Sunday
Dec062009
16 Azar Special: A Letter from Inside Iran
Sunday, December 6, 2009 at 22:24 
An EA reader writes, "Some time ago, some dear friends of mine returned to their home in Iran after a prolonged holiday. I had sent them a long farewell message, wishing them well and asking them to try and contact me whenever there might be a chance. I wasn't sure when or if I might hear. Then on Saturday, 5 December, just as news was spreading about Iran 'cutting off' all Internet access, an e-mail arrived: At the airport when we landed, they questioned me about what I'd been doing abroad, where I'd been, and asked if I was on facebook, and for my passwords. They even did a search for my name on Facebook but didn’t find me. I am so glad I closed my account. I know it has been said many times but still people should be warned to close their FB accounts, etc. (Still. I was really worried because I still had a Twitter account open – but I had set that up with all false info ---luckily.) It was intimidating for a bit but I acted as confidently as I could. It was not a pleasant experience. So please if you know anyone coming back here, advise them to close all their FB & Twitter accounts.
People are going about their everyday lives but it’s not really very normal, there is graffiti everywhere. We saw many photos on the web but there is so much more than I expected! You see green paint & writing and V’s everywhere, sometimes in the strangest places!
All anyone talks about is politics, it’s more open in that respect than before I left! Especially when it comes to the Supreme Leader & the Regime. There are of course the coup supporters who pretend nothing is happening - but they are in the minority It is amazing how they close their eyes and make excuses for the coupsters. One person told me the protesters were Western-trained terrorists! They sincerely believed it too. They have this total blind faith even though most of them are highly intelligent. They are really delusional. I know this kind of sounds contradictory, but at the same time they are very worried, the supporters regurgitate the same IRI (Islamic Republic of Iran) propaganda about western soft war and convince themselves the government is holy and would never hurt anyone!
We get a lot of news, considering I rarely get on the internet! I really miss it.. The first time I could see friends online, but was too scared to log in and say hello, I so badly wanted to. It was the strangest thing: I was excited that I could see you but decided it was safer not to "speak2 to you.
I have seen videos of protests in Universities around the country, I think that most things that are circulated on Twitter are also circulated around here, both eastern and western news. We saw (journalist Maziar} Bahari’s interviews (with Jon Stewart and CNN), for example, and the (Mir Hossein) Mousavi interview. We have read news articles from western news sites & the news from the reformist sites & opposition blogs is e-mailed and handed out on flyers. Many of my friends told me they are still on the Internet watching different blogs and social media sites but they don’t sign in anymore. Remember this is the Bluetooth capital of the world! There are videos, assorted fliers, we even saw a newsletter! And anything the government says, you know the opposite is true.
I heard the Allah Akbar’s the night before the last big rally on 13 Aban (4 November). It was so moving, I had seen it on You Tube, but to hear it live was something else I guess it confirmed for me how real it was...the sound seems to come from everywhere. The people I was with told me it was much louder before, I can't imagine what that must have been like. How much our country has changed in the time I've been away!
We planned to visit a friend in central Tehran early in the morning of 13 Aban, I just wanted to see it for myself --- you know what it's like there you see the videos, I just wanted to watch it. As we made our way towards the apartment, somehow we got in the middle of some people trying to group up and some security trying to disperse them. We had no choice but to start running, I got a whack from a baton but just kept running. I looked around and everyone was running like me. From somewhere in the direction of where we were running to came teargas. It all happened so quickly, we got separated and I lost almost all but one of my companions in the confusion.
Thankfully my friend knew where to go, and we quickly got to a place of safety even though we were coughing and choking from the teargas. When we reunited with our other friends we shared a cigarette for the teargas. We then watched the terrible scene unfold on the street below.
I’m sure you have heard, I can’t put into words what I saw, but they are ruthless, horrible animals. The worst part was, they seemed to be targeting girls! People eventually dispersed from the scene, but most came out again later! We could hear people protesting somewhere in the city right into the evening.
Talk now of course is all about student's day (16 Azar --- 7 December), I don’t know if there will be a huge turnout, but there will definitely be protests. Everyone knows about it, some are scared, but there are many others that are determined. There has been some talk of strikes as well, in the last couple of days, but that may be just a rumor. The whole country is getting really tense again in the lead up to 16 Azar, you can really sense the tension.
Allah Akbars are only night before the major protests now, although I heard there have been some in the university dorms, as well as many protests. In the street every once in a while someone will just yell out a slogan and everyone smiles or people flash V signs. It always brings smiles, it’s like the fog has lifted for a minute. I have seen this a couple of times now, these people are so brave, there are security officers everywhere.
People I have talked to are mainly fed up with the government altogether - there's always been grumbling against the regime, but even I am surprised by the amount of people that are now openly stressing the need for secular democracy. There has been a major shift in opinion after 13 Aban in the people around me. I really think the IRI is finished: and that there is enough support now for complete change. People are just waiting at the moment, but we will have a better idea in the next month. Winter has always been a big time for protests.
One thing I can say for sure is there is no going back now, I couldn’t begin to guess what the future might hold, but the green movement isn’t going away, if anything it is growing. There are definitely some Basij questioning what they are doing. There are stories of divorces and broken engagements over differences in which side they support. Family members have stopped talking to each other over this, even disowned each other. So, there are strained relationships everywhere between families, associates, friends, neighbours. Something has got to give eventually. It seems like some are finally noticing what is really going on instead of continuing to stick the heads in the sand.
Reader Comments (26)
Thanks for this letter. It serves as a confirmation of what I and many others have been saying all along. We are past the tipping point with this regime.
Every single time we get anything like this out of Iran, it always confirms what we've been thinking, that just as INN says we are past the tipping point.
It's so good to read this, and amazing the timing - especially given that the internet was supposed to be closed down - obviously someone is making sure stuff still gets out!
I thought this part was the most fascinating:
"I know this kind of sounds contradictory, but at the same time they are very worried, the supporters regurgitate the same IRI (Islamic Republic of Iran) propaganda about western soft war and convince themselves the government is holy and would never hurt anyone!"
Do these people really believe the stuff they are saying themselves?!?
Yesterday I met a visitor from Tehran, here his news in short: The movement is certainly not restricted to the city's northern (wealthy) areas, but most lively in the centre and supported by what he described as the petit bourgeois. No more Ershad patrols (morality police) around Tajrish, where he lives, because they do not dare to show up on the streets. The regime has decided this retreat because of constant protesting. He regretted that this movement has no obvious leader, and that the youth lacks political perspectives and just wants freedom. In any case this movement aims at the removal of the IRI, nothing less. People accept Moussavi and Karroubi as prominent voices of their protests, but both are only a means to achieve the goal of a genuine, democratic republic. Moussavi is not trustworthy because of eliminating political opponents, and Karroubi is compromised because he accepted money from Shahram Jazayeri: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahram_Jazayeri-Arab
In the Tajrish area people continue to shout Allahu Akbar every night. Crackdown on students is severe, this visitor spoke of 400 students, expelled from Tehran University. Nevertheless the Green movement is alive and unstopable.
"Do these people really believe the stuff they are saying themselves??"
I think it's a moral coping strategy. They cope with the intrinsic horror of the abuse they are implicitly backing in their support of the regime by convincing themselves that the Greens are all part of a western soft war. This allows them to not have to feel any sympathy for the people that are being harmed. Sooner or later, even these people won't be able to deny the inevitable...
These green supporters really live and walk in a bubble. It's like a community of drug addicts. "Everyone I know is a drug addict, all of my friends and relatives are drug addicts". "Sure some people reject drugs but they are in they are in the minority It is amazing how they close their eyes and delude themselves".
It is interesting how brave, courageous and just plain wonderful these greenies are, so handsome and lovely and they even smell nice too. Why they'll take a whack from a baton but they just keep on running and no matter how much running they do they still smell so sweet. How come they didn't try to hijack Basij day??? Heh, Heh, that would have been a perfect opportunity one would think to try to take over the streets.
"...the supporters regurgitate the same IRI (Islamic Republic of Iran) propaganda about western soft war and convince themselves the government is holy and would never hurt anyone!"
Would never hurt anyone??? On the contrary the government better hurt some of the people trying to overthrow the revolution. Well ok let's put a big basket of sweets and fresh fruit on every Basij motorcycle just in case the protestors get hungry.
The frantic,panicked gasps of an apologist of a discredited and doomed ideology. There, there, Sam.
Talking about Basiji day -- how did it go?? There was talk of 4 million Bassiji marching in the street and 100,000 in the Tehran stadium - but I could find no subsequent mention of it after the event anywhere .
Don't tell me it was a "fizzer" - it must have been because surely the Regime would have put out lots of photos if it was big and successful.
EDIT - I have now found some websites which show photos of a small number of Basiji inside a building. No guarantee of the time/date of the photos however. Am looking for evidence of a LARGE gathering.
Barry
Barry,
Pictures??? Don't you know by now that every picture released by the govt. is altered by the Guards while every picture or video released by the Greenies is 100% authentic. I remember not too long ago how some brilliant analysis was able to determine that the picture of the SL with the president of Senegal was a fake. The SL's been dead for two months you know.
Cyaxares,
"The frantic,panicked gasps of an apologist of a discredited and doomed ideology."
Not at all but the Greenies want to bring about "Death to Khamenei" but they also want sweets from the Basij. "Oh please, please, please return to the purity and the beauty of your youth oh Basij when you loved me and I certaingly loved you" whines Mousavi in his pathetic love letter to the Basij.
We can all play the "everyone I know" game. The fact is that every one I know has one of these or similar and they will be used to defend the revolution. This is not about panicking or sounding tough, it is just a fact.
http://www.diomil.ir/en/aig.aspx
http://www.defencetalk.com/pictures/data/4699/RIFLE_TYPE_KL_-_7_62_mm.jpg
Samuel
I know the 7.62 mm semi-automatic rifle very well - different make/model to yours, but still, VERY deadly.
BUT - you know that if you use them, then you are definitely finished?? You are caught in the middle of a quandary. You would love to use them - you really think that they should be used - BUT you know that it would be the end for you and yours if/when you do use them against unarmed civilians . Didn't the Shah do just that? Is the "Revolution" so dear to you that you would murder your own?? If so, it only goes to show the real worth of the Revolution.
Barry
I think what Samuel is trying to say is the post looks like it is fake As in, this is not an Iranian in Iran; rather some person who thinks he is helping.
Now, I have never been wacked with a baton. I am curious is it easy to just keep running if you are hit. Would you not have to stop? I guess if it just grazed you or something; you would be ok. But can you withstand a direct hit and just keep running?
If this letter is false, I think he is saying that these well intentioned efforts could be dangerous. the regime uses these people as an excuse to strengthen its hold on the country. In the name of nationalism and eliminating foreign interfeerance, they effectivly manage to neutralize the opposition.
No two revolutions happen the same. This regime has proven to be very experience, ruthless, & willing to kill. This is because they are weak & afraid. Believe me when I tell you the green movement is alive and well in Iran. We do not need this type of interfeerance.
We must hide in the shadows. We must not take on the government head on. We must destroy their sources of oil & money. We must choke off their ability to do business with foreign companies.
Also:
Our political ideology must be democracy. We must work to develop a democratic alternative to replace the ruthless military dictatorship currently occupying Iran.
We believe that the strategy which will truly achieve freedom, democracy, & human rights in Iran is a grassroots bottom-up community effort which addresses social, political, & military challenges.
Unlike the previous revolution, a blueprint needs to be developed to make it clear what people are struggling to accomplish; and to insure the people's desire for democracy is realized. This blueprint could also be referred to as a constitution; which will need to be ratified by the people after the regime is removed or reformed.
In addition. It is important to develop a "Manual for Revolution"; which outlines strategies and tactics for defeating the current military system. I often think of this training tool as a "Hand Book" for democracy.
You can get an idea of our definition of democracy by reading our manifesto & draft constitution. Both of these documents are on our website.
http://iran115.org
Iran will soon become a true democracy which respects freedom & human rights; and nobody can do anything about it.
Jamshid
Barry,
"Didn’t the Shah do just that?"
The Shah was surrounded by paid armed forces, mercenaries if you will who were in the military or SAVAK as a career. The whole point of the Revolution is that a Basiji can be your plumber, your carpenter, your butcher, the mechanic who fixes your motorcycle, your doctor, a student, a tribal member, young, old, men and women, in effect anyone. In addition to the millions in the Basij there are millions of others not affilliated with the Basij but who are also willing to fight if need be.
Everybody (well not the greenies) loves the Pasdaran and they are in awe of their "elite" highly trained fighters etc. Well that is all fine and good but I've always felt that the Basij is far more important than the Guards precisely because they are not elite, because they represent the common people. Yes some in the Basij are fat or not in the best of shape and not all are highly trained but THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT, they are the people mobilized.
Jamshid,
I've never recieved a whack with a baton either but when I was little I would get the leather belt or wooden spoon (or whatever else was nearby - btw this was along time ago and not illegal then) and I would certainly try to keep running after I was hit - yeah it hurt a whole bunch but usually you don't feel these things until you stop running and your adrenalin goes back to normal. I think it's weird to say that this is fake because you don't think someone could run after getting hit by a baton. I'm sure we have seen videos of people running while getting hit with batons.
The baton thing didn't make me think it was fake. But it does look like something crafted by somebody who wanted to cover key points. Things that are indeed quite important. But it could have been done differently.
For example, A helpful article or a list of important things to keep in mind.
I myself have never had the chance to watch a video so I wouldn't know. I am blind. So maybe somebody could tell me. Do people keep running after they get wacked with a baton?
SAMUEL,
Your nasty so called "Supreme Leader!!!!", who is badly addicted to Opium, is out of political life now. He does not have the guts to watch the news now. He has been isolated since his "mighty" heart cant take the fact about the reality of everyday's life in Iran.
I remember "Khaeneyee" used to address shah's men, saying: you stay in bullet proof cars. If a bullet cannot get through your car, how can you hear the message of People??
Listen to yourself now, where have you gone???? where are you now????!!!!
This regime has neither any religious or ideological jusitification. nor people are happy with them. thorougout the history this has always been a breaking point and this is no exception now. non of you can walk safely anywhere in the world anymore.
I have been activly involved in revolution, I have been in Iran-Iraq war for two years, I wear parfume now, as I like to be different to you stinky poos. This is my land and my country and I assure you that you are finished.
I promise you.
Samuel,
The Green Movement is the people mobilized. The basij are paid murderers and are losing members by the day. Further, many basij from the iran/iraq war are saying that what the basij have become (street thugs to keep the people in line) has nothing to do with what it was supposed to be (defense of the country)
Well Well Well, Jamshid just can't help himself!
The only person he takes as being credible and defends is the troll!!!!!!!!
Show me where in the letter it says where on their anatomy the person was 'whacked', or even how hard. Self-preservation is a very powerful instinct, and as Sophie says, it's more than possible to have been hit, keep running and only really feel the pain afterwards. Even in the animal kingdom - I've shot rabbits, know I've hit them, only to see them run into their burrows.
Alborz,
Glad to see you are safe and posting comments. Sami is Khaneyee’s boy.
Hey people,
Have no worry about SaMule because his days of boasting are numbered. If you notice, his words show more desperation than before. He knows he and his B brothers will soon find themselves unemployed. They know their SL (the Supreme Loony), Khaneyee, will soon find himself in a shit hole just like Saddam Hoessin. Except Khaneyee will be extracted from his shit hole by mighty Green not the U.S. Marine. His protectors, the fat, unshaved, un-showered, rosewater- laced, IRG members flee in chador (hejob borrowed from their wives) over the border to southern Iraq.
Poor Sami boy is clicking the keyboard as hard as he can hoping for the Hidden #12 coming out party and the rescue of IRI. Here is the breaking news Sami boy: #11 did not DO IT - he did not make any #12.
I took this person, Jamshid, for real when he first commented on this blog. I wanted to hear from him because he said he had spent two years in Iran rural areas. But the more I read his writings the more I became convinced that he has been whacked on the head a few times, by no one but himself. He talks about cells and secret resistance and all that nonsense. I think he is watching too much HBO or something. He may mean well but boy he sounds too wacky.
We are going to destroy this regime and establish a true democracy.
We shall insure Iran has a democratic constitution with proper checks & balances.
We will do this by addressing social, political, & military challenges.
The key to our success will be: bottom-up community organizing.
Our political ideology: democracy
Jamshid
"We????" "Our???" Who????
Barry
[...] been paid for several months, if that continues they will turn against the gvt. 4. Have you read: 16 Azar Special: A Letter from Inside Iran | Enduring America 5. 70% of Iranians are under 30, ie they were born after 'the destruction' they are totally [...]
Alborz,
Well said to Samuel!!!!! Keep the fight up until your free. We love the smell of perfume along with freedom here in the states. We are praying to smell both soon coming from the free nation of Iran!!!!
Thx
Bill
"Marg Bar Dictator"
Megan,
What is it with the "rosewater" "no shower" IRGC agents? My friends mom is visting from Iran and while I was out to dinner with them she was describing a visit agents paid her a few months back. She said she knew they were coming because she could smell the rose water and then knew for sure before they spoke a word because of the stench of unwashed bodies. What is it with this habit? Do they think it is unislamic to bathe regulary? By the way this person's mom, who is well into her 70's, was paid several visits recently because she once worked for the shah and had relatives in the states--they thought she might be a spy after all!!!!
And here follows a story from you can make this stuff up: "Ahmadinejad says US planning to prevent coming of Mahdi" http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/12/07/93422.html Gotta love the monkey he sure can make us laugh!!!! All the best to you!
Thx
Bill