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Iran - Day 12
Author: BobR    Date: 06/24/2009 12:20:28

It's been twelve days since the Iranian people voted. We've seen the protests go from violent to peaceful, to violent again, the violence initially coming from the protesters, then shifting to the government forces. It's a standoff on a national scale, both sides waiting for the other side to blink. It appears that won't happen any time soon.

The supreme leader in Iran (the Ayatollah) is not about to admit he made a mistake and has stated he will not give in to pressure to change or nullify the results of the election:
"On the current situation, I was insisting and will insist on implementation of the law. That means, we will not go one step beyond the law," Khamenei said on state television. "For sure, neither the system nor the people will give in to pressures at any price." He used language that indicated he was referring to domestic pressures.
[...]
Khamenei said in a stern sermon broadcast to the nation Friday that Ahmadinejad was the legitimate winner. He told opposition supporters to halt their protests and blamed the U.S., Britain and other foreign powers for instigating unrest.

In an apparent effort to ensure that his position is enforced, Mousavi has been put under 24-hour guard:
The Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi is under 24-hour guard by secret police and no longer able to speak freely to supporters, according to the film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Mr Makhmalbaf, 52, an informal spokesman abroad for the protest in Iran, said that Mr Mousavi was not under arrest but "he has security agents, secret police with him all the time. He has to be careful what he says."

In a telephone interview, Mr Makhmalbaf, the director of the 2001 film Kandaha, denied suggestions that the protests against the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were losing steam.

"The regime, arguably, is losing ground, not the protests," he said. "Ordinary Iranians are openly rejecting the legitimacy and power of Ayatollah Khamanei. That is entirely new, unheard of."

Not only are "ordinary Iranians" openly rejecting the power of Ayatollah Khamanei, so are some clerics:
A photo showing Iranian clerics prominently participating in an anti-government protest speaks volumes about the new face of Iran's opposition movement.

In a blatant act of defiance, a group of Mullahs took to the streets of Tehran, to protest election results that returned incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power.

Whether these clerics voted for Ahmadinejad or one of the opposition candidates is unknown. What is important here, is the decision to march against the will of Iran's supreme leader who called the results final and declared demonstrations illegal.

President Obama has said before (and repeated again yesterday at his press conference) that the United States will not meddle in the affairs of other governments. Meddling, however, seems to be the goal of certain neocons, according to Chris Hayes:
"I want to make sure I understand both sides in this Republican fight," Maddow said. "What is it that John McCain and Lindsey Graham and all those guys actually want the White House to do?"

Hayes responded, "You know, that‘s a really good question. I mean, I think in the long mythology of neoconservativism, there is this notion that, you know, Reagan single-handedly brought down the entire Soviet empire because he said, 'Tear down this wall,' and that somehow if you are like really willful and chest-thumping that the world will sort of bend to your will."

"So I imagine they want, you know, sterner rhetoric," Hayes added. "They want some kind of escalation. Ward(ph) hopes that they don‘t want some kind of military action although you never because people have been advocating all sorts of crazy things vis a vis Iran for a long time. So I don‘t know."
(video at link)

As if on cue, FAUX News agrees that sterner words are better:
After the press conference, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, appearing on Fox News Channel, attacked Obama for "pretending" to be consistent on Iran, although he applauded him for talking harder now. Nearly everyone on Fox agreed that Obama had changed his tone because he used words like "appalled" and "outrage."
:rolleyes2:

Iran accuses Britain and the U.S. of meddling already, and - considering our sordid past - there's reason to suspect we probably are. I just hope that when all is said and done (the sooner the better), the will of the Iranian people is carried out, whether or not it is what those in power outside of Iran want.

 

87 comments (Latest Comment: 06/25/2009 03:07:24 by clintster)
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