Iran's Crackdown - Hostage Crisis a Distraction? (a look at what's happening behind the scenes)

New York Post ^ | April 05, 2007 | Amir Taheri

[nuconvert]

Iran's Crackdown - Hostage Crisis a Distraction?

April 05, 2007

New York Post

Amir Taheri

Was the crisis over the capture of the British host ages part of a smoke screen for a crackdown on dissidents in Iran? (excerpt)

The crackdown is beginning to gather pace. Several publications critical of government have been shut down... (excerpt)

And now the regime seems to be setting the stage for show trials that recall the worst days of Stalinism in the Soviet Union.

Last month, a member of the Majlis, the regime's ersatz parliament, was sent to prison for six years on trumped-up charges. The real "crime" of Salaheddin Ala'i: He had criticized the killing of dissidents in Iran's Kurdistan province.

Next week, it will be the turn of former Deputy Interior Minister Mostafa Tajzadeh, who'll stand trial on charges of undermining the security of the Khomeinist state.

Tajzadeh is one of the establishment's most interesting figures. A man with impeccable revolutionary credentials, he has always insisted that the regime cannot ensure its future by silencing or murdering critics.

The next on the block is expected to be Muhammad Reza Khatami - brother of former President Muhammad Khatami -who also has an impressive revolutionary resume.

In 1979, he was one of the two dozen or so "students" who raided the United States' Embassy in Tehran and seized its diplomats hostage. Later, he built a career in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and solidified his revolutionary credentials by marrying a granddaughter of Ruhallah Khomeini, the ayatollah who created the Islamic Republic. During his brother's presidency, Muhammad Reza acted as deputy speaker of the Majlis.

(excerpt)

According to dissident sources in Tehran, the regime's security apparatus is preparing show trials for scores of others. (excerpt)

Ahmadinejad's supporters speak of a "third revolution" -

[nuconvert]

I don't think a smokescreen for crackdowns was the main reason for taking the sailors, though it resulted in a distraction from many things including that, and the U.N. sanctions, and the growing protests against the gov't in Iran, and the build-up of troops along their Afghan border, and heightened 'tensions' in Kurdistan region, etc.

It is interesting to read the people who are being targeted and put on trial, including Khatami's brother, whom I think is lucky to still be alive after someof the statements he's made in the past.

[nuconvert]

pong

[Valin]

Also found
Ahmadinejad and the “Half-Pregnant” Khomeinists
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=2&id=8549

or
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1812798/posts

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

“...undermining the security of the Khomeinist state”

Khomeinist. Communist. Same thing.

Only difference is that one uses a religious text as the basis for oppressing the people. The other uses the absence of all believable texts from any god as the basis for oppressing the people.

[sionnsar]

Thanks for the ping. Interesting.

he has always insisted that the regime cannot ensure its future by silencing or murdering critics.

Guess maybe we'll learn the truth of that.

Ahmadinejad's supporters speak of a "third revolution"

"The revolution eats its own." (Whoever said that...)

[nuconvert]

I thought I’d seen it before. ;~ )

[Fred Nerks]

from bartleby.com:

QUOTATION:Revolution is like Saturn, it devours its own children. ATTRIBUTION:Georg Büchner (1813–1837), German dramatist, revolutionary. Trans. by Gerhard P. Knapp (1995). Danton’s Death, act I (1835).
In the original German:
die Revolution ist wie Saturn, sie frißt ihre eignen Kinder.
The phrase is usually translated using devour.

[sionnsar]

Thanks!