http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/magazine/28iran.t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
a long but very interesting article showing the complexities of Iranian politics, the clash and cooperation between different groups.
Reading this, I dont think Ahmedinijad will be back for a next term.
Re: whose iran?
yeah…iranians are smart ppl…not dumb and stupid like americans to re-elect a terrorist like bush.iranians know not to make the same mistake again…:k:
Re: whose iran?
now if they can only get rid of the whole ayotollah council, that would show they are smart.
Re: whose iran?
ayatollah's wont last for another 10 years or so
Re: whose iran?
i think we need ayatollahs for a while. mid east is going through major changes. we need them to create this atmosphere of uncertainty so that Moderates can be sick and tired of them and eventually change the mid east and Muslim image for good.
Re: whose iran?
merc
they better not.. they are frikkin cancer to the region
Re: whose iran?
they better not.. they are frikkin cancer to the region
well it will take another 10 years for the generation that was born after the 1979 revolution to fully mature and take over key positions in the government.
In another 10 years or so, most of the generation born after the 1979 revoultion will be in their late 20's and early 30's and it will be then that they remove the ayatollah's from power
Iran and the Iranian people are moderate people and are not extremists like the Sunni Arabs in the region.
Iran maybe the most anti-USA government in the region but the people are among the pro-Western in the region.
Strange irony, the more you oppress people to think in one direction the more they rebel and think in a totally opposite direction.
Re: whose iran?
Well there is alot of money being invested in propaganda in re Iran. Its in the billions, and its supposed to get Muslims in Iran to hate each other, basically create a civil war. I think Ayutollahs are much needed for the region, i am sure they are being demonized....but I think it would be better if Iran remains an Islamic republic, otherwise corporations will invade and they will be another war torn region much like Iraq and Africa.
So i really hope that the next generation doesnt sell itself out and loose everything thats unique to them.
Its true much change is needed but i hope Iran doesnt beceome another western nation, they make be a richer nation but thier ppl will suffer alot.
I have always thought that both the communism in China and Russia and the Islamic republic in Iran were demonized and thier threat exagerated because they are not eager to open up thier markets to foriegn corporations who cant wait to get in there and exploit the hell out of thier ppl and natural resources.
Though i do think a lot alot of change in Iran is needed, but i hope they will not follow western nations, they will not allow themselves to be culturally and otherwise imperialized
Re: whose iran?
i suspect its going to take a little more then 10 yrs for the auyotallahs to leave. in order to create shia sunni friction, money is being invested to create a shia identity seperate from a Muslim identity, as a consequence of which the new generation is becoming increasingly attached to the ayotullahs.
additionally Ayutollahs are the shia version of thier pope! they are an integral part of the shia faith...u cant just get rid of them. strategically thats stupid!
Re: whose iran?
furthermore, b/c of all the islamophobia out there there is increasingly growing a strong Muslim identity, so religious leaders, shia or sunni are becoming important parts of the Muslim youth's future.
so...yea ayutollahs are not going anywhere anytime soon!!! the propaganda for war and discord is actually backfiring. the more anti-muslim rhetoric there is out there, the stronget the Muslim identity gets. The more Kurd, Shia, Sunni seperationists are encouraged to war with each toher, the stronger those identities get.
I think **** is hitting the fan for the CIA and such organization in part b/c they are really trying to bite more then they can chew with taking on teh mid-east this way. They really ought to have stuck to the puppet governments that they were using before. This new arrogant manner in which they are trying to control the worlds resources, its kinda stupid, and is really going to cause them more trouble then they realize.
On the other hand when all **** does hit the fan, and the whole world is insecure and unstable, maybe then we will be smart enough to realize that we need to make peace, and make laws instead of kaos, b/c rich poor, eastern, western, white brown, black, muslim, polytheists, all of us will ultimately suffer, there isjust no way around that. My fear is by the time they are done with creating all this violence and kaos, it might be too late!
so i really hope that ppl will soon see the wisdom in peace!
IDIOTSSS!!! uff.... when will they learn!
Re: whose iran?
yes but you see the greatest oppressors of the muslim ppl are not the ayutollahs!!! So you are right Merc. the more you oppress ppl to think one direction, the more they rebel and think in another direction…and boy are they rebelling now! jsut not the way u think 
and oh please anti-US is the new black, everyone!! everyone!!! even Americans are doing it! the problem is …ultimately the american ppl suffer, and really they are not the ones creating this big mess, its the corporations and power hungry politicans, in any event, they never suffer, and they could care less about the American ppl.
And even western countries are now begining to look to the east for guidance. Ppl are begining to realize what we are doing to the world, and begining to realize that even though its all the way on the other side of the planet, its going to effect us. I think westerners are slowly begining to realize thier values have gone sevrely awry. I think as they get old and shoved into old folk homes, they arenow realizing the value of eastern cultural practices and teachings! everything from respecting your environment, eating organic, meditating, respecting your elders, all these very eastern teachings with focus on teh community well-being and family well-being instead of just the individual well-being are suddenly being given the merit they are due.
So i hope we in the east retain our values, and not loose them, and follow exclusively western traditions. I think the youth of Iran would be stupid if they did that. So i really hope they do! remain eastern!!!
Re: whose iran?
my suspicions are confirmed, you've never actualy truly lived in Pakistan, have you? organic foods? Most of the vegetables/fruits avaible in pakistan are grown with chemical fertilizers(Sona urea, fauji fertilizer ring a bell? the abbott pesticide ads?). Meditiating? Unless you count the Sufi dervishes who smoke hashish and then meditate(and even then its not mediation, but rather producing ecstacy), its pretty much an alien culture in our area. One thing I agree is that family is valued very highly in our area.
Re: whose iran?
In 2003, I was convinced the Mullahs would fall and fall hard. Instead, they voted the Gimp into office...what's more, in a victory over one who is perhaps one of the most powerful men in Iran.
Populist tactics may have won that election; but in the end it is the economy. The first person to bring about economic change for the better, wins the ideology game.
I don't anticipate a civil war; the army and rev. guard are split 50/50...and the army doesn't seem to be anti-regime...or too pro-western for that matter.
If people take to the street, I think the wisest move the Mullahs could make is let the guards sit it out, and send in the army to crush dissent. Better yet, have the guard come in later and let it appear to have them leash the army...en mass people are stupid even if they are smart individually...they'd buy that kind of thing and turn pro-regime...
Needless to say, Iranians are smart people...on all sides. The conservatives have arranged things such that it's almost impossible to bring about change from the inside...which is both good (no ideology makes provisions for it's removal) and bad (people ARE frustrated, and the regime is provably corrupt).
Re: whose iran?
News shows are more dramatic these days then ER.
Yeh kaya ho raha hai bhai lohg...
Re: whose iran?
Folks who think that the Iranian Ayatullahs wont rule for much longer, dont seem to know much about iran or their people. Farwah raza is correct in that, even if they do step down from the government (which is not likely), they'll still be the ones in power, not because they need to, but because their opinion counts religiously for the majority of iranians.
For example, for shias in iraq, Ayatullah Sistani's views over rule politics anytime. Its only because he has endorsed the election, that folks are supporting the gov, likewise iran is in a situation very simliar to that.
So inorder to remove any influence, you'll have to remove the shia majority factor, or impose a foriegn gov that the public support.... neither that are likely to happen any time soon, hence for you guys wishing for an end to their reign, most likely you'll be dreaming for a long time to come, and thank God for that. :)
However, that said, should the majority of iranians want a secular government to come about, then the islamic gov. will have to step down, only because of the law that shariah can not be endorsed where the majority does not want it (democratic in its nature). Hence the reason it initally came about, was solely because the majority had wanted it.
But the bottom line is, that an unislamic (or an anti cleric) gov is highly unlikely, because an Ayatullah is..an Ayatullah afterall, and in the shia world, whether they are in gov or not, they are still the most powerful regardless, because they have and will always the mass grass root support in a way that most politicians can only dream of.
Re: whose iran?
What about the cancer to the world? There is a force that is destroying civilizations and cultures…That is more important to take care of…
As for the Ayatollahs, they have done more for their country than any politician could have hoped to achieve…