Some in Obama’s camp seem to think that the protests in Iran were precipitated, or at the very least encouraged, by Obama’s words in his Cairo speech. Not the actual living breathing example of the dawn of freedom and democracy … Continue reading →
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 →