22nd April 2010
Iranian Dissent Crushed by the Power of Oppression
Mark Hanson
Last June the Presidential elections in Iran returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. He received the backing of the Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Khamanei. He received the support of the Revolutionary Guard, the armed forces, the police and the Basij militia.
But he did not have the backing of the Iranian people. Irregularities and evidence of electoral fraud prompted the Iranian opposition to claim that the election had been "stolen".
After almost a year of protests, many of them resulting in fearsome crackdowns, it now seems like the opposition Green Movement, led by Mir Hossien Mousavi, has been crushed.
Mousavi himself is under close scrutiny and has many restrictions placed on him. Other leading activists are in jail, some have reportedly suffered torture, and others have been closely monitored and forbidden from speaking to their fellow citizens.
During this totalitarian clampdown, the Western governments have remained silent. Despite strong support from the Western media and people, the pro-democracy movement in Iran never received support from the governments of the "free" world.
The US continued its policy of appeasement, coupled with threats over Iran's nuclear programme, whilst ignoring the desires of the Iranian people.
It is a sad time for Iran, the world, and for democracy, that a totalitarian regime has been allowed to stamp on democracy, whilst the democratic nations preferred backroom bargaining.
