No sign of calm in Iran

Iran Treads Lightly in a Culture of Martyrs -Borzou Daragahi & Ramin Mostaghim

As new protests were planned in Tehran, unsuccessful presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has asked backers to go to local mosques to pay tribute to those killed in the protests. Within a culture steeped in the Shiite Muslim mystique of martyrdom, each death may motivate rather than discourage activists.

Perhaps more perilous for the authorities is the possibility that some soldiers, security officials and Revolutionary Guardsmen might refuse orders to fire on protesters. "I would never do it," said Hossein, 23, a member of the security forces who said he and many of his friends at the military base where he serves support the marchers.
(Los Angeles Times)


Iran's Protests Are the Toughest to Stop -Neil MacFarquhar

This time, analysts say, the government will have trouble bringing about a swift end to the demonstrations in the same way it had shut down previous eruptions.

First, there is the sheer size of these demonstrations, with protests that are not limited to students, but cut across generations and economic classes.

Finally, there has been a critical shift in alliances. In the earlier uprisings, it was basically the reformists calling for change, opposed by both the religious hard-liners and the more pragmatic conservatives. This time, the pragmatists and the reformists have joined forces against the hard-liners, analysts said.
(New York Times)
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