And now the protests have moved to Iran

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**Melissia**

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/15/iran.protests/

Well that didn't take long. Iran's cracking down hard on them though, which is doubly amusing considering they had apparently thought the protests in Egypt were a good thing.

**Kilkrazy**

One regime's meat is another regime's poison, I suppose.

Basically this is a resurgence of the anti-gov demos of 2009.

**Melissia**

Which themselves are a resurgence of other protests in the past. I wonder how successful Iran will be.

**WarOne**

We have the extra caveat that Iran is no push over when it comes to maintaining stability. I see Iran dealing with this crisis more effectively than Egypt.

**SilverMK2**

I see this ending well...

**Frazzled**

This won't last. Unlike Egypt, Iran's very large Republican Guard has a strong financial interest in maintaining the status quo. The killing and torture of protesters will continue until morale improves.

**dogma**

Beyond that, there is a really large part of the population that actively supports the current regime for a combination of religious and economic reasons.

In fact, if certain estimates are to be believed, the portion of the population that is sympathetic to the Green cause is only about 1/3 of the country.

**Frazzled**

Don't worry, its still a democracy. Oh wait...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ml_iran_opposition

Iranian lawmakers: Put opposition leaders on trial
Buzz up!122 votes ShareretweetEmailPrint AP – This photo, taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside …
Slideshowrotests in Iran Play Video Iran Video:Iran warns against US meddling in the region Reuters Play Video Iran Videorotests Pop Up Across Middle East FOX News By NASSER KARIMI, Associated Press Nasser Karimi, Associated Press – 58 mins ago
TEHRAN, Iran – Hardline Iranian lawmakers called on Tuesday for the country's opposition leaders to face trial and be put to death, a day after clashes between opposition protesters and security forces left one person dead and dozens injured.

Tens of thousands of people turned out for the opposition rally Monday in solidarity with Egypt's popular revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak after nearly 30 years in power. The demonstration was the first major show of strength from Iran's beleaguered opposition in more than a year.

At an open session of parliament Tuesday, pro-government legislators demanded opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami face be held responsible for the protests.

Pumping their fists in the air, the lawmakers chanted "death to Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami."

"We believe the people have lost their patience and demand capital punishment" for the opposition leaders, 221 lawmakers said in a statement.

Hardliners have long sought to put senior opposition figures on trial, but the calls for the death penalty signaled an escalation in their demands.

Iran has already tried scores of opposition figures and activists on charges of fomenting the mass protests following the country's disputed 2009 presidential elections that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad win a second term. More than 80 of people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from six months to 15 years.

The opposition says scores were killed in the massive crackdown on those protests, while the government says only around 30 people died.Following Monday's opposition demonstrations, the first since December 2009, authorities vowed to move quickly to stifle the opposition before its gains momentum.

"The judiciary will quickly and resolutely deal with major elements and those who violated public order and peace," the spokesman for Iran's judiciary and state prosecutor, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi, told the official IRNA news agency.

The U.S. has voiced support for the demonstrators. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday the protesters "deserve to have the same rights that they saw being played out in Egypt and are part of their own birthright."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, on Tuesday rejected Clinton's remarks, and accused the U.S. of "meddling" in Iranian affairs.

Also Tuesday, Iranian officials confirmed that one person was killed in the protests.

IRNA quoted the security chief for Iran's Culture Ministry, Gholam Ali Zarei, as saying Sane Jaleh, a 26-year-old student at Tehran's University of Art, was killed. He said Jaleh was a government supporter.

Acting police commander Gen. Ahmad Reza Radan told IRNA that one person injured in the clashes remains in critical condition. He also confirmed that several people were arrested, but did not specify how many.

Radan claimed that members of the armed opposition group MEK, or Mujahedeen Khalq, opened fire at police and protesters, IRNA said. He did not provide any evidence to back up his claim.

He also accused the U.S., Britain and Israel of stoking the protests — a common allegation from officials in Tehran following any unrest in Iran.

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Automatically Appended Next Post:

dogma wrote:Beyond that, there is a really large part of the population that actively supports the current regime for a combination of religious and economic reasons.

In fact, if certain estimates are to be believed, the portion of the population that is sympathetic to the Green cause is only about 1/3 of the country.

Those estimates are not to be believed.

**reds8n**

Frazzled wrote: The killing and torture of protesters will continue until morale improves.

http://southasia.oneworld.net/globalheadlines/iran-one-person-hanged-every-eight-hours-since-beginning-of-2011

who'd have thought they'd be so efficient.

**Melissia**

Yeaaaah I don't buy those numbers either Dogma. Anyone who publicly offers an alternative viewpoint the status quo, no matter how peacefully, is in danger in Iran.

**Mr Meatballs**

gak hits le fan in 3....2......

**Wolfstan**

Brilliant, you've got to love dictatorships!

1979: The people are being ruled by an undemocratic political system. Lets have a revolution to get rid of them. Hurrah!!!

2011: The people are being ruled by an undemocratic political system. Lets have a revolution to get rid of them... bugger!!!

Apparantly the revolution was justified in 1979. Unlike 2011, where it's evil Western powers that are causing the unrest... not that the current buggers are just as bad as the last lot.

**dogma**

Frazzled wrote:
Those estimates are not to be believed.

Even if we take the high estimates for the size of certain Green protests, which is usually said to be in the area of 4-500,000, we still don't come anywhere near a movement that constitutes even a majority of the population. when we work backwards from protest size to reach a measure that approximates the actual size of the movement.

If 500,000 is the total number of people that can be mobilized for a single event, and the majority of those people are fairly radical and therefore representative of no more than 10% of the total, then we can guess that the Green Movement is probably about 5 million strong. Not insignificant, but not the majority of the politically engaged population (probably ~40 million people) either.

Melissia wrote:
Yeaaaah I don't buy those numbers either Dogma. Anyone who publicly offers an alternative viewpoint the status quo, no matter how peacefully, is in danger in Iran.

Sure, but that hardly matters if you have no reason to dissent.

You also have to remember that many of the Iranian protesters aren't after an end to theocracy, but a change in the way theocratic government is handled. Mousavi may be preferable to Dinner Jacket, but he's no saint either.

**Frazzled**

Thats Melissia's post, not mine Dogma.

You can't measure support by public portest. Under that methodology, the US Democratic and Republican parties would have almost no support. I've never seen a million people at a Democratic Party or Republican Party event, yet there are how many Democratic Party members, and how many voted for Democratic dcandidates in 2008?

**Melissia**

Quite frankly, given the inefficiency of every government ever formed by man, there is no such thing as a large population of humans without reason for dissent in some form or other.

**dogma**

Frazzled wrote:Thats Melissia's post, not mine Dogma.

Fixed.

Frazzled wrote:
You can't measure support by public portest. Under that methodology, the US Democratic and Republican parties would have almost no support. I've never seen a million people at a Democratic Party or Republican Party event, yet there are how many Democratic Party members, and how many voted for Democratic dcandidates in 2008?

There are obviously multiple ways to measure political support, and some work better than others. Back-tracking from protest statistics is something that is often done in states where other information is difficult to come by as is the case with Iran. Moreover, there would be no reason to assess the Democrats and Republicans using protest figures. For one, they represent the status quo, and so are unlikely to inspire that type of political action. If you really wanted to use a comparable method, then you would most likely start with the overall size of each partisan apparatus, and then apply the same formula in to extrapolate the size of their respective support structures.

**Manchu**

Frazzled wrote:This won't last. Unlike Egypt, Iran's very large Republican Guard has a strong financial interest in maintaining the status quo. The killing and torture of protesters will continue until morale improves.

Sounds like a good plan but I have to say, what works on DakkaDakka may not work in Iran.

Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, Incoming Internet Opinion: As someone who knows very near to nothing about the Middle East (i.e., I learned what I know from the news), I have very little faith that any of these protests are going to lead to stable democracies.

**Frazzled**

SO your statement's not really based on anything but how many people protested. Thats extremely Meh.

**Melissia**

Actually it's more like how many people we KNOW protested, right?

**xxmatt85**

Ahh the domino effect, I wounder how long it will take for this crap to reach the U.S. at full force.

**Emperors Faithful**

Frazzled wrote:SO your statement's not really based on anything but how many people protested. Thats extremely Meh.

Whereas your sources are so much more solid.

**Frazzled**

Emperors Faithful wrote:
Frazzled wrote:SO your statement's not really based on anything but how many people protested. Thats extremely Meh.

Whereas your sources are so much more solid.

You're right. All that nonsense in 2009 was just a kerfluffle with no stolen election. Opposition candidates have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed for...kicks?

**Emperors Faithful**

Frazzled wrote:
Emperors Faithful wrote:
Frazzled wrote:SO your statement's not really based on anything but how many people protested. Thats extremely Meh.

Whereas your sources are so much more solid.

You're right. All that nonsense in 2009 was just a kerfluffle with no stolen election. Opposition candidates have been imprisoned, tortured, and killed for...kicks?

I just love how you refute provided evidence with.... nothing at all.

Keep on trolling, Senor Frazzled!

**KingCracker**

Why is it when I think of Iran, I instantly think Im playing Stronghold Crusader?

**Emperors Faithful**

KingCracker wrote:Why is it when I think of Iran, I instantly think Im playing Stronghold Crusader?

**halonachos**

xxmatt85 wrote:Ahh the domino effect, I wounder how long it will take for this crap to reach the U.S. at full force.

It won't unless our government decides to back it.

**Frazzled**

We protest all the time, who cares?

**halonachos**

Detroit does.

**Frazzled**

halonachos wrote:Detroit does.

No, they are too busy ducking random gunfire.

**halonachos**

Frazzled wrote:
halonachos wrote:Detroit does.

No, they are too busy ducking random gunfire.

Because of a protest.