Mike Pouraryan
The Struggle in Iran
In Outsider Views, I have been writing on the Struggle in Iran since the election dispute unleashed a wave of protests that has clearly made the regime nervous. Opposition arrests have been continued nonstop. A former Vice President under Ex-President Khatami, Mohammad Abtahi, remains in detention. Mousavi's Newspaper has been ordered shut and his staff arrested. It is a struggle for the future of shape of the Islamic Republic.
Mousavi, though, continues to be defiant. He has said in his latest bulletins released through facebook that the struggle will go on and he will not back down. He is urging peaceful, non-violent protests to continue. Shouts of Allah-O-Akbar are reported to be continuing righ tnow. In his bulletins, he is complaining of severe restrictions on him that has prevented him from being as active over the ensuing days. As I read his dispatches, I was reminded of ZImbabwe. I am amazed that somehow the word continues to get out.
There may well be some compromise in the offing, though. I am seeing a write-up by Reza Aslan On the Daily Beast whereby he is reporting that a run-off may be engineered between Mousavi and the incumbent who says he is the President-Elect. Iran does not like foreign observes. It will quite remarkable if they invite either the OECD or the Carter Center to observe elections. The Carter Center has a good reputation and with what Jimmy Carter has done with speaking up for the people of Gaza, it seems as if he can be a good fit. I am not sure where that goes though. It is a struggle that will have far reaching consequences for the Middle East, though. It is fascinating to be a "witness to history".
