Thursday
Mar252010
UPDATED Iran: "We are Going to Make the Future Better"
Thursday, March 25, 2010 at 6:37 
UPDATE 1030 GMT: EA readers are already making useful refinements to this article. In addition to the comments which remind me that Iranians are currently celebrating the extended Nowruz holiday --- which may account in part for this quiet political phase --- an activist says simply, "Don't forget that Iranian expression, 'Fire under the ashes'."There has been a notable drop in news from and on the Iranian opposition in recent days. Discussing this with an EA correspondent last night, amidst the distraction of the Caspian Makan affair, I pondered if "the Greens were lying low/regrouping/rethinking/fading into sunset". The correspondent replied, "They are all in a very poor shape right now" because of the regime's suppressions and punishments.
So could the "regime feel confident enough to relax the pressure and get a semblance of 'normal' in its rule"? We agreed that this would be "tough since now they are merely keeping law and order with a strong fist policy".
Still, that's not the most hopeful of conclusions. So, as we closed with the agreement that we would next consider the significance of the upcoming mayoral election in Tehran, was it just a case of being tough-minded and pessimistic journalists?
I was only shaken out of these thoughts this morning when I read the comment from an EA reader who lives in Iran:
We are hopeful and patient....We are going to make the future better. In Persian we say if God wants [it will happen]. We want to make it and we’ll make it.
And so another day begins.
Reader Comments (13)
While those with a narrow view will disagree I will say the Green Movement has clearly fostered change that will make Iran a better place in the future. As with all things, especially in the face of tyranny, it will take time and much more work to make it a reality. I would also like to point out the inability of the regime to "take out" the green movement and its leaders as win. It clearly shows the regime knows to do so would spell the end of their time in power because all would rise up--that is something to hold onto and build upon for a better future.
The first two weeks of Spring is the Nowruz break when everyone in Iran is on vacation. Traditional no one works and the country pretty much comes to a standstill as it refreshes itself for a new year. So if you are not getting much news its because Iran as a whole is on holiday until around April 1. And I am sure thanks to the tradition of visiting families and friends, the word of the Green Movement will spread to the very core of Iranian society. Because in these two weeks everyone will meet up with everyone else. And when people gather in small groups they are likely to talk about all that is wrong in their lives and their thirst for change, for more freedoms and most importantly for a better economy. An economy that the government of Ahmadinejad is mishandling.
AJ,
Thank you for clarifying the reason for this notable drop in news. Nowruz is in fact comparable to the Christmas season in Western countries. i.e. dead season.
I am as well convinced that the Greens are going to spread the word, not only in their hometowns, but throughout the country as many travel around to visit their relatives and friends. Even though the regime's pressure and punishments are high, the genie is out of the bottle, or "telesm shekast" as we say in Persian, the spell is broken. The spell on all unsaid matters is broken, they lie on the table and will continue to resurface in public as long as the regime continues to ignore them and refuses to cope with them ...
Arshama
2010 will be an average year for Iran. Not as good as 2009 and not as bad as 2011.
Rick
What kind of cigarettes do you smoke ?
What a coincidence. I just received an e-mail from a friend of mine in Iran who has been a student activist since 2007 and a ringleader in the 2008 and 2009 protests/rallies by students about a range of issues: campus conditions, who the rector is, anti-AN protests whenever he dared give speeches at TU, pro-Mousavi rallies during the campaign and post-election protests. We spent the evening of 12 June 2009 cruising Tehran with him in his car while he alerted his contacts who hadn't yet voted to which polling stations were still open. That night he was also constantly being called by others regarding whether they were going to hold night-long vigils (and maybe throw a few bricks) in front of certain ministries and TV stations. His family is just as amazed as we are that he's managed to avoid arrest to this day.
He writes:
"I am on my parents house for Norouz holydays. It's always a boring time
for me. Full of horrible TV programs and visiting every relative of
mine, an act I did'nt like since teenage. I will go for a trip to
Masule(I gusse you have been there) from thursday with my friends.
The political affairs are reduced now and I spend more time on
my favorite jobs.
After all these accidents I am not hopeless at all. I think parliment
election will make a new wave in society and clears many things. Now we
know that we can not think about any foreign helps and should stand on
our own feet. I think the future is bright for us."
He has also decided to do his graduate studies in Iran instead of going abroad - a change in plans that at first surprised me. He is confident that things are going to change for the better and he wants to be there to witness and participate in the process. He's 21.
I believe things are happening outside Iran as well, by Iranians as well as governments. There seem to be synergies of good things happening in different areas at once. Please watch the Foundation FOI, for example, Chaired by David Suurland. They say they're about to reveal a plan, but are still building leverage. That in itself is a feat! David Suurland testified at the Geneva Summit earlier this month. His foundation is based in the Netherlands. They are funding some technological developments to help open the communication lines between Iranians. He mentioned also "Azadi Television" created for and by the Greens that will help educate about democracy and freedom of expression... all those western evils. ;)
Catherine
Great story; do you know when will the parliment elections be ? and if do you think, with all cheats during the presidential elections, people will trust in other sort of elections in Iran because, AN & Co have always managed to have what they want !
We've already established that this is a marathon, and not a sprint. The green deserve a holiday. They've been working on all of the other ones.
hi.
i got really happy when i saw you have made a part of my comment as your headline.thanks.
but please mention the part u omitted from my comment{as Mr.Mussavi said}.he is a great man and he has had a grat role to exist a peaceful, useful and optimistic movement in Iran ,namely: THE GREEN MOVEMENT or as he said: THE GREEN WAY OF HOPE.
we r on this way.
Kiterunner,
Thank you for making this point again.
S.
RE MWforHR post 7
David Suurland testified at the Geneva Summit earlier this month. His foundation is based in the Netherlands. They are funding some technological developments to help open the communication lines between Iranians.
This is their website: http://iproxyiran.tk/
Or perhaps the smart and canny Iranians have realised that this time for real there was a foreign plot with the collusion of a number of countries to provoke a civil war, anarchy and chaos and have blood flowing on the streets of Tehran on a regular basis. Or maybe the' greens' never had a constituency in the first place and these tales of fantasy were created by the modern day well funded Scherezades to seek to successfully distract public opinion from the real issues of the US/Israeli/Saudi effort to destabilise IRI & divert attention away from the diabolic situation in Gaza or perhaps......