Iranian Alert -- February 20, 2004 -- IRAN LIVE THREAD --Americans for Regime Change in Iran

The US media almost entirely ignores news regarding the Islamic Republic of Iran. As Tony Snow of the Fox News Network has put it, “this is probably the most under-reported news story of the year.” But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

There is a popular revolt against the Iranian regime brewing in Iran today. Starting June 10th of this year, Iranians have begun taking to the streets to express their desire for a regime change. Most want to replace the regime with a secular democracy. Many even want the US to over throw their government.

The regime is working hard to keep the news about the protest movement in Iran from being reported. Unfortunately, the regime has successfully prohibited western news reporters from covering the demonstrations. The voices of discontent within Iran are sometime murdered, more often imprisoned. Still the people continue to take to the streets to demonstrate against the regime.

In support of this revolt, Iranians in America have been broadcasting news stories by satellite into Iran. This 21st century news link has greatly encouraged these protests. The regime has been attempting to jam the signals, and locate the satellite dishes. Still the people violate the law and listen to these broadcasts. Iranians also use the Internet and the regime attempts to block their access to news against the regime. In spite of this, many Iranians inside of Iran read these posts daily to keep informed of the events in their own country.

This daily thread contains nearly all of the English news reports on Iran. It is thorough. If you follow this thread you will witness, I believe, the transformation of a nation. This daily thread provides a central place where those interested in the events in Iran can find the best news and commentary. The news stories and commentary will from time to time include material from the regime itself. But if you read the post you will discover for yourself, the real story of what is occurring in Iran and its effects on the war on terror.

I am not of Iranian heritage. I am an American committed to supporting the efforts of those in Iran seeking to replace their government with a secular democracy. I am in contact with leaders of the Iranian community here in the United States and in Iran itself.

If you read the daily posts you will gain a better understanding of the US war on terrorism, the Middle East and why we need to support a change of regime in Iran. Feel free to ask your questions and post news stories you discover in the weeks to come.

If all goes well Iran will be free soon and I am convinced become a major ally in the war on terrorism. The regime will fall. Iran will be free. It is just a matter of time.

Conservatives ahead as first results given from Iran elections

Channel News Asia
21st of Feb 2004

TEHRAN : Religious conservatives in Iran have taken an early lead in elections for the 290-seat parliament, official sources said after the the first 50 results from Friday's polls were announced by state radio.

Officials said the results were from smaller constituencies where ballot counting has already been completed.

According to official media, partial results from several other constituencies also showed a strong showing for hardliners.

Conservatives were well-placed to win Friday's polls after the disqualification of most reformist candidates, and to add the Islamic republic's Majlis, or parliament, to the already long list of institutions under their control.

Senior figures in the regime campaigned against a call by prominent outgoing reformers for a boycott, playing on nationalist and Islamic sentiment by calling each ballot cast a "bullet into the heart" of US President George W. Bush.

Some Iranian media and several senior interior ministry election commission officials gave wildly varying estimates late Friday on how many of Iran's 46.3-million electorate had cast ballots -- the main unknown in the polls.

Iran, however, has no opinion or exit polls, and interior ministry spokesman Jahanbakhsh Khanjani said that "as long as we have not opened the ballot boxes, none of the figures being bandied around can be confirmed."

The first results on the composition of the 290-seat Majlis were due Saturday and a definitive tally not before Sunday or Monday.

The elections have capped a frustrating legislative mandate for the reformists, who captured three-quarters of the Majlis seats in 2000 with a huge wave of public support but then saw fundamentalist clerics block proposed changes at virtually every turn.

The widely-expected conservative win would leave reformist President Mohammad Khatami as one of the few moderates left in public office. His second and final term in office ends in mid-2005.

Iran's deadlocked political system has triggered growing voter apathy. While two-thirds of the electorate cast ballots in the 2000 legislative elections, less than half turned out for local polls last year.

But the regime hoped that conservatives could also bring voters out. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a broadside at "the enemies (who) are trying hard to stop the people from going to the ballot boxes."

And Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, head of the powerful Guardians Council -- a hardline bastion behind the blacklist of 2,300 would-be candidates -- told worshippers that "voting is as important as praying".

Each ballot cast was like "firing a bullet into the heart" of Bush, who famously lumped Iran into an "axis of evil", he said.

Khatami also urged Iranians to vote massively -- and to "surprise" the hardliners by choosing the few reformists who were approved to stand or were not boycotting.

The main reformist party, the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) led by Mohammad Reza Khatami -- the president's younger brother -- did not take part.
The IIPF faces a dangerous political wilderness and possible retribution from the hardline judiciary, having used the Majlis as a public forum for often damning criticism of the regime and unprecedented questioning of the supreme leader.

On Friday, Janati also branded stayaways as "traitors".

The main conservative bloc expected to do well is the Coalition of Builders of Islamic Iran, a grouping presenting itself as a pragmatic force keen to get a stagnant economy moving, and not the puritanical "Taliban" that reformists are warning of.--- (AFP Files)

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/72100/1/.html

>But most American’s are unaware that the Islamic Republic of Iran is NOT supported by the masses of Iranians today. Modern Iranians are among the most pro-American in the Middle East.

It's interesting because if you do know Iranians, they've been saying that for quite a while.

It's my perception that Iranians in the US (or at least in the Pacific Northwest) tend to be quite shy about being seen as Iranian -- likely due to prevalent attitudes set in place here back in '79 (and which can even be seen on FR from time to time).

It's a tragedy, really, because (my observation again) once they know you know they're Iranian and accept them -- they open up; they're a warm, gracious people.

It'll be good when they throw off that repressive regime and join the modern world where they belong.

Amen.

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