As far too many Americans seem to be embracing the dumbing down of the populace favored by the Christianists - who need an ignorant populace to further their theocratic goals - and focus on moronic reality TV, Tiger Woods' moral lapse, what same sex couples do in the privacy of their bedrooms, etc., rather than significant current events and basis knowledge such as geography, critical developments continue to be playing out in Iran. Depending upon which side wins in the continuing protests, the entire calculus of the Middle East could change radically. Personally, I do not understand the mind set or the narrow world view that allows citizens to be so oblivious of important events overseas. While many Americans view Iran as a backward nation of religious extremists, the reality is that the nation has a long cultural history that is more than 10 times the age of that of the USA. I hope the protests lead to a succesful overthrow of the current government and a true democracy. The Los Angeles Times has a story on the continuing protests in Iran which I hope in time may topple the theocratic dictatorship that currently rules that nation. Here are some highlights:*
Large-scale protests spread in central Iranian cities Wednesday, offering the starkest evidence yet that the opposition movement that emerged from the disputed June presidential election has expanded beyond its base of mostly young, educated Tehran residents to at least some segments of the country's pious heartland.
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Demonstrations took place in Esfahan, a provincial capital and Iran's cultural center, and nearby Najafabad, the birthplace and hometown of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, whose death Saturday triggered the latest round of confrontations between the opposition movement and the government.
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Iranian authorities are clearly alarmed by the spread of the protests. Mojtaba Zolnour, a mid-ranking cleric serving as supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to the elite and powerful Revolutionary Guard, acknowledged widespread unrest around the country.
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There were also reports Wednesday of protests breaking out on university campuses in Tehran and the eastern city of Mashhad, Iran's second largest, and a violent clash broke out in the southern city of Sirjan over the execution of two men accused of criminal activity. Tehran's mass postelection protests, which were crushed by authorities, drew Iranians from all walks of life.
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"What has happened was a religious reaction out of devotion and conviction" to Montazeri, he said. "While on the surface the unrest has no relation with the political agenda of the green [opposition] movement, more deeply it is part and parcel of the same social, political and economic dissatisfaction, and if it continues, it will become more a political than merely a religious backlash." "The limitation imposed on the reform movement by the government made it into a social movement which has become viable and gained momentum," he said.
Large-scale protests spread in central Iranian cities Wednesday, offering the starkest evidence yet that the opposition movement that emerged from the disputed June presidential election has expanded beyond its base of mostly young, educated Tehran residents to at least some segments of the country's pious heartland.
*
Demonstrations took place in Esfahan, a provincial capital and Iran's cultural center, and nearby Najafabad, the birthplace and hometown of Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, whose death Saturday triggered the latest round of confrontations between the opposition movement and the government.
*
Iranian authorities are clearly alarmed by the spread of the protests. Mojtaba Zolnour, a mid-ranking cleric serving as supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's representative to the elite and powerful Revolutionary Guard, acknowledged widespread unrest around the country.
*
There were also reports Wednesday of protests breaking out on university campuses in Tehran and the eastern city of Mashhad, Iran's second largest, and a violent clash broke out in the southern city of Sirjan over the execution of two men accused of criminal activity. Tehran's mass postelection protests, which were crushed by authorities, drew Iranians from all walks of life.
*
"What has happened was a religious reaction out of devotion and conviction" to Montazeri, he said. "While on the surface the unrest has no relation with the political agenda of the green [opposition] movement, more deeply it is part and parcel of the same social, political and economic dissatisfaction, and if it continues, it will become more a political than merely a religious backlash." "The limitation imposed on the reform movement by the government made it into a social movement which has become viable and gained momentum," he said.
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