In Iran, it’s a case of escalation, escalation, escalation. The Times of London reports that “Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb.” Meanwhile, the repression of dissidents takes on a crueller, uglier quality. If proof was needed that the chador is a symbol of humiliation, look no further than the photo of student leader Majid Tavakoli, forced to pose while wearing one by the regime’s thugs (a tactic that has backfired now that Majid’s male supporters are distributing photos of themselves adorned in the same garb.) Then there are the additional arrests of dissidents for allegedly tearing photos of Ayatollah Khomeini, the Islamist tyrant who seized power in 1979. Then there are the three young Americans arrested by the regime and now likely to face trial on espionage charges. Are we done? No. Hamas leader Khaled Meshal paid a visit to his paymasters over the weekend. And don’t forget Hugo Chavez; Venezuela’s answer to Robert Mugabe doesn’t want to feel left out, so he’s declaring fealty to the theocrats of Tehran too.
According to http://www.iran-resist.org/article3719.html
“Cette fois rien n’a été laissé au hasard. …. Il n’y a rien qui puisse relier les 3 étudiants à une quelconque revendication anti-régime. Ehsan Mansouri, Madjid Tavakoli et Ahmad Ghassaban sont les acteurs consentants d’une belle farce médiatico-judiciaire à la sauce mollah.”
I was particularly moved by the response of Iranian men, in Iran and abroad, to the basij’s attempt at humiliating Tavakoli. The basij were trying to discredit this important student leader by doctoring this photo to suggest that he is a “low” enough to disguise himself as a woman. The attempt backfired. It rallied domestic and international support behind Tavakoli. It also exposed the regime’s sexism and disrespect for Iranian women since it had implied that being an Iranian woman is such a low and disgusting thing. Not so, said our men.