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Tuesday, 16 Jun 2009
Just got this e-mail from a friend in Tehran, whom I asked to brief me on what's going on. The friend sent it from the French Research center, and was abruptly disrupted because the french embassy forced everyone to evacuate due to the Basij now attacking the center. Here is the text:
So this is freaky Teheran right now,
People (the reformist opposition!!)
shouting „Allahu Akbar“ from the rooftops every night but they also
shout “Marg bar dictator” (death to the dictator), a strange feeling
of solidarity which is growing by the day and huge demonstrations.The old people here haven´t seen these crowds since the revolution. Since ever then a mass mobilization like
this hasn´t been possible. The rally of Achmadinejad´s supporters
at Vali Asr square the other day has been neglectable to the manifestation
led by the opposition champ yesterday. By the way it has been the same
path from the Revolutionary to the Freedom Square like the demonstration
which brought the Shahs Regime finally down 30 years ago. And still
the old ones seemed to be sure there are a lot more people on the streets
now, of course population figures have been growing. 70 Percent of the
population are under 30 have been forced to live in this system. The
80ies war generation is grown up now. They have now work now perspectives
but they are reasonably well educated and in all of the cases I know
fed up with the system. Achmadinejad still finds its supporters by playing
Robin Hood and distributing oil money on the country side and the urban
proletariat, where he recruits his armed volunteers. But even in the
provinces distributing oil money doesn´t seem to be enough anymore.
Most of the linguistic and religious minorities have their own reasons
for supporting the opposition. In Ahvaz (Khuzestan prozince – Sunni
minority) people are apparently armed on the streets. Isfahan, Shiraz,
Busher, Mashad, Tabriz, Kerman and Qazvin have all seen big protests
yesterday.Yesterday was a turning point for the reform movement. In Teheran it always seemed to be a battle rich against
poor, north against south, old against young. This was definitely no
exclusive march for young rich guys from the north. Rumors that police
would open fire have turned out to be wrong. When most of the crowds
have left militias (Basijis) have opened fire. After the selection defeat
the reformists managed to reorganize themselves fast and are about
to take over the battlefield. Today Achmadinejad supporters (armed?)
meet on 3pm at Vali Asr Square where the Reformists will arrive two
hours later.Shit we get evacuated right now!!!!
The Basijis are probably attacking us (IFRI – French Research Center Teheran)
June 16th, 2009 at 10:32 am
What can we Iranians outside Iran do to get our brothers and sisters in Iran know we are with them? I feel guilty and ashemed for being outside Iran and every step I take in the luxury of freedom here in the West brings home the pain of what my fellow Iranians are going through in Iran.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:32 am
What can we Iranians outside Iran do to get our brothers and sisters in Iran know we are with them? I feel guilty and ashemed for being outside Iran and every step I take in the luxury of freedom here in the West brings home the pain of what my fellow Iranians are going through in Iran.
June 16th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Esmita Charani:
I’d say the best thing you could do is to keep a contact with people in Iran, and keep telling them that there is a much preferable alternative to the oppressive regime…
June 16th, 2009 at 11:19 am
People of Iran: We follow your struggle! We support your uprising against this intolerable regime. We salute you!
http://bit.ly/aD80p
June 16th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Folks in Iran,
We’re praying for your freedom and the safety of you and your families!!!
June 16th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Thanks SM for that insightful post of whats going on over there. It is so sad that these people has high hopes. But then again, hasn’t Iran always been called the axis of evil? This is to be expected.
June 16th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Sand Ape
As you well know countries of evil often made 180 degrees turn and became countries of Good. It was so with Iran in 1979 where country of godlessness became country of god.
I think you (and some others in the ME and elsewhere) are afraid that Iranians will show the world how much they are fed up with theocratic government and became, without any help from evil Bush or arrogant West, again country of godlessness.
June 16th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Did they attack the american embassy too ?
June 16th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Don’t get trapped by the new image of Musavi, a résumé of his glorious past :
http://www.newsmax.com/timmerman/Iran_elections_Hezbollah/2009/06/03/221083.html
June 16th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Exciting times! I hope and pray there is little bloodshed and great advances for freedom.
June 16th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Marie Claude
Nobody is trapped by “exciting” image of mousavi. He is not reformist in a western way but what of it? Iranians do not want Ahmadinejad, they want Mousavi. He may be not what West wants so what? They want him and it is their voice. You don’t protest, they do. You don’t get killed, they do. It is their choice and what one should do is to support them.
June 16th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
ella, OK, why bother then ? it’s a clanic fight !
and like O, I express my deep concern to not melt in between
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/31388749#31388749
June 16th, 2009 at 10:48 pm
Marie @9, good article, but anyone with perfect English that refers to Egypt as “the Egypt”, or Palestine as “the Palestine” or Hamas as “the Hamas.” Is talking out of their nose by trying to emulate the faulty Hebrew accent and can therefore only e regarded as highly biased, at best!
June 16th, 2009 at 11:49 pm
another interesting analyse
http://bit.ly/6OS3A
Western Misconceptions Meet Iranian Reality (from stratfor)
June 17th, 2009 at 1:05 am
It’ll blow over fairly soon. Just a storm to weather. Be nice to see Iran as a pluralistic, secular, westernized country I can visit, but I’m not holding out hope Obama will ever be able to give a coherent speech sans teleprompter either.
June 17th, 2009 at 8:24 am
9. MC:
Rather than hope for Mousavi in charge, the west (and most of the rest of the world) is looking at the current crisis as a sign that the power of the mullahs (the real powerbrokers in Iran) is waning. The people of Iran are demanding to be heard, and this represent the worst possible development as seen by the people in charge.
Like SFGoth, I’m not betting these events will put the iranian theocracy in the grave, but hopefully it’ll be the first nail in the coffin…