This weeks reading list (not class assigned)

Hey guys,

This week has been a pretty tumultuous one in Iran. Along with some explanation of what's going on and why, I've provided some links that will definitely help you learn a thing or two about what's going down.

If you weren't following the news here's a quick breakdown. Yesterday was the thirty-first anniversary of the deposition of Mohammad Reza Shah (shah = king) at the hands of the Islamic Revolution. The Islamic Republic (IR) celebrated its anniversary while suppressing many thousands of opposition supporters, rallying for their civil and democratic rights--freedom of press, political expression, etc. It was on February 11th 1979 (Iranian calendar date of 22 Bahman 1358) that 2500 years of monarchal rule ended in Iran. The day was "supposed" to mark the beginning of a democratic (yet, Islamic) government. Things haven't exactly turned out as they were expected to.

Thirty-one years and 11 days ago Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini the spiritual and political leader of the Islamic Revolution returned to Iran from a fifteen year exile. The day Khomeini arrived was the first of what is now known as the Ten-Day Dawn, chronicled here by brilliant writer and self-made scholar of Iran, Muhammad Sahimi While Dr. Sahimi is actually a professor of engineering at the University of Southern California he, over the course of the last few months has posted numerous and incredibly well written articles--like why Ahmadinejad didn't actaully win and a very thorough piece about General Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)--on TehranBureau.com, a site run by PBS. On the tenth day after his return, the Iranian army (after a failed attempt at a coup by higher ups) laid its weapons down and surrendered to Khomeini and his supporters. Even before Khomeini had arrived in Iran the army lost conscripts to the Revolution, as many soldiers no longer trusted the despotic rule of the Shah. That is what the Iranian people were supposed to be "celebrating" today.

Definitely give a read to some of the articles. I recommend all of them as each one provides strong insight and background to the current issues plaguing Iran. The article about the Ten-Days Dawn definitely helps shed some light on the most important and final days of '79 revolution; the article about Ahmadinejad's election fraud will, naturally, argue that he cheated (doing so with common sense and strong evidence); and lastly the article about the commander of the IRGC, General Jafari is very important because it explains the rise of one of the most important players in Iran's current political scene. Many experts are suggesting that the IRGC, Khamenei (not to be confused with Khomeini), and Ahmadinejad are running the country by way of dictatorial triumvirate. I wouldn't be surprised. Nonetheless I'm going to keep reading--I hope you do the same.