arab governments, had been...

Abolhassan Bani-Sadr was the first president of Iran after the 1979 revolution. He now lives in exile outside Paris. This article was written exclusively for the Global Viewpoint Network. It has been translated from the French. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second inauguration is scheduled for Aug. 5.

PARIS --...