Spring Break
Revolution resistance: a country on the brink
Staff Editorial
Issue date: 6/24/09 Section: Forum
The images are everywhere: unless you have been underneath a rock this past week you have seen what is going on in Iran. Thousands upon thousands of Iranians have been out in the streets protesting the election results of their presidential race between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his competitor, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, where Ahmadinejad was announced the winner. Their protests are not just about disputed election results, but what the election itself says about the current state of Iranian affairs.
Iran is in a fragile state with high unemployment and eroding oil supplies, leaving many frustrated and quite frankly bored. This frustrated, bored state is most realized in the Iranian youth who are leading the current protests, wanting to reform their government and break away from the current stagnation. Ahmadinejad is highly unpopular with the youth and his controversial "win'' in the election was the final tipping point for a second revolt that has been years in the making.
The protests have been broadcasted across the world showing Iranians flooding the streets; standing up to a government many thought was once untouchable. The protests have lasted going strong for a second week in a row, much longer than the media and Iranian analysts had expected.
The supreme leader and the true decision maker of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared the elections fair and ordered the protests to stop last week. This was the Ayatollah drawing a red line, and the protesters surely crossed the line the next day. It was a daring move on the part of the protesters, knowing the supreme leader would order harsher methods to disperse the crowds.
Mousavi stated recently that he would have no problem being a martyr and the Iranians in the crowds seem to have no regard for their own lives as the violence against them has intensified; no clearer of an example was found with the brutal killing of a woman who stepped out of her care only to be shot in the back of the head by Iranian officers.
No one really knows how long these conflict will last or what the final result will be, but the images emerging from Iran each day will be embedded into world history studied for generations to come. However, like President Obama remarked recently, "the world is watching,'' as it should be: the events happening in Iran today will shape the events of the world tomorrow.
Iran is in a fragile state with high unemployment and eroding oil supplies, leaving many frustrated and quite frankly bored. This frustrated, bored state is most realized in the Iranian youth who are leading the current protests, wanting to reform their government and break away from the current stagnation. Ahmadinejad is highly unpopular with the youth and his controversial "win'' in the election was the final tipping point for a second revolt that has been years in the making.
The protests have been broadcasted across the world showing Iranians flooding the streets; standing up to a government many thought was once untouchable. The protests have lasted going strong for a second week in a row, much longer than the media and Iranian analysts had expected.
The supreme leader and the true decision maker of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, declared the elections fair and ordered the protests to stop last week. This was the Ayatollah drawing a red line, and the protesters surely crossed the line the next day. It was a daring move on the part of the protesters, knowing the supreme leader would order harsher methods to disperse the crowds.
Mousavi stated recently that he would have no problem being a martyr and the Iranians in the crowds seem to have no regard for their own lives as the violence against them has intensified; no clearer of an example was found with the brutal killing of a woman who stepped out of her care only to be shot in the back of the head by Iranian officers.
No one really knows how long these conflict will last or what the final result will be, but the images emerging from Iran each day will be embedded into world history studied for generations to come. However, like President Obama remarked recently, "the world is watching,'' as it should be: the events happening in Iran today will shape the events of the world tomorrow.
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