Posted on 06/14/2009 3:23:54 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
(To get a feel for what is going on in the streets of Tehran, watch this linked BBC video clip.)
Last night in London after appearing on Keith Olbermann's show, I got an email from a well-connected Iranian who knows many of the power figures in the Tehran political order asking to meet me. I told him that the only place possible was Paddington on the way to Heathrow -- and there we met.
He conveyed to me things that were mostly obvious -- Iran is now a tinderbox. The right is tenaciously consolidating its control over the state and refuses to yield. There is a split among the mullahs and significant dismay with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. A gaping hole has been ripped open in Iranian society, exposing the contradictions of the regime and everyone now sees that the democracy that they believed that they had in Iranian form is a "charade."
But the scariest point he made to me that I had not heard anywhere else is that this "coup by the right wing" has created pressures that cannot be solved or patted down by the normal institutional arrangements Iran has constructed. The Guardian Council and other power nodes of government can't deal with the current crisis and can't deal with the fact that a civil war has now broken out among Iran's revolutionaries.
My contact predicted serious violence at the highest levels. He said that Ahmadinejad is now genuinely scared of Iranian society and of Mousavi and Rafsanjani. The level of tension between them has gone beyond civil limits -- and my contact said that Ahmadinejad will try to have them imprisoned and killed.
Likewise, he said, Rafsanjani, Khatami, and Mousavi know this -- and thus are using all of the instruments at their control within Iran's government apparatus to fight back -- but given Khamenei's embrace of Ahmadinejad's actions in the election and victory, there is no recourse but to try and remove Khamenei. Some suggest that Rafsanjani will count votes to see if there is a way to formally dislodge Khamenei -- but this source I met said that all of these political giants have resources at their disposal to "do away with" those that get in the way.
He predicted that the so-called reformist camp -- who are not exactly humanists in the Western liberal sense -- may try and animate efforts to decapitate the regime and "do away with" Ahmadinejad and even the Supreme Leader himself.
I am not convinced that this source "knows" these things will definitely happen but am convinced of his credentials and impressed with the seriousness of the discussion we had and his own concern that there may be political killing sprees ahead.
This is not a vision he advocates -- but one he fears.
-- Steve Clemons
Damn.
Here’s another live social site:
http://almost.at/#iran
see headline,” riot in Iran; Mousevi(sp) arrested”
That is not good news.
I’m afraid the whole purpose of this sham election was to make it easy for the regime to identify the Enemies of the State.
Why the hell should Persians be Islamic anyhow? Mohammed the Pedophile Prophet was an Arab from Arabia. Is there any hope in the future that these folks can be brought into Christendom?
DanBlankenship: AhmadiN has revoked all permits of the foreignmedia& has instructed them2stp reporting or they will face jailtime #IRANelection Twitter - 49 secs ago
Sounds to me as if they want no witnesses to what they are about to do to the citizens.
that’s a distinct possibility
worth keeping in mind
noetical: RT @cheald: Iran jamming satellite comms, confiscating cameras, arresting reporters, etc. bit.ly/J0Rtg #IranElection Foreign media say Iran blocking coverage of protests Twitter - 53 secs ago - Link from breitbart.com - 5 shares
About 2% of people are a religion other than Islam. Article 13 of the Iranian Constitution recognizes the right of "People of the Book", including Christians to exercise their religion freely.
Iran recognizes the 13th Article about like our Leftist recognize the 2d Amendment.
here’s another link via the at site:
http://www.simoncolumbus.com/2009/06/15/english-language-twitterers-in-iran/
tubesyb: RT @persiankiwi have no more news from uni dorm. i must go to pray now. today we will need god. #Iranelection Twitter - 55 secs ago
CathiLarsen:
@CNNbrk RT @bashix: @iran09 The Sun is up in Tehran. People at University of Tehran dorm need immediate medical help... help #IranElection
Twitter - 43 secs ago
khorzookhan: mainstream media suck hairy balls! #cnnfail #IranElection #Iran tinyurl.com/l9ghvk CNN’s Coverage of Iran Protests Criticized - NYTimes.com Twitter - 1 min ago - Link from www10.nytimes.com -
Jesus, protect these poor people, in your name, Amen.
Thanks for this very informative post.
Posts of this quality are one of the primary reasons I love and frequent Free Republic.
That’s exactly how I felt last night.
I never cared one whit for twitter, then as I saw this unfold with each tweet it reminded of watching communism fall across eastern europe.
Plus - watching these kids defy the whacko regime by twittering is damn cool.
I think they must be using “right” to mean “bad,” as the media usually does in America.
One would think Obama would stand up for them the way he stood up for the women of Islam in his Cairo speech..............oh yeah, this isn’t about hajebs...never mind.
I knew young Iranians thirty years ago who said that even though they were Muslims, their behavior in private was western.
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