Can Iranians win?

by Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury
February 16, 2011

http://www.weeklyblitz.net/1281/can-iranians-win

On the Valentines Day [February 14, 2011], a number of anti Regime demonstrators were brutally murdered in the streets of Tehran by the notorious members of Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Following this murder of pro-democracy members, Iranian government threatened opposition leaders with execution and made a fresh wave of arrests. Tehran and other Iranian cities quieted down on Tuesday as the opposition regrouped and assessed the impact of the rallies that brought tens of thousands of people into the streets across the country. The protesters, buoyed by activism across the Middle East, were confronted forcefully by police and antiriot forces, which used guns, tear gas and electric prods to disperse them. The demonstrators had called for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to step down.

Following Valentines Day's violence, US President Barack Obama offered encouragement to protesters in Iran, saying at a news conference in Washington that he hoped they would have the "courage" to continue expressing their "yearning for greater freedoms."

He had harsh words for the Iranian regime, saying that unlike in Egypt, Iran's response to protests has been "to shoot people, beat people and arrest people."

President Obama called on US allies in the Middle East to accept that fundamental changes were taking place. "You can't be behind the curve," he said, as the people cry out for change.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that opposition protesters deserved to have "the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt" and that Iran had to "open up" its political system.

The US, along with the European Union, also appealed to the Iranian authorities to show restraint, recalling Iran's earlier support for the uprising in Egypt.

The office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she was taking note of events in Iran, in particular "the apparent restrictions placed on the freedom of movement of certain members of the opposition."

She called on the Iranian authorities "to fully respect and protect the rights of their citizens, including freedom of expression and the right to assemble peacefully."

Thought political analysts are watching the unfolding events in Iran with added interest to foretell whether it would eventually replicate the recent upheavals witnessed in Tunisia and Egypt, it is yet unclear to predict, if the current movement of the pro-democracy forces will finally be able to knock-out decade-old Mullahcracy from Iran.

An Iranian student, the student, who helped organize the protests that enveloped her country, at the epicenter of anti-government demonstrations says she witnessed the country's Revolutionary Guard savagely beating street protesters, knew a Tehran University student who was killed – and "we are not allowing his blood to go to waste."

A violent mob of supporters and alleged opponents of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad on February 16, 2011 fought pitched battles at the funeral of a young student killed in the recent anti-government protests, Iranian state media reported. The Islamic Republic's IRIB TV reported that participants at the funeral of Sane'e Zhale, 26, fought with a small group described as members of the "sedition movement," an official euphemism for those trying to undermine the Ahmedinejad government.

Zhaleh, a student of art faculty, was shot dead during an Opposition protest rally in Tehran on Monday. The government claims he was killed by those opposed to the regime, while the Opposition blames police for the death. The fresh bout of violence broke out at the art faculty of the Tehran University where Zhaleh had enroled as a student. Opposition groups reiterate that he was a member of the Green Movement led by Opposition stalwart Mir Hossein Moussavi which has questioned the re-election of Ahmedinejad.

Anti-government protesters had gathered there in support of the recent Arab uprisings and chanted "Death to Dictators." The slogan was used by demonstrators against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 2009 protests following his controversial reelection as president. Opposition activists say hundreds of people were arrested.

Hillary Clinton said the US was sending out the same message to Iran as it had to the regime in Egypt, where mass protests forced President Hosni Mubarak out of office after almost 30 years in power.

"We are against violence and we would call to account the Iranian government that is once again using its security forces and resorting to violence to prevent the free expression of ideas from their own people," she said.

Despite a heavy police deployment and a government ban, thousands of opposition supporters took to the streets. Authorities had earlier placed opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi under house arrest to prevent him from taking part in the Tehran rally and also cut telephone lines and blocked Internet access. Analysts say the Iranian leadership is trying to stop opposition groups from using the uprising in Egypt to revive the kind of protests that culminated in the so-called Green Revolution in 2009.

It may be mentioned here that, for past few weeks, Iranian Regime including Mahmoud Ahmedinejad continued to express solidarity and support to pro-democracy forces in Egypt. But, now the same Mullah Regime is continuing to murder pro-democracy forces as well as using State Machinery in repressing the people. In this case, the US Secretary of State right said, "what we see happening in Iran today is a testament to the courage of the Iranian people and an indictment of the hypocrisy of the Iranian regime - a regime, which over the last three weeks has constantly hailed what went on in Egypt."

"…And now, when given the opportunity to afford their people the same rights as they called for on behalf of the Egyptian people, [Iran's leaders] once again illustrate their true nature."

Furious hard-line lawmakers in Iran pumped their fists in the air in parliament and called for opposition leaders to be tried and sentenced to death. One of the pro-reform figures, Mahdi Karroubi, was unmoved.

"I declare that I am not afraid of any threat," said Karroubi, who has been effectively kept under house arrest since first calling for the demonstrations earlier this month. "As I've demonstrated in serving the nation as a soldier [political activist] since 1962, I am ready to pay any price in this graceful path."

Karroubi was one of two pro-reform candidates in the 2009 presidential election that sparked months of street protests which mushroomed into a movement against Iran's ruling system. The unrest, which was put down with a heavy security crackdown by the military and a mass trial, posed the biggest challenge ever to Iran's clerical regime, which came to power in the 1979 revolution. Karroubi urged Iran's Islamic ruling system to learn from the fate of governments that remained aloof from their people, alluding to the toppling of autocratic leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.

"We warn [the ruling system] that before it is too late, stop being stubborn and hear the voice of the people," he said in remarks posted on his website, sahamnews.org. "Exercising violence and opposing peoples' wishes can last for a limited time. Take a lesson from the fate of governments that distanced themselves from the people."

Another Iranian opposition figure, Mir Hossein Mousavi, praised protesters who turned out for Monday's rally.

"Your glorious rally on Feb. 14 is a great achievement for the nation and the [opposition] Green Movement," Mousavi said on his website, kaleme.com.

A hard-line cleric, Ahmad Khatami, said the two opposition leaders were playing into the hands of the U.S. and Israel - a familiar accusation.

"Leaders of sedition, specifically Mousavi and Karroubi, are aiding the U.S. and Israel most," Khatami said in a televised address before a group of clerics in the holy city of Qom, 80 miles [130 kilometers] south of the capital. "This [opposition rally] is a big service to the U.S. and the Zionists and a disgraceful blot in the face of seditionists."

Iranian Regime is trying to paint the current pro-democracy demonstrations as "war against Allah", which once again evidently shows as to how Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and his gang of culprit Mullahs are using Islam to safeguard all of their evil actions and notorieties, as well as limitless corruption, nepotism and various forms of crimes committed by Mullah, Revolutionary Guards and other segments of the oppressive Regime.

Pro-democracy forces in Egypt attained success in less than one month because they did not leave the streets. Similar victories by the people are well anticipated in Bahrain, Yemen and a number of Gulf States. Iranians have a very rich tradition of bravery, and of course, it is an aspiration of all that, the current anti-Regime movement in Iran will finally see the demise of decade-old notorious autocracy of the Mullahs. Let there be light in Iran – let there be victory of democracy.

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