Tehran: Embassy Occupation Anniversary May See Fresh Protests

TIME:

A new showdown looms in Iran this week, as the regime and its intrepid opposition gear up for what may be their biggest street confrontation since the protests that followed the disputed June 12 presidential election. The latest face-off is scheduled for Wednesday, when Iran commemorates the 30th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover by radical students. In an ironic twist, however, instead of the traditional festival of America-bashing, students across the country are being summoned to mark the event with a protest against their own government.

Read the whole story: TIME

Comments

[BiBiJan]

08:56 AM on 11/03/2009

To fully appreciate the extent of ignominy of taking over the American embassy and holding the staff for 444 days, that indelible shame that early revolutionary zeal bestowed to Iran, it is instructive to consider the historical record.

In the Public orations of Demosthenes (384–322 BCE), there are references to Aphobetus, ambassador to the King of Persia. Considering the relative size and power of the Persian empire vs that of Greece, it is fair to assume that it was an Iranian invention to respect the sanctity of an embassy and the diplomatic immunity of an ambassador.

There could not have been a more savage act, an un-Iranian act, than defiling a concept invented by Iranians themselves.

While 27 years of the reign of the US 'friend', the Shah, one of the most brutal dictatorships in modern times may be used by some to justify idiotic acts of excess, 30 years hence is high time for Iranians to hang their heads low and apologize.

http://www.bibijon.org/iranimage/

[Khirad]

11:10 PM on 11/02/2009

You go Mahmoud Vahidnia! Drat, those meddling kids who make up the vast majority of the country! It was also good the article pointed out many of the hostage takers are now reformists at odds (and in trouble) with the hardline regime. Shows you just how far the Islamic Republic has veered from it original ideals.

My message to the hezbollahis and basijis who will be out to likely silence opposition voices: marg bar hech-kas! Dεατh to no one! -- Learn to speak only with your tongues, not your truncheons!

Sharif University of Tehran Students chant in support of Mahmoud Vahidnia:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_MxDmewodc

[wereeverywhere]

12:33 AM on 11/03/2009

Thank you yet again, Khirad. Re: Mahmoud Vahidnia:http://english.mowjcamp.com/article/id/53586

A brave Iranian student has openly criticised the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a formal annual meeting ...

In this meeting which is usually a place for students from across Iran to praise the leader and to show him their devotion, a mathematics student from Sharif University of Technology and a winner of the International Mathematics Olympiad courageously rose from amongst those present and requested to speak to the leader.

The student then directly addressed the leader criticising him and the Islamic Republic for twenty minutes. His comments were followed by occasional applause and cheers from those present. Iranian state-run TV which was broadcasting live images of the meeting was forced to stop airing the programme for some time...

“I have been following newspapers and magazines more seriously for four or five years now. During this time, I do not recall having read any piece that was critical of the leader.”

The student also expressed contempt towards what he described as a campaign to idolise the leader while questioning the “cycle of power” in the Islamic Republic and the structure of the Guardians Council and the Council of the Elite which many believe have compromised the people’s votes and their say in their own affairs...

According to unconfirmed reports, this Sharif University student was faced with security forces after the meeting was over.

[FrankCornish]

09:51 PM on 11/03/2009

Mousavi has issued a statement for the occasion. You can see it here:

http://enduringamerica.com/2009/10/31/iran-mousavi-statement-for-13-aban-demonstrations-31-october/

Who knows what will happen tomorrow; hopefully it will be something good. We'll see how much the Green Movement can muster. YouTube is full of videos calling for turning 13 Aban Green.

See here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OdRCG47FcFs