Word: iran
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...simplistic paradigms of "reformist vs. conservative," "secularists vs. theocrats," "young vs. old" that have colored so much of the Western media's perception of Iranian politics no longer apply. The unrest now taking place in Iran is about far more than a stolen election. It is about the future of the Islamic Republic of Iran. ("10 Days in Tehran: What I Saw at the Iranian Revolution...
...heard some in the media compare the events in Iran with the "Tehran spring" of 1999, when hundreds of thousands of young Iranians, buoyed by the reformist policies of then President Khatami, poured onto the streets to demand greater freedoms, only to be brutally beaten back by the country's security forces. Others point to 1989 and the Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing for a suitable historical analogy for the antigovernment demonstrations that have rocked Iran. Yet for me and millions of my fellow compatriots - both inside and outside Iran - it is the memory of 1979 that most keenly informs...
...this is not to say that another revolution is afoot in Iran. The Iranian regime, despite all its multiple and often competing poles of power, is far too entrenched to be so easily dislodged. Still, whatever happens, whoever ends up leading the country, however this crisis of legitimacy is resolved, one thing is certain: Iran will never again be the same. For better or worse, a new Iran is emerging. Whether it will be more isolationist and militaristic or more accommodating and democratic remains to be seen. (Read "Iran: Four Ways the Crisis May Resolve...
...legal structure in this country does not allow vote-rigging. If the difference was 100,000 or 500,000 or 1 million, well, one may say fraud could have happened. But how can one rig 11 million votes?" For Khamenei, the election was proof positive that democracy in Iran was there for the world to see because, if the Iranian people had not felt free, they wouldn't have gone to the polls in such numbers (he referred to the 85% turnout as a "great accomplishment...
...definitive victory, as a doubtful victory," Khamenei said. "It is your victory. They cannot manipulate it." The Supreme Leader's forceful points were heeded by some in the crowd who could be heard chanting "Allah is Great," "Death to Israel," "Death to America," "Death to Britain." (See pictures of Iran's presidential election and its turbulent aftermath...