By now you’ve heard the story of Neda Agha-Soltan, killed last weekend in a demonstration in Iran, and seen her photos—alive, dying, and dead. Her fiance and witnesses report that she was purposely targeted by Baseji paramilitaries who shot her … Continue reading →
What’s going on in Iran right now is the result of many forces coming together. But I have little doubt that the most powerful of them are specific to Iran and its people rather than being international in scope. The … Continue reading →
Yes, I know—the unrest in Iran right now can hardly be called a revolution, and there’s a good chance it may never rise to that level, although one can hope. But there is no question that the widespread protests that … Continue reading →
Two days ago I wrote a post speculating on whether Mousavi was a “changer.” I didn’t know the answer, and I still don’t know. But I wrote: …the reasons for Mousavi’s retirement from the public scene in 1989 are mysterious … Continue reading →
Well worth reading, this NY Times op-ed purports to be by a young Iranian. Writer “Shane” describes the evolution of public opinion in the Iranian election and how the subsequent demonstrations got going, as well as noting the changed demographics … Continue reading →
Mir-Hossein Mousavi, the candidate for President of Iran who is at the center of the current Iranian storm, is an enigma. Mousavi’s Wiki entry sheds little light on the subject; it deals with the bare bones of his history, which … Continue reading →
Despite Obama’s heroic efforts to remain uninvolved in the Iranian post-election protests, the Iranian government has accused him of doing so anyway. Fancy that. As I wrote yesterday [emphasis mine]: Obama has positioned himself as the un-Bush. This means that … Continue reading →
This is an indication that those such as Michael Ledeen, who predicted dissent in the upper reaches of the Iranian clergy, were correct. Yesterday Ledeen wrote: The other great threat to the regime comes from the upper reaches of the … Continue reading →
I like the concept of the second channel, which Richard Fernandez describes with his usual insight here [emphasis mine]: And in the particular case of Iran, my own emotional curiosity is drawn toward one question alone. Does the current President … Continue reading →
Here are some of the remarks President Obama made yesterday on Iran. I don’t need to analyze them too closely; many others have already done so. But I will say that they highlight Obama’s already-marked tendency towards narcissistic referencing that … Continue reading →
The consensus is that there’s no way the Iranian election figures are correct, and that things were rigged to allow Ahmadinejad to win. And for a long time it’s also been clear that the mullahs—Khameni in particular—are the ones who … Continue reading →
…why this should be a surprise? Related: see this and this. And go to memeorandum for a more comprehensive roundup of news articles and blog responses to the Iranian “election.” So far, Obama has been relatively silent—or worse. I guess … Continue reading →