KP Newsflash: Iran Over the Last Few Days
The comedy show in Iran continues on. The so-called hardliners continue their rampage with no end in sight. Although the world is celebrating a breakthrough regarding Iran's acceptance of international inspectors, the repression and psychological warfare against the opposition continues on.
The opposition has no clear leader to speak of. The Green Wave is active, and is publishing a newsletter daily that provides an alternative perspective. There are also a number of other sites currently up that provide an alternative perspective on what is in fact going on. But, the march toward a theocratic dictatorship backed by the military continues on. As I have written before, all vestiges of the Democratic element of the Islamic Republic have seized to be reality. This was proven when the head of the Human Rights branch of the Judiciary, Mohammad Larijani, (who happens to be the brother of the Judiciary Chief) came out with a new tirade the other day. He claimed that Mousavi wanted to lead a coup and that ex-President Khatami was supported by the UK since the mid 90's.
I find this statement by Mohammad Larijani especially disturbing because I view his role as being the neutral ombudsman in Iran that supposedly guarantees Human Rights. His Brother, the Judiciary Chief, has come out with an emphasis on the "indepedence" of the judiciary. My reaction was: yaaaaaaaaaah, right?!??!. Even in Zimbabwe, at least there is a semblance of judicial independence, not withstanding what Mugabe is trying to do.
Today's Iran is a one man show. Khameini makes all the major decisions. The world seems to realize that. But, the essence of the idea of one man being endowed with knowing everything is comical. What is even more comical is how Khameini seems to have had this power get to his head. Will a Gorbachev-Like figure emerge? Will they survive this calamity? They have so far shot their way to survival. They will continue to do what they need to do--as long as they have folks who are willing to do their bidding for their own survival.
Mike Pouraryan
