"Winds Of Change Continue To Blow In Iran"

Thu Nov 5, 4:35 PM ET This photo taken on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, and released by the official website of the Iranian supreme leader's office shows Iranian student Mahmoud Vahidnia speaking in a meeting with supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, unseen, in Tehran, Iran.(AP Photo/Office of the Supreme Leader)

On June 20, Neda Agha-Soltan, 26, headed to Tehran's Nilofar Square, where thousands of protesters gathered. Clashes were particularly intense that day, with demonstrators and riot police squaring off.

Neda, accompanied by her music teacher, called home with frequent updates. "Mom, there are just too many clashes going on. There are a lot of police and forces around."

Tear gas was lobbed at the crowd. Neda headed to a medical clinic to get her eyes washed. "My eyes are really burning hard," she said.

Twenty minutes later, Neda's mom reached her again. "She said she was on her way back home -- that I need not worry."

Neda told the same thing to her aunt and uncle, who also called to check up on her.

Wearing blue jeans, a black shirt and white sneakers, Neda walked toward her car, parked on a side street not far from the heated protests. "It didn't occur to her that anything was going to be different," her mother said.

Then, Neda was killed. A single bullet struck her chest.

In their last face-to-face conversation, the mother and daughter debated the political climate inside Iran. "We had a hearty debate and discussion," her mother said.

She hopes the people of Iran and the world will hear her story -- Neda's story -- and never forget her daughter.

"I just want to thank you for remembering her. It's that which stays with me, and it's her eyes, the look in her eyes in those last moments that had a story to tell that I can never forget," she said.

"Neda has made me enormously proud."

It is tradition in Iran to give away personal belongings of a loved one after they die. But Neda's bed, her makeup stand, her photographs -- everything that was hers -- remain untouched.

The reason: Neda appeared in her sister's dream and told her not to part with anything.

"I am alive," Neda said.  (Read Full Article)

Even while Iran's security and plainclothes Basij forces dispersed opposition rallies on Wednesday with tear gas and batons, Iran's state-run media were complaining that foreign coverage of the 30th anniversary of the U.S. embassy takeover was not, to use an American phrase, fair and balanced. The Islamic Republic News Agency, as part of its coverage of the protests in Tehran, wrote that global news television stations such as al-Jazeera, CNN and France 24 were "seeking to create widespread unrest ... by broadcasting phony stories and images." Instead of reporting on the "epic public turnout" for pro-government rallies outside of the former U.S. embassy, foreign news reports "referred to a small group of agitators as 'the people of Tehran.' "

Given that many Iranian politicians and citizens have criticized the state-run media for a lack of fair and balanced coverage, the fact that most domestic news outlets reported at all on the opposition protests was striking. Instead of denying the existence of an opposition in Iran, pro-government news organizations now use the more savvy method of spin — questioning the motives, members and supporters of the "Green Movement."

Underlying the daily bickering is the increasing realization that, owing to the ongoing political battles in the months since Iran's disputed election, Ahmadinejad's government may be growing weaker rather than stronger. In the weeks and months ahead, observers should watch to see whether the popular Green Movement or Ahmadinejad's conservative rivals will be the ones to benefit, or whether this is the beginning of a long stalemate in Iranian politics. (Read Full Article)


An unassuming college math student has become an unlikely hero to many in Iran for daring to criticize the country's most powerful man to his face.

Mahmoud Vahidnia has received an outpouring of support from government opponents for the challenge — unprecedented in a country where insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a crime punishable by prison.

Perhaps most surprising, the young math whiz has so far suffered no repercussions from the confrontation at a question-and-answer session between Khamenei and students at Tehran's Sharif Technical University.

In fact, Iran's clerical leadership appears to be touting the incident as a sign of its tolerance — so much so that some Iranians at first believed the 20-minute exchange was staged by the government, though opposition commentators are now convinced Vahidnia was the real thing.

In brief excerpts broadcast on state TV, the thin, bespectacled Vahidnia was shown standing behind a podium, gesturing at times for emphasis.

"I don't know why in this country it's not allowed to make any kind of criticism of you," said the student, wearing a long-sleeved blue polo shirt and appearing calm.

"In the past three to five years that I have been reading newspapers, I have seen no criticism of you, not even by the Assembly of Experts, whose duty is to criticize and supervise the performance of the leader," he said, referring to the clerical body that chooses the country's supreme leader.

Khamenei countered, "We welcome criticism. We never said not to criticize us. ... There's plenty of criticism that I receive," according to accounts in state media and on opposition Web sites.

The boldness of Vahidnia's comments underlines how Iran's postelection turmoil has undermined the once rock-solid taboo against challenging the supreme leader. During demonstrations, young protesters have frequently chanted "Death to the dictator" — referring to Khamenei — and even "Khamenei is a murderer." Several high-ranking pro-opposition clerics have also been openly critical. (Read Full Article)

   The winds of change continue to blow in Iran. The spirit of slain Neda Soltan continues to live on in Iran. A new dimension of democracy and freedom is coming in Iran if the neoconservative/Zionist agenda to bomb Iran doesn't destroy it. The intolerant and belligerent hard line  Islamic regime in Iran is dying. I pray Iran will become the progressive Muslim country it has the potential of being. God is Great!

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