Book Report

Title

: POWER OF THE PEOPLE

NAHID SIAMDOUST

Author:

Source: NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE JUNE 29-JULY 6 2009

Background information: HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF

IRAN
Many dynasties and empires have ruled Persia, which at times has been at the center of vast empires extending through much of the Middle East. The modern Persian state traces its beginning to CYPRUS THE GREAT, who becomes the first of the ACHAEMENID emperors in 549 BC.In 330 BC, Persia became part of the Alexander the Great Empire. It was subsequently part f the SELEUCID kingdom and then, beginning in 250 BC, of the Parthian empire. In ADc.224 the Parthian Arsacid dynasty was overthrown by the SASSANIANS, a Persian dynasty that ruled until the Arab conquest, which was completed in 641. The Arabs introduced Islam and incorporated Persia into the dominions of the Caliphs. In the 11th and 12th centuries the country came under the rule of the SELJUK TURKS, who laid down the administrative and economic structure that persisted until the 220th century. Persia was overrun by the Mongols under Genghis Khan in the 13th century and by Timor in the late 14th century. In the 16th century, after a long period of disunity, Shah Ismail founded the SAFAVID dynasty, which restored Persia as a political entity and established Schism as the national religion. The greatest Safavid ruler was Shah Abbas I, who conquered substantial territories from the Ottoman Empire. The Afghans overthrew the Safavids in 1722, but Persian independence was restored by the despotic Nadir Shah. The Anglo Russian Entente of 1907 divided the country into a Russian zone of influence, a British zone, and a Neutral zone. In 1908 petroleum was discovered. The decadent Qatar dynasty was unable to save the country from a state of virtual civil war and from foreign denomination until the emergence of REZA SHAH PAHLAVI, who was elevated to the thone by the Majlis in 1925.

In 1941 joint British soviet pressure forced the abdication of the allegedly pro-German Reza Shah. He was succeeded by his 22 year old son, Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. In the early 1950s the power of the new Shah was challenged by the nationalist leader Muhammad Mossadeq, who tried to take over the government and nationalized the oil industry, previously controlled by foreign interests. The Shah was forced to flee the country briefly in 1953, but he returned shortly with the strong backing from the Western power;Mosaddeeq was subsequently convicted of treason. In 1954 a new arrangement with a consortium of Western oil companies was negotiated, giving Iran 50% of all profits. Iran s revolutionary government continued to enjoy widespread domestic support but became increasingly isolated internationally, partly due to its links to Hezbollah and other terrorist groups. In 1988, Khomeini reluctantly accepted an UN-mediated cease-fire in the Iran-Iraq war. After Khomeini s death, on July 3 1989, the Council of Experts elected Khamenei to succeed him as faqih. The same year the post of Prime Minister was abolished and Hashemi Rafsanjani, who had been speaker of parliament since 1980, was elected to the strengthened presidency; he was reelected in 1993.

Article

: POWER OF THE PEOPLE

An eyewitness account of how frustration fueled a revolt-and why Iran will never be the same ..

When a million people showed up on Revolution Avenue in downtown Tehran to protest the result of the June 12 presidential election, most of them wore sneakers, in case they had to run to their lives. The crowd included people of all walks and ages. Students holding posters that read LIES FORBIDDEN walked side by side with chadori housewives, heavily made up young girls, manual laborers, middle aged government workers and the elderly. They didn t chant insulting slogans, and there were few police in sight. Beneath the placid surface simmered frustration and anger- but also traces of hope. People have come out because they ve finally had enough. They are tired of all the lies that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dished out, said Massoumeh, 46, who brought her two young daughters to the march. They can see the difference between what is being said and what is happening. The popular revolt that spread across the country in the days after the election has been as startling to ordinary Iranians as to the authorities trying to suppress it. Not since the Islamic revolution of 1979 has Tehran seen such spontaneous outpourings of emotion. Whitten hours of the announcement of the election results, Tehranis developed their own sign language of dissent. People passing one another

stretched hands in peace signs. Drivers on jam-packed streets honked their horns in protest. Apartment dwellers climbed to their rooftops to shout Allahu Akbar and Death to Dictator! - a gesture last seen three decades ago. When the regime blocked the Internet and cell-phone networks, demonstrators organized their rallies by word of mouth. It was democracy in action. The amazing thing is that this movement has no leader, said Sima, 40, a book editor in Tehran. Sure, people support (opposition presidential candidate Mir-Hussein) Mousavi, but the real reason they re here is to protest against the fraud. It s not yet clear where the movement is headed. The regime has crushed challenges to its authority before, most recently in 1999, when students poured into the streets to protest the closing of the reformist newspaper, prompting the government to unleash vigilantes on them. The state deployed its shock troops again this time; members of the basiji, a pro-Amahdinejad paramilitary group, stormed dormitories at Tehran University, reportedly killing 5 students and detaining hundreds. At least one demonstrator was killed when a Basiji opened fire on a crowd. There are eyewitness reports of deaths from clashes across Iran. Yet no matter what transpires-whether the government bows to the demands for change for launches a bloodier crackdown-Iran will never be the same. The elections and aftermath exposed the cynicism of the country s leaders but also revealed the determination of millions of Iranians to reach for a future that suddenly seems within their grasp. The mood on the streets of Tehran has been a mix of anger, exhilaration and dread. The day after Amadinejad was declared the victor in a landslide, people emptied into the streets in rage. Downtown, groups of demonstrators set several buses, a building and hundreds of garbage bins on fire, smashed the windows of state banks and destroyed ATMs. On Ghaem-Mgham Street, I watch a lone woman dressed in a head-to-toe black chador standing on the side of the road, flashing the peace sign to passing cars and yelling, Only Mousavi. The woman, a 36-year-old bank employee named Maryam, had told her children to find dinner for themselves. What I m doing here is more important for their future, she said. When people driving by warned her that she might beaten for speaking so openly, she said, Let them beat me. My country is going to waste. What am I worth comparison? Just then, a basiji charged at her from nowhere carrying a metal rod. As he prepared to strike her, a group of men got out of their cars, tackled the man and started beating him. Maryam got up from the ground, composed herself and right back to her spot to continue her mission. I watched as seven more people joined her, until they were chased away by police special forces wielding batons. Despite the initial post-election mayhem, the government had some reason to believe that the fury would subside. Since Ahmadinejad s victory in 2005, when many voters stayed away from the polls, the reform movement had been largely dormant. So when Mousavi called for a demonstration on June 15, no one was sure how many people would show up. Some of his supporters may will have resigned themselves to defeat-until Amadinejad s victory speech, in which he compared the protesters to funs upset about a losing a soccer match and call them a minority of twigs and mote. Revolution Avenue cited the President s comments as reason to keep up the fight. What he said drove me crazy, said a 26 year-old mechanic from Hashemeyi, in South Tehran. That people are now willing to risks their lives and take actions shows that Iran has crossed a threshold. The nature of the demonstrations has reminded the state that people do, after all, care as much about

democratic rights as they do about the economy. Amadinejad has done poorly on counts, but as long as the state respected the vote, Iranians-who fought hard for the revolution that led to the creation of the Islamic Republic-were willing to overlook other shortcomings. Now that trust is gone. This time they went too far, says Mohsen, a 32-year old government employee. We already deposed one of the strongest dictatorships in the world 30 years ago. They should know that we won t tolerate another.

REACTION: As I read the article about the power of the people, I was impressed of the people
from Iran. They were so nationalistic. They were ready to take risks in order to save their country from a dictator President Mahmoud Amadinejad. At that time they were protesting the result of the June 12 presidential election. They were in the revolution avenue in downtown Tehran. That movement was composed of students who were holding posters that read lies forbidden, the chadori housewives, young girls and boys, manual laborers, middleaged government workers, and the elderly. They have no leader in that movement, which means that they were there just for their own good. They really unlike Amadinejad, and who would like that kind of person? He s a liar, fraud, bad, a dictator and a cruel one. Those were not good qualities of a president. For me he is the bad of all bad people I know. Imagine a pro-Amadinejad paramilitary group stormed dormitories at Tehran University and they killed 5 students and detaining hundreds. At least one demonstrator was killed when a Basiji opened fire on a crowd. How cruel that president is! Those million Iranian people protest against that president, they didn t mind the perilous movement they were doing just to save them, their children and most especially their country. You know what; I like the braveness of a 36-year-old bank employee named Maryam, she let her children have dinner for themselves and she go with the other people in the revolution. She said that What I m doing here is more important for the future of my children. After she said that there were people driving by warned her that she might beaten for speaking so open. But then she just says Let them beat me. My country is going to waste. What am I worth in comparison? Yeah she is right, she will be worthless it s because her country is going to waste, not only Maryam but also the other Iranian people. I can t imagine if this will happen in our country, if we will also have a dictator president. What would be the people do if this will happen? Are we going also to protest against that president? Well for me my answer is yes we won t let our president do that in our country.

Those people from Iran are now willing to take risk. If 30 years ago they had already disposed one of the strongest dictatorship in the world. This time they won t tolerate another.