What will happen on Wednesday??

No, this isn’t a prediction of bad things to come in the US, but rather a question about Iran. (For anyone who doesn’t know where Iran is, it’s the next door neighbor to Iraq).

The Iranian government doesn’t like the US or our government very much (they didn’t like us under Regan, Bush 1, or Clinton either, so nothing new here), calling us the “Great Satan” and the like.

The reason the Iranian government doesn’t like the US is for two primary reasons:
1. We supported the Shah of Iran, the prior government, who lost power to the Iranian Republic
2. US Culture is a threat to the Islamic Theocracy governing there. Its hard to keep people in the mosque when MTV is on (sad but true).

Now the interesting thing about Iran at this time is its demographics. A large part if not the majority of the population is young enough that they do not know life before the 1979 Iranian Revolution. And its these younger folks who are now questioning why they can’t live in the 21st century, see Western movies or listen to rock and roll. More importantly from their perspectives (I’m guessing here but think it’s a safe bet) they are asking why they are not allowed to socialize with the opposite gender. The penalty for a girl being out in public with a male who is not her father, brother or husband is payment of a fine. Repeat offenders can be sent to jail. However, their real punishment could be death from a family member because she might hurt the family honor by not being a “good girl”.

What is happening on Wednesday, 9 July? Well there are planned large anti-government demonstrations and a general strike. Their goal is to overthrow the Iranian Government and bring in a more secular democratic government. Why are they waiting until 9 July? Well it’s the anniversary of an earlier government crackdown where a number of students were killed.

Anti-government sentiment has been growing in Iran for a while now. This year, there have been a large number of demonstrations and strikes already. And more worrying to the government, its not just the students who are protesting, but many non students as well.

To give some background on Iran and what is happening see the following links:

Tech Central Station: The Future of Iranian Nationalism by Pejman Yousefzadeh

Townhall.com: Democracy in Iran by Amir Taheri

NRO: Looking Toward July 9 by Michael Ledeen