Some "progressive" legislators are refusing to leave the assembly because the grand council has disqualified a bunch of political candidates in the upcoming election, including a group of people running for re-election. The president has backed them but wants a peaceful solution and the grand mullah has finally weighed in and indicated that the banning was ill-conceived.
Meanwhile I was reading posts on BBC where people around the world can write in their opinions. On other topics, this usually consists of everyone bashing Americans. However, this time most posts were from English-speaking Iranians, some in and some outside the country. They may be better-educated than the masses but the comments were surprising. I expected a "good for the reformers" majority, but it was more radical than that. At first I couldn't quite catch on because they seemed mad at the reformers, yet not conservative either. It boils down to, they don't just want a compromise, they are saying the reformers have had too long already and haven't done enough and they want a fundamental change that gets rid of the power of this clerical council and lifts the country completely into a securlar democracy.
I can so well remember the hostage crisis, probably the worst foreign event in between Vietnam and 9/11...and never thought I'd live to see this. It reminds me a lot of how Gorbachev and Shevrednaze (?spelling) tried to ease the Soviet Union into liberalization, which ended with the crowds surrounding the palace to protect Yetsin. The Iranian reformers have started something, but they may not be moving as fast as the people, and a final (hopefully peaceful and not-interfered with) showdown may be inevitable.
What would that do for the aspirations of similarly watching and longing Chinese?
Meanwhile I was reading posts on BBC where people around the world can write in their opinions. On other topics, this usually consists of everyone bashing Americans. However, this time most posts were from English-speaking Iranians, some in and some outside the country. They may be better-educated than the masses but the comments were surprising. I expected a "good for the reformers" majority, but it was more radical than that. At first I couldn't quite catch on because they seemed mad at the reformers, yet not conservative either. It boils down to, they don't just want a compromise, they are saying the reformers have had too long already and haven't done enough and they want a fundamental change that gets rid of the power of this clerical council and lifts the country completely into a securlar democracy.
I can so well remember the hostage crisis, probably the worst foreign event in between Vietnam and 9/11...and never thought I'd live to see this. It reminds me a lot of how Gorbachev and Shevrednaze (?spelling) tried to ease the Soviet Union into liberalization, which ended with the crowds surrounding the palace to protect Yetsin. The Iranian reformers have started something, but they may not be moving as fast as the people, and a final (hopefully peaceful and not-interfered with) showdown may be inevitable.
What would that do for the aspirations of similarly watching and longing Chinese?
