Iran: The Green Revolution Marches On Despite Bloody Crackdown

Today, following the violent protests in several cities on Sunday during the Shia Ashura rituals, the Iranian parliament has called for a crackdown on protesters. For his part, President Ahmadinejad claimed today that “the demonstrations were organized by the Zionists and the Americans”. However, it seems that Iran is quickly getting to a tipping point.

The hardliners MP’s called protesters “anti-religious and counter-revolutionaries”, and also condemned what they called “the disgusting comments” made by Western governments about Sunday’s unrest. On Sunday, President Obama called on Iran to free protesters who had been arrested.

“Parliament wants the judiciary and intelligence bodies to arrest those who insult religion and impose the maximum punishment on them without reservation,” said a statement read out by parliament speaker Ali Larijani in a broadcast on state controlled television.

For its part the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) called the re-election of Ahmadinejad a coup and condemned the security forces attack on defenseless people.

“The green movement is peaceful and law-abiding. It avoids any violence and will press ahead on its path,” said the IIPF on an opposition web site.

On Monday, Iranian security forces arrested more than a dozen reformist figures including 3 aides to opposition leader Mousavi and 2 aides of former President Khatami. The arrests come after at least eight people were killed during protests in Tehran on Sunday. Opposition leader Karroubi is accusing the Iranian government of “unleashing a savage group on the people”.

Former Iranian ambassador Mehrdad Khonsari says that an escalation is inevitable since there are no sign of conciliation coming from the government.

“There is no sign that the government is capable of initiating the kind of policies that might improve the social and economic conditions in the country. I just don’t see any way out but further escalation. The Iranian government is facing not just an internal crisis, but also an external one. Even among religious clerics, opposition is growing within Iran. Thirty years ago people participated in a revolution to change things- that change did not take place. There is no course left for ordinary people but to stand up and demand the kind of things the government has ignored for the past 30 years,” said Khonsari.

With growing internal and external pressures, it seems that it is only a matter of time before the green revolution succeeds  in toppling the regime of Ahmadinejad.