Comments on: The Iranian Disbelief

By: Paul

Paul — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 12:24:03 +0000

I agree entirely with the article, but am not so optimistic as to the outcome. Sadly, historical facts don’t bear out the general proposition that “Once a government starts shooting at its own people, it is signaling its own eventual end” – except possibly if one thinks in terms of decades, rather than months or even years.

By: Farhang Erfani

Farhang Erfani — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:10:10 +0000

Arya: as I mentioned in my post, I agree the election was rigged. All I meant is that until it is proven (even though it seems obvious) we should not just focus on the sheer fact of the cheating. There are deeper issues than this. I don’t think we’re disagreeing.

By: Patrick S. O'Donnell

Patrick S. O'Donnell — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:17:41 +0000

Farhang,

Perhaps some of your readers would be interested in several posts up at the Ratio Juris blog that attempt to put current events in Iran in various historical and socio-political contexts (the proverbial big picture):

http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/2009/06/iran-toward-understanding-of.html

http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/2009/06/muslims-democracy-precis.html and

http://ratiojuris.blogspot.com/2009/06/islam-constitutionalism-modest.html

Thanks,
Patrick

By: arya sabetian

arya sabetian — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 19:31:09 +0000

Ahmadinejad did NOT have enough votes by himself. many polls before the election quite clearly showed that mousavi is ahead of Ahmadinejad by a very considerable margin. Why in the world has it become a commonplace idea that maybe he had actually won? are you not even slightly informed about all the candidate representatives that were removed from the election sites? of all the warnings (some issued by the officials themselves) about the possibility of a fraud BEFORE the election? don’t you know about so many workers who were arrested and beaten just weeks before the election? about the farmers who were devastated by the policies of Ahmadinejad? the majority of lower classes are those who suffered the most during these 4 years, and not to forget that Mousavi himself was best known for his time as a prime minister when he focused his attention on the poor during the war.

other than that, a good article.

By: Ian Maley

Ian Maley — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 15:39:30 +0000

I have no response to do justice to this other than the greatest thanks. Like everyone, just waiting in solidarity. Americans have much to admire (and to be humbled by) in those protesting. Thank you!

By: Chip

Chip — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 04:59:09 +0000

Thanks for this, Farhang.

By: J. Edward Hackett

J. Edward Hackett — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:32:39 +0000

A nicely crafted analysis.

By: Daimon

Daimon — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:14:40 +0000

Very good, and well thought out points. I wholeheartedly agree. My grandparents happen to be in Tehran at the moment, they are well into their 80s, and have a duel citizenship as Canadians as well. Things are tense over there as you can imagine. All we can do at this point is wait and see. It’s a very unpredictable situation.