Keep your eye on Iran this Thursday. Tomorrow, February 11th, marks the thirty first anniversary of the fall of the Shah in 1979, paving the way for the establishment of the Islamic Republic. It is also the day when Iran's Green protesters have called for tens of thousands to turn out in the streets all over the country to protest the current government and call for its overthrow. Sympathy protests are planned in cities around the world, organizers keeping in touch via cell phone and twitter. It is going to be a big deal.
Thursday in Iran will be bloody, no question about it. The Islamic Republic will come down hard once again on dissent. The protesters simply do not have the critical mass to unseat an entrenched, repressive theocracy, unless the military and paramilitary join them, which is not likely.
The Government, fighting for it's life, controls the army and the instruments of power and is not about to give up. After eight months, it looks like things are at a stalemate. But you never can tell.
The Iranian government continues to wave it's nuclear sabre at the rest of the world, unsettling the neighbors and angering the West. Its bellicose posturing is on the increase. Economic sanctions are almost inevitable. The Iranian people are not happy and they keep protesting. In spite of arrests, torture, assassination, beatings, and harassment, martyrs to the Green Revolution keep being made which fuels more protests and more martyrs. Momentum is surely building.
Keep your eye on Iran tomorrow and say a prayer for the protesters. It takes time and sacrifice, but in the end light will always triumph over darkness.
