Iranian Daze

The flood of information and images from Iran produce some fascinating details about the Green Revolution. Early on the sanitation workers went on strike and this weekend construction workers blocked police assaults on demonstrators using construction equipment. Rumors have Mousavi calling for a oil worker strike, one of the ways the Shah had been toppled. Grand Ayatollah Montazeri called for national strikes as well as a period of mourning starting on Wednesday.

For all our praise of twitter,e-mails, text-messaging, Youtube, it's nice to hear reports that people are going back to paper to communicate this week.

We have been told repeatedly that Khamenei feared "color coded" revolutions such as happened throughout Central Europe and the Ukraine and Georgia. Apparently, the regime spent a fortune preparing for a velvet revolution and tried to head it off at the pass. Observers note that if demonstrations spread throughout the country, they will be entering into areas where the population is armed and anti-regime. Conflict is likely to include the Kurds, Baluchis and the Arabs in the South. Perhaps, that's one of the reasons the military has been very cautious about staying out of the repression of the demonstration.

More evidence is coming forth that the election was cooked. London-based Chatham House produced an excellent report with considerable data demonstrating the absurdity of an Ahmadinjad victory. The Guardian Council acknowledged over-voting in 50 cities but ratified the final tally. Well, maybe not, rumors have Rafsanjani possessing a letter signed by 40 members of the Council demanding the elections be annulled.

One of the more curious rumors had Rafsanjani in Qom meeting with clerics, allegedly plotting to topple Khamenei, a man he put into power. But the most curious aspect of this is that reports had him meeting with Grand Ayatollah Sistani of Iraq. What was that for?

Members of the Iranian parliament have suggested Iran reconsider its relationship with the United Kingdom. The British embassy is evacuating personnel. If the situation deteriorates further, I expect we will have some play to seize the British embassy. Could you imagine if Condi Rice had succeeded in opening an embassy in Tehran as planned, what would have happened now?

The Head of Iran's Parliamentary Judiciary Committee is trying to establish grounds to pursue Mousavi for "activities against national security".

University professors are telling students they can make up their exams at convenient dates. This has provoked Basij members to harass them as being supporters of the Green Revolution. Maybe so, but it only seems a humane act on their part.

The women we saw killed before our eyes on video was Neda Agha Sultan. She has become the icon of the current struggle in Iran.

Late at night EST, I saw a short e-mail about an arrest of a general of the Revolutionary Guard, who refused to obey orders to suppress demonstrations. This tracks with other messages throughout the week of the removal of high-ranking members of the Revolutionary Guard, who had secretly met with military personnel to oppose the election results.

One blogger at Dailykos wrote about how moved he was by the courage of the Iranian people, even though he was not an Iranian and was relatively ignorant of the political situation, and wondered why. I think it's simply that the world must exist in possibility and live in hope. Otherwise, the reality of things would be too crushing. Anytime we see a people act like the Iranians are doing it is a reminder that we too strive for freedom and justice in a world that frequently blocks them. As vicarious as we are in observing these events, there is something that reassures us that if they succeed, our fate will be alright.