Today's Washington Times has a good background article today on what is going on in Iran. For more current information on the situation, I recommend Pajamas Media--they have a few very well connected people who post there.
The Washington Times reminds us that Mir Hossein Mousavi is not really a reform candidate--he supported the takeover of the U. S. Embassy in 1979, and he was Iran's prime minister when Iran revived its nuclear program. Although he supported the taking of the Embassy and wanted to end U. S. interference in Iran in the 1970's, he now advocates less confrontation with the West.
Mr. Mousavi is seen as the proxy candidate for former President Mohammed Khatami and former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. There is evidently a history of bad feeling between Mr. Rafsanjani and the supreme leader of Iran, which explains the supreme leader's support of Ahmadinejad. Either Ahmadinejad or Mousavi is seen as being hostile to the United States.
According to the article, many people currently protesting do not support either candidate--they are hoping that the chaos they create will result in the downfall of the mullahs and lead to a pro-Western leader.
I have no idea what is going to happen with this, but there are some things to watch. The Iranian police are purposely assigned to work in areas away from their homes so that they will shoot protesters if ordered to do so. If they refuse to shoot, it may be the beginning of freedom for Iran. It has also been stated that foreign police from Hezbollah (and Venezuela according to some sources) have been called in to keep order because the mullahs do not feel that they can depend on their own police to do what is necessary.
Power Line has a video of some of the abuse by a policeman. Note that the policeman is wearing a ski mask. It is not a pleasant video to watch. This uprising in being reported on cell phones and the internet--the mullahs have not been able to keep news from getting out--that is a good thing.
Leave a comment