The Iranian opposition leaders who helped organize the huge attempt at revolution in Iran in 2009 following the corrupted election results have now begun to try and reorganize that effort after watching the dramatic upheaval in Egypt. And the tyrannical theocratic regime of the Ayatollah and mullahs will have nothing to do with it. The radical islamists who organized the "peoples" revolution in 1979 have now firmly come down on the side of not allowing the people any voice in what happens in modern day Iran.
From the story at Reuters via Breitbart:
Iranian authorities have stepped up pressure on pro-democracy movement supporters to prevent a revival of anti-government protests, opposition websites said on Sunday after the arrest of 18 activists before a planned rally.
State authorities refused permission requested by opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to stage a rally on February 14 in solidarity with the people of Egypt and Tunisia who toppled their presidents in popular uprisings.
But the opposition websites renewed the call for the rally, defying pressure tactics employed against the opposition, such as the placing of Karroubi under house arrest since Wednesday.
"Increased pressure on Karroubi and Mousavi ... shows weakness and fear of the rulers over Iranians' most peaceful, civil and political moves," Mousavi's website Kaleme said.
Karroubi's website, Sahamnews, said "a new wave of arrests has started as we are getting close to Monday's rally," publishing a list of detained 18 activists.
This all plays in to my last post about the upcoming Palestinian elections that Hamas has decided NOT to participate in - and this is why this American liberal media pipe dream of democracy in Muslim countries is so hysterical. What the liberal press in America just doesn't seem to get is this - that only in Western countries, only in those democracies (or democratic republics) will the party or leaders in power willingly turn over power after legitimately losing an election.
There literally is only one Muslim country that is an exception and that is Turkey - where power has shifted from time to time based upon elections but we must remember that the Turkish constitution demands that the government be secular. That is the key.
I am convinced that if the Iranian opposition leaders are successful in reinvigorating the demonstrations against the mullah regime, the end result will be extremely bloody. And the spotlight will REALLY come down on Barack Hussein Obama - how will it be possible for him to sit on his thumbs this time like he did in 2009? Especially after Obama sided with the people in Egypt.
Iran pressures opposition ahead of planned rally
(Reuters) - Iranian authorities have stepped up pressure on pro-democracy movement supporters to prevent a revival of anti-government protests, opposition websites said on Sunday after the arrest of 18 activists before a planned rally.
State authorities refused permission requested by opposition leaders Mirhossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi to stage a rally on February 14 in solidarity with the people of Egypt and Tunisia who toppled their presidents in popular uprisings.
But the opposition websites renewed the call for the rally, defying pressure tactics employed against the opposition, such as the placing of Karroubi under house arrest since Wednesday.
"Increased pressure on Karroubi and Mousavi ... shows weakness and fear of the rulers over Iranians' most peaceful, civil and political moves," Mousavi's website Kaleme said.
Karroubi's website, Sahamnews, said "a new wave of arrests has started as we are getting close to Monday's rally," publishing a list of detained 18 activists.
Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi said the "recent arrests were made over security-related issues."
Opposition leaders say the pro-democracy revolts in Egypt and Tunisia mirror the anti-government demonstrations that shook Iran in 2009, and not the 1979 Islamic Revolution that overthrew the shah, as maintained by the authorities.
Most opposition groups in Egypt, including the banned Muslim Brotherhood, have stressed the secular nature of their protests.
POST-ELECTION UNREST
Unrest erupted in Iran after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election in June 2009, a vote that the opposition says was rigged. Iranian authorities deny this.
The protests, the worst unrest since the Islamic Republic was founded, were quelled by the elite Revolutionary Guards. Mass detentions and trials followed and two people were hanged and scores of detainees remain in jail.
The opposition's call has gained momentum on social networking websites like Facebook, with more than 48,000 people pledging to participate on one protest group's Facebook page.
"Our meeting point is Azadi (Liberty) square on Monday," proclaims graffiti spray-painted on some walls, bus stations and newspaper stands in Tehran.
The Revolutionary Guards have repeatedly warned the opposition not to create another "security crisis."
Mousavi's Kaleme website said many student activists and political groups would join the rally. But it is unclear whether supporters of the opposition will turn out, analysts say.
"Mousavi and Karroubi are not considered as the opposition leaders by many Iranians ... Besides any confrontation with the system is very costly," said political analyst Rahmat Miraghai.
The last major opposition protest, in December 2009, led to clashes with security forces. Eight demonstrators were killed.
The government has taken extraordinary measures in the past few days, deploying security forces to the main squares in Tehran and erecting checkpoints in various parts of Tehran.
The authorities have portrayed the opposition movement as a foreign-backed plot to undermine the Islamic establishment, an accusation denied by opposition leaders.
They say the pro-democracy movement is alive in Iran and argue that the rally is a test for both the Iranian government and its opponents.
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