Iran, a Nation of Political Surprises

[democratic]

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4634075

By Mike Shuster

Iran, a Nation of Political Surprises

NPR.org, May 6, 2005 · "In Iran, everybody hates the regime," a young man told me recently, "including the regime." "What do you mean?" I asked my dinner companion, who prefers to remain anonymous for the time being. "I mean that even those inside the regime are always complaining about how things operate in Iran."

He cited a conversation a friend had related involving a senior figure in one of Iran's government ministries. The official's frustration with the Islamic Republic, and the regime he ostensibly served, was evident.

Disillusionment runs deep in Iran, with the nation's political leaders, its religious establishment, and with the impasse the nation has reached 25 years after the Islamic Revolution.

There is no enthusiasm for this election in Iran. In public opinion polls, most of the candidates attract around 4 percent. The strongest individual isn't a candidate yet (as of the first week in May). He's former president Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's best-known figures, one of the richest, and possibly one of the most corrupt. Rafsanjani has not announced that he will definitely be a candidate, but he is toying with the idea and the nation's press are all too willing to play along. Still, in opinion polls, even Rafsanjani can't muster much more than 13 percent support.

Now those voters are disillusioned. Many of them will not vote in June. They are angry, mostly with the reformers who promised change but were unable to deliver.

[unhappycamper]

1. Perhaps this is the reason the war department warmongers

think of Iranian regime change with air strikes. I know their post-war plans are in place. :sarcasm:

[orwell]

2. The March

There is no enthusiasm for this election in Iran. In public opinion polls, most of the candidates attract around 4 percent. The strongest individual isn't a candidate yet (as of the first week in May). He's former president Ali Akhbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, one of Iran's best-known figures, one of the richest, and possibly one of the most corrupt.

I guess we don't need to attack Iran now. It sounds like "democracy" has already marched through.