The Heavy Guns

The Iranian establishment descended upon the Tehran streets in force over the weekend, and the country's de facto leaders, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, responded with ferocity and vicious inflexibility.

I take a moment to honour the fallen, the brave Iranians risking all in the name of justice.

Evidence mounts to reveal the depth of the crisis. In my previous post, I began to explore the current schism in Iranian society, a divide borne from political as well as generational conflict. The vast, and overwhelmingly young Iranian electorate seeks a new direction for the country. The period of cultural appeasement-when President Khatami loosened some of the more draconian restrictions on personal freedom - came to a jarring end during A-jad's first term. And while Iran's nuclear ambitions confer a sense of pride on most Iranians, the country's continued and deepening sense of isolation as a result of the regime's bluster tends to frustrate the young, progressive, urban Iranians. These young Persians (the demographic that largely supports Mousavi) feel that the current regime, just doesn't get it. They understand that a change must come in order to bring Iran fully into the global moment, rather than to retreat to the obscurantism and stagnation of a calcified worldview.

Persian civilization is one of the oldest and richest in human history. So long as the self-styled "retainers of the revolution" continue to stifle the great potential of the Iranian people, another generation of Iranians will be forever cutoff from its rightful and prodigious inheritance.

More later . . . God is Great.

I felt compelled to take an extended break from work today to watch the animated version of Marjane Sateapi's Persepolis. I couldn't help but imagine that the defiant fire of the protagonist burns today in the streets of Tehran.

With guarded optimism, and in the spirit of solidarity, I sing in praise of those who challenge the Iranian status quo. Khas o Khashak, the hour is yours.

The crisis availa itself to viewing through various lenses. The political the most immediate, but the cultural and demographic lends nuance and complexity.




Satrapi reminded me of a significant fact, the relationship Iranians have with Khomeini's revolution changes. With a vast majority of the population currently embracing adulthood, the regime most fears amnesia, amnesia of both the blood and pain of the revolution, and perhaps more importantly the apathy of a generation who accepted basiji and chadors in hope of forgetting. Ultimately brutality only provided half of the fuel to sustain the revolution. The rest came from resignation.

More later. God bless us all . . .


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