Change in Iran
Tullahoma News
February 12, 2004
TN Editorial
After two decades of iron-fisted rule by ultraconservative Islamic clerics, winds of change are blowing in Iran.
Despite Iran's being tagged as part of the "Axis of Evil," some Iranians are making the hard push toward democracy, as evidenced by the mass resignation of a third of the country's parliament on the 25th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
Many of the adults who were teens and children in 1979 have grown to understand how extremism has resulted in their country's lagging behind the world in economic growth and political influence. And thanks to outside influences such as the Internet and satellite television, young Iranians have come to realize that America and the West are not the "Great Satan" they were purported to be. It is the West's good fortune that many in the current generation of Iranians want to give democracy a try.
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1614&dept_id=161055&newsid=10961246&PAG=461&rfi=9 ---
Comment: The article shows that other Media's attention to Iran grow day by day.
Reformist protests 'rigged' Iran poll
The Australian
16th Feb 2004
THE incumbent reformist head of Iran's parliament vowed reforms would continue after Friday's elections, even though his camp is poised for defeat in polls he said had been rigged by conservatives.
"We consider these elections to be unfair, but have decided to take part because our participation is more productive than our absence," said Mehdi Karoubi, a cleric close to embattled President Mohammad Khatami.
Mr Karoubi's Association of Combatant Clerics is one of the few reformist parties that has chosen not to boycott the polls, although on Sunday the spokesman for the reformist coalition it has joined conceded there was no chance of heading off a conservative victory.
The main reformist parties are staying away after a conservative-run political vetting body, the Guardians Council, barred some 2300 people - most of them reformists - from even standing in the February 20 polls.
They are the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) which is head by the brother of President Khatami, and the Organisation of Mujahedeen of the Islamic Revolution (OMIR), on the left of the reform camp.
The Association of Combatant Clerics is taking part under the banner "Coalition for Iran", a grouping of the few reformers approved to stand and some independents.
Mr Karoubi said those boycotting the polls "have the right not to take part, but should not campaign for a mass abstention."
"The rights of a lot of people have been trampled on, but this means we should modify the electoral law," asserted the Majlis speaker.
"If we get or do not get votes, we will continue our activities. The future of reforms depends on the people, and they will continue through different means," added the cleric.
Mr Karoubi also stood by the president, under fire for failing to deliver on his promise of "Islamic democracy" and widely criticised for being too weak.
"Certainly, President Khatami has not achieved all of his objectives, but the climate today is nothing like what it was before he was elected" in 1997, Mr Karoubi insisted.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8702775%255E1702,00.html