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3,000 Protesters Take to Streets
The stillness in Iran lasted five days--but protesters are out in full force again. Up to 3,000 protesters marched near a mosque in north Tehran on Sunday, fighting against riot police armed with tear gas and truncheons. Because of the extremely restrictive media ban in Iran, it's difficult for reports—including one of an alleged police beating of an elderly woman—to be confirmed. Those in North Tehran form a large base for defeated candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi who, at the end of last week, rejected the Guardian Council's proposal to begin a partial vote recount. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, called for national unity on Sunday, saying, "I admonish both sides not to stoke the emotions of the young or pit the people against each other...Our people are made of one fabric."
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Seadragon -
Yes, his ass is on backwards...
You cannot expect the words of a dictator to be logical, or even "truthful". He's saying what he's saying in a vain attempt to forestall the inevitable - an uprising of the people of Iran, who have been deluded into thinking they had some control over their destiny.
The Islamic revolution has been a dismal failure for all Iranians EXCEPT the ruling class, who have prospered, but the Iranian people appear to have had enough. By shoving the inexplicable election results down their throats, and then tamping down the street protests, the Supreme Leader and the IRCG have not put out the fire, but only forced it underground, where it will simmer until it explodes at some unpredictable time in the future.
It is only a matter of time. Close to 70 percent of the population is under 30... They want to be part of the world community.
The theocracy is sitting on a timebomb. All I have to say is...
GO KIDS GO!
Hawnzz,
That is an ageist comment, I am sure a large portion of the over-30 population also want reform.
Geezers of the world unite!!!
Of course they do... but demographics drive change in society more then anything. That can be seen throughout history.
Right now, this fascist regime has no legitimacy or credibility left, and the sooner it goes down, the better. There's nothing else to say about it. No one in the world but other dictatorial thugs would miss it for a second,. It's one of the worst regimes since the Third Reich and Stalin's Russia, and it can only stay in power at gunpoint. Who believes a single word its leaders say except liars, stooges and fools?
1
Well said mcmchugh99.
Exactly !
The sad thing is that they have gotten away with murder for the last 30 years and nobody has done anything about it. This time around though, they are going to hell for sure. All of them. As although they pretend otherwise, they are all (The ruling mullahs) the same. I wonder if real estate prices in hell are going to sky rocket ? !!! ?
Power to the (young) people
Holy roller leaders are out of fashion. Youngsters want sexy leaders that they can emulate. The sex, drug, and music business is exploding. No puritanical leaders can stand in its way. Nudity is in, and clothing is only for the cold weather.
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Marching in "full force" with 3,000 protesters? How many people are in Tehran? A couple million?
Sure the militant crackdown has kept some at bay in fear for their lives, but 3,000 people is hardly a minority--and far-flung from the "popular display of dissent" like so many talking heads in the west claim the uprising to be. I'd like to see true democracy in Iran as much as any Westerner with no say in the matter, though, I'm starting to believe that this movement is losing steam.
I'm getting the feeling that Fools is right. We shall see how the cycle of reprisals continues, but the last revolution had the country shutting down, and didn't have the kind of forces (militia) available to the shah. At one demonstration in 1978, there were 6 million people in the streets of tehran protesting. It's hard to consider 3000 to be worthy of note.
The Carter administration didn't do crap to moderate the Shah, back in the 70's. It's funny how little we are now doing on the flip-side.
Good Luck Iran, you are on your own. We don't care how many of you the Mullahs kill, apparently, we just want to negotiate with somebody...
I think their courage is still remarkable even if their numbers are small. Also, there may well be other protests that we don't hear about b/c of the media blackout, which didn't happen in '79...
Thank you.
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