PERSIAN UNRAVELING:

Iran forces quell massive uprising: Protesters gunned down as people resist Revolutionary Guard assault (WorldNetDaily.com, December 5, 2003)

Iranian Supreme Revolutionary Guard forces under the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei reportedly killed a 10-year-old boy in the country's minority Baloch region yesterday, touching off a massive uprising against the Islamic regime countered by a deadly crackdown and imposition of martial law, according to sources on the scene.

Amid burning banks, stores and government offices, at least 30 Baloch protesters are dead and 80 injured in the southeastern city of Saravan near the Pakistani border, said Malek Meerdora, who immigrated to Canada from the city in 1993.

Meerdora told WorldNetDaily the Iranian government has attempted to shut off communication from the city, but he has been in contact with sources there via satellite telephone and the Internet.

He said soldiers approached the 10-year-old, Haroun Balochzahi, and grabbed his bike from him, insisting on a bribe. The boy did not speak Persian, the majority language, and responded by biting a soldier and running. The youth was shelled with bullets in front of people on the streets and died on the spot, Meerdora said, prompting an immediate reaction.

In an unusual display of resistance to the hard-line, cleric-led regime, a crowd set a military jeep on fire and began beating the soldiers, Meerdora said.

Later, at about 1:30 p.m., thousands of Balochs, including many from surrounding cities, began to congregate on the streets in protest.

Revolutionary Guard soldiers opened fire on the crowd, hitting up to 80 people, witnesses claimed.

The entire city and surrounding area is raised up against the Tehran government, Meerdora said, burning down symbols of the regime and attacking Iranian officials. [...]

"I mark this as a day of revolution," Meerdora said. "I think the Iranian government will face more problems." [...]

Politically the Baloch identify as Muslims, but most do not practice Islam, Meerdora said.

Some analysts say Iran's theocratic regime is unraveling, as resistance movements, including one led by students, grow stronger.

"This theocratic regime is in shambles, coming to the end of its rope," according to Fereydoun Hoveyda, senior fellow at the National Committee on American Foreign Policy in New York City. "People are not afraid of it anymore."

With much nonsense being written about how the President's recent sppech on democratizing the Middle East marked some kind of supposed conversion, the unrest in Iran serves as a helpful reminder that it was a year and a half ago that he boldly plunked usdown on the side of democratic revolution in Iran, at a time when most in the West still mistakenly believed the government there to be "reformist", Statement by the President (White House, 7/12/02):

We have seen throughout history the power of one simple idea: when given a choice, people will choose freedom. As we have witnessed over the past few days, the people of Iran want the same freedoms, human rights, and opportunities as people around the world. Their government should listen to their hopes.

In the last two Iranian presidential elections and in nearly a dozen parliamentary and local elections, the vast majority of the Iranian people voted for political and economic reform. Yet their voices are not being listened to by the unelected people who are the real rulers of Iran. Uncompromising, destructive policies have persisted, and far too little has changed in the daily lives of the Iranian people. Iranian students, journalists and Parliamentarians are still arrested, intimidated, and abused for advocating reform or criticizing the ruling regime. Independent publications are suppressed. And talented students and professionals, faced with the dual specter of too few jobs and too many restrictions on their freedom, continue to seek opportunities abroad rather than help build Iran's future at home. Meanwhile, members of the ruling regime and their families continue to obstruct reform while reaping unfair benefits.

Iran is an ancient land, home to a proud culture with a rich heritage of learning and progress. The future of Iran will be decided by the people of Iran. Right now, the Iranian people are struggling with difficult questions about how to build a modern 21st century society that is at once Muslim, prosperous, and free. There is a long history of friendship between the American people and the people of Iran. As Iran's people move towards a future defined by greater freedom, greater tolerance, they will have no better friend than the United States of America.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 6, 2003 12:30 PM