“Green Movement uses language of reform but sparks hopes for revolution”

“Green Movement uses language of reform but sparks hopes for revolution”
December 31, 2009-January 14, 2010
     Iran’s Green Movement received a small boost as a long-serving Iranian diplomat in Norway resigned in protest over the government’s violent crackdown on domestic opposition (Los Angeles Times). Analysts such as Ray Takeyh believe the Islamic Republic is a “transient phenomenon” that can no longer appease or eliminate the opposition. Citing US President Ronald Reagan’s strong approach to the Soviet Union, Takeyh urges the US to challenge the legitimacy of the Iranian regime while pursuing a nuclear deal (Washington Post).
     However, Hooman Majd writes that the opposition is not a revolution but a civil rights movement and that only a minority hope to overthrow the current regime. Majd argues that Mir-Hossein Mousavi is the established leader of the opposition and believes a compromise between the Green Movement and the government could be reached in 2010. Majd also suggests that the Revolutionary Guards could consider replacing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in order to protect the regime (Foreign Policy).
     In a recent statement in which he declares his willingness to die for the opposition movement, Mousavi calls for government accountability, free and fair elections, the release of political prisoners, freedom of the press and of association, and free access to media (BBC). A separate Green Movement manifesto issued by five prominent reformists living outside Iran adds explicit demands for the resignation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the holding of new presidential elections (Christian Science Monitor).
Los Angeles Times | Washington Post | Foreign Policy | BBC | Christian Science Monitor