Iran: The Reformists Keep The ‘Green Revolution’ Alive

Today, in Tehran, hundreds of Mousavi’s  supporters gathered outside Behesh Aahra, the biggest cemetery of Tehran. They came to pay tribute and mourn their fellow protesters killed in the aftermath of the contested election. The gathering comes 40 days after the brutal killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young Iranian woman that has become the symbol of the reformist movement.

From eye witnesses accounts, transmitted via Twitter, the Iranian police showed up two hours after the start of the rally. The riot police used batons and tear gas to disperse the protesters. A Twitter message from Iran said: “100s have gathered around Neda’s grave to mourn her death.Dozens of riot police just arrived.”

Mousavi and his wife were present at the rally, but according to some eye witnesses he was quickly led back to his car and forced to leave by the police as soon as the riot police arrived.

Karim Sadjadpour, an Iranian scholar and expert currently at the Carnegie Endowment For International Peace, made the following statement about the situation unfolding in Iran:

“It is about people sense of dignity, their sense of justice and people hopes for the future of Iran. Today I think people feel the sense of outrage and injustice transcends socioeconomic class, age, geography and gender. What we have seen is that there are incredible fissures even at the levels of the political elites and the security forces as well. Ahmadinejad’s future is incredibly tenuous, and sometimes he is described as a skilled politician, but nothing could be further from the truth. He is actually a very poor politician as he gratuitously alienates even the people within his own party. If his government is allowed to stand, it is going to represent not only a very narrow swath of Iranian society, but even a very narrow swath of the Iranian political elite. What we have seen, over the last week or two, is that Ahmadinejad has even managed to alienate his chief patron; Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini.”

Despite the violent crackdown by the Iranian authorities in the last 40 days, it doesn’t seem that the green “Velvet Revolution” can be crushed by the Iranian regime. Mousavi and  his supporters will not give up the fight. At this juncture, the collapse of the Ahmadinejad government is more an issue of when it is going to happen, as opposed to if  it will happen.