Thousands protest in Iran, defying crackdown

Friday 10th July, 07:04 AM JST

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sabiwabi at 12:52 PM JST - 10th July

Its a shame so many cannot accept the outcome of their recent democratic election. Bunch of sore losers (or paid troublemakers!).
LFRAgain at 12:58 PM JST - 10th July

Tens of thousands of "paid" troublemakers - Yeah, Sawabi, that's likely. (rolls eyes)
goodDonkey at 01:43 PM JST - 10th July

"All of this accomplished because of Obama's spoken words during his visit to the middle east!" he said, trying to sound like a Reagan conservative.
Eddisofbextar at 02:57 PM JST - 10th July

Keep pushing the people and theyll eventually bite back.

When it happens in china... wow... the death toll will be uncountable. Iran will also be quite high im sure. Japan will also see it happen, tho I am guessing it will be far less violent. The will of the people is too easily organized, unlike the old days - before the int0rn37. best of luck to them I say.
skipthesong at 03:22 PM JST - 10th July

sabi: That's a lot of cash to pay out. Who's got that money?

aday: why you flipping? You backed Achmedinerjad not too long ago. See where your Bush hatred has taken you!
Stanley50 at 04:11 PM JST - 10th July

sadly, thousands are not enough. Wake me up when its millions and then youll see change.
Molenir at 04:13 PM JST - 10th July

lol. I wonder who is behind these demonstrations now. Still England? Or is the US somehow involved now. Ooh, maybe its France this time. Rather like that girl that was murdered by their militia, and them going to extreme lengths to "investigate" her death as part of the protest movement. Like it couldn't possibly have been the governments fault.
sabiwabi at 04:30 PM JST - 10th July

sabi: That's a lot of cash to pay out. Who's got that money?

Hmmm, who would have that kind of money....

No, they are not all paid trouble makers, but some of them certainly are. Others are just naive followers.
yokomoc at 04:34 PM JST - 10th July

When it happens in china... wow... the death toll will be uncountable.

Already happened 20 years ago. They got massacred. The Iran situation today is much the same. The protestors won't win because they're in the minority and the military are loyal to the government and ayatollahs. It could happen in the future but now's not the time.
Altria at 04:39 PM JST - 10th July

MOUSAVI! MOUSAVI!
goodDonkey at 06:28 PM JST - 10th July

sabiwabi said:

No, they are not all paid trouble makers, but some of them certainly are. Others are just naive followers.

So which would Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani be? He is after all Chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts. Yeah, they would be the ones who have the power to remove Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. I would hardly call him a naive follower. He was the President of Iran and is now the Chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts (مجلس خبرگان رهبری) until 2015 at least.

Rafsanjani is now the key toward greater freedoms and openness in Iran. He had formed a coalition and was making great progress that would have either removed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei or forced him to lean toward greater relations with Israel and U.S. and greater freedoms within Iran. Then the evil Revolutionary Guard arrested his daughter. They released her on the 21st or 22nd of June. He has been noticeably quiet every since. I say, understandably so. But Rafsanjani still holds this immense power. Unless those extremist buttholes find a way to take it away from him they better look out.

I maintain that Rafsanjani is now the key toward the future of Iran. It looked like allowing another election would have returned Iran to the status quo with a few more freedoms. I don't think Rafsanjani saw removal of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as the only solution. If Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had just accepted the Pragmatic Conservatives (a large coalition of Iranian leaders that are just slightly more center right than the far right) recomendations I think the Ayatollah probably would have been more secure in is top job. In pure conjecture on my part I am guessing Rafsanjani is leaning a little more toward Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's removal now. He is the Chair for quite a few years now. Unless the Ayatollah and Revolutionary Guard pull some dirty tricks I would say Rafsanjani has plenty of time to expand his sphere of influence and may possibly be the knife in the back of the Ayatollah if not a thorn in his side.

Meanwhile I hope the protesters are met with as little violence as possible. I would like to see sabiwabi look a little further into the details and see that there are many Muslims dedicated to their faith that are protesting for sincere reasons; they don't hate Iran; they love Iran and want what is best for it. I personally feel it was an unfair election. But I don't think that is the only issue. I would like to see sabiwabi look into Rafsanjani's current role and historic role in Iran.

In no way do I agree with a theocracy. However, I believe it is still the will of the majority of the people of Iran. I believe the citizen's will should be respected. I am not looking to tumble the government in Iran just leaders who do not support the majority of its citizens.

Maybe if the results of the election would have been closer I would wonder which side was correct in this ordeal. But to claim a landslide of well over 60% was just ridiculous. It is obvious that the protesters receive widespread support whenever they demonstrate.

Onlookers and pedestrians often gave their support. In side streets near the university, police were chasing young activists, and when they caught one, passers-by chanted “let him go, let him go,” until the policemen released him.

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Vehicles caught in traffic honked their horns in support of the marchers, witnesses said. Police were seen with a pile of license plates, apparently pried off honking cars in order to investigate the drivers later, the witnesses said.

I have to believe that drivers saw the Police removing license plates and could certainly figure out what would happen but continued to honk at their own risk.

My heart go out to the brave Iranians.
sabiwabi at 07:18 PM JST - 10th July

I am not looking to tumble the government in Iran just leaders who do not support the majority of its citizens.

So join me in congratulating Ahmadinejad for his victory in this recent democratic election!!!
Madverts at 09:15 PM JST - 10th July

You're right again, sabi! Just like when Saddam Hussein got 99% in his final democratic election, and those evil Americans removed him anyway.

Congrats Ahmadinejad!!
goodDonkey at 10:09 PM JST - 10th July

sabiwabi said:

So join me in congratulating Ahmadinejad for his victory in this recent democratic election!!!

I don't believe Ahmadinejad won in a fair election by obtaining the majority of the Iranian voters. Neither does Rafsanjani. I am not saying people who did vote for Ahmadinejad are the bad guys. I just don't believe Ahmadinejad received 62.63% of the Iranian votes when something like 84% of the eligible voters turned out. I don't want to be deceitful on the other hand. I didn't want Ahmadinejad to win. I would not congratulate him. But I would accept it as valid if I believed it was valid.

Even in Mousavi's hometown province of Tabriz in north-west Iran, the ministry claimed Ahmadinejad received more than 60% of the vote. It is just too suspicious for me to accept.
usaexpat at 11:41 PM JST - 10th July

I praise their courage and resolve. The Ayatollahs would do well to remember that this is how they toppled the Shah and came to power. It would be a lot better to give in and have another election otherwise there will be another revolution.