02-01-2018, 11:25 PM
*** 2-Feb-18 World View -- Reformist criticizes Iran's Supreme Leader, as women conduct anti-hijab protests
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Arrested Iran reformist Mahdi Karroubi harshly criticizes Supreme Leader Khamenei
****
![[Image: g180201b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g180201b.jpg)
Mehdi Karroubi, opposition leader, surrounded by supporters on June 17, 2009 (Reuters)
In a move that may not have been good for his continued survival, 80
year old Iranian reformist Mahdi Karroubi harshly criticized the
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a letter published on
his political party's web site.
The criticism comes just one month after nationwide street protests
that began as demonstrations
against soaring food prices, but then grew into much more serious
protests about government corruption among the political élite. It's
widely believed that when Iranian sanctions were lifted after the
nuclear deal was signed, and Iran received billions of dollars as a
result, that money went to élite clerical institutions, at the same
time that a banking crisis has caused millions of Iranians to lose
their life savings.
As usual, Khamenei blamed the United States, Israel and other "foreign
enemies" for the nationwide street protests. At least 25 people were
killed in the protests, and hundreds of peaceful protesters were
jailed.
Mehdi Karroubi has been under house arrest for seven years for
supporting peaceful protesters during the 2009 election, when Iran's
security forces overreacted and there was blood running in the
streets.
Karroubi's letter to Khamenei was a reaction to last month's street
protests:
<QUOTE>"I urge you, before it is too late, to open the way to
structural reforms of the system. ...
The system is going downhill to such an extent that it feels
endangered by a few thousand people demonstrating.
Instead of repeating accusations of links with the enemy and
instead of harsh confrontation, listen to them. ...
More than 50 percent of the country’s wealth is in the hands of
state bodies over which there is no supervision... Poverty and
unemployment are plaguing the country.
More than 10 million Iranians, among 80 million, now live in
absolute poverty. Under such conditions, it is natural that the
lower classes, who were the grassroot supporters of the Islamic
Revolution, will turn into a gunpowder barrel."<END QUOTE>
Karroubi also criticized Khamenei for letting the Revolutionary Guards
take a commanding role in the economy as this "has tarnished the
reputation of this revolutionary body and drowned it in massive
corruption." Radio Farda (RFERL) and AP and Reuters
****
**** Iran's 'Girls of Revolution Street' tear off their hijabs and headscarves
****
![[Image: g070424b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g070424b.jpg)
From 2007: An obvious criminal at large on the streets of Tehran (France 24)
Iran is in a generational Awakening era, one generation past the end
of the bloody, vicious Iran/Iraq war that climaxed in 1988, just as
America was in a generational Awakening era in the 1960s, one
generation past the end of World War II. Awakening eras are
characterized by generation conflicts between the generations of
traumatized survivors of the war versus the generation that grew up
after the war (the Boomers in America's case).
There are actually many similarity between America in the 1960s and
Iran today. In both cases there were protests by college students
against foreign wars, poverty and the economy.
One particular feature of America in the 1960s was the "Women's Lib"
movement, where cute, attractive college girls paraded around
demanding to be treated the same as men, and put on big shows of
burning their bras to make the point that there was no difference
between the sexes.
Iran's Awakening era has its own Women's Lib movement. It started on
December 27, just as nationwide street protests were starting, when an
unidentified woman climbed on top of an electricity box on one of
Tehran’s busiest streets, Enqelab (Revolution) Avenue, removed her
head scarf, and began waving it in the air.
A video clip of the woman, later identified as Vida Movahed, a
31-year-old mother, quickly went viral, and that was the beginning of
"Girls Of Revolution Street." Now there is a movement for women to
take off their headscarves and wave them in the air in protest of
compulsory headscarves and hijabs.
This is anathema to the hardline geezers, who consider a girl without
a headscarf to be almost as bad as an infidel. In 2007, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, Iran's president at the time, ordered police in Tehran to
swoop down on women with loose headscarves
and arrest them. In some cases, they were simply
warned. but in other cases they would be piled into a bus and taken
to the police station for "questioning."
Every generational Awakening era has a climax. America's Awakening
era climaxed with the resignation of president Richard Nixon in 1974.
Iran's Awakening era will climax with some sort of regime change that
will replace the Khamenei and the other hardline geezers that
survived the Great Islamic Revolution of 1979 and are still running
the country with a new, younger generation of leaders. And since
young people in Iran today tend to be pro-American and pro-Western,
and have no desire to push Israel into the sea, expect Iran to become
an American ally once the Awakening era climax takes place. Radio Farda (RFERL) and CNN
Related Articles
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei
Mehdi Karroubi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Great Islamic Revolution,
Girls Of Revolution Street, Vida Movahed
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Arrested Iran reformist Mahdi Karroubi harshly criticizes Supreme Leader Khamenei
- Iran's 'Girls of Revolution Street' tear off their hijabs and headscarves
****
**** Arrested Iran reformist Mahdi Karroubi harshly criticizes Supreme Leader Khamenei
****
Mehdi Karroubi, opposition leader, surrounded by supporters on June 17, 2009 (Reuters)
In a move that may not have been good for his continued survival, 80
year old Iranian reformist Mahdi Karroubi harshly criticized the
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei in a letter published on
his political party's web site.
The criticism comes just one month after nationwide street protests
that began as demonstrations
against soaring food prices, but then grew into much more serious
protests about government corruption among the political élite. It's
widely believed that when Iranian sanctions were lifted after the
nuclear deal was signed, and Iran received billions of dollars as a
result, that money went to élite clerical institutions, at the same
time that a banking crisis has caused millions of Iranians to lose
their life savings.
As usual, Khamenei blamed the United States, Israel and other "foreign
enemies" for the nationwide street protests. At least 25 people were
killed in the protests, and hundreds of peaceful protesters were
jailed.
Mehdi Karroubi has been under house arrest for seven years for
supporting peaceful protesters during the 2009 election, when Iran's
security forces overreacted and there was blood running in the
streets.
Karroubi's letter to Khamenei was a reaction to last month's street
protests:
<QUOTE>"I urge you, before it is too late, to open the way to
structural reforms of the system. ...
The system is going downhill to such an extent that it feels
endangered by a few thousand people demonstrating.
Instead of repeating accusations of links with the enemy and
instead of harsh confrontation, listen to them. ...
More than 50 percent of the country’s wealth is in the hands of
state bodies over which there is no supervision... Poverty and
unemployment are plaguing the country.
More than 10 million Iranians, among 80 million, now live in
absolute poverty. Under such conditions, it is natural that the
lower classes, who were the grassroot supporters of the Islamic
Revolution, will turn into a gunpowder barrel."<END QUOTE>
Karroubi also criticized Khamenei for letting the Revolutionary Guards
take a commanding role in the economy as this "has tarnished the
reputation of this revolutionary body and drowned it in massive
corruption." Radio Farda (RFERL) and AP and Reuters
****
**** Iran's 'Girls of Revolution Street' tear off their hijabs and headscarves
****
From 2007: An obvious criminal at large on the streets of Tehran (France 24)
Iran is in a generational Awakening era, one generation past the end
of the bloody, vicious Iran/Iraq war that climaxed in 1988, just as
America was in a generational Awakening era in the 1960s, one
generation past the end of World War II. Awakening eras are
characterized by generation conflicts between the generations of
traumatized survivors of the war versus the generation that grew up
after the war (the Boomers in America's case).
There are actually many similarity between America in the 1960s and
Iran today. In both cases there were protests by college students
against foreign wars, poverty and the economy.
One particular feature of America in the 1960s was the "Women's Lib"
movement, where cute, attractive college girls paraded around
demanding to be treated the same as men, and put on big shows of
burning their bras to make the point that there was no difference
between the sexes.
Iran's Awakening era has its own Women's Lib movement. It started on
December 27, just as nationwide street protests were starting, when an
unidentified woman climbed on top of an electricity box on one of
Tehran’s busiest streets, Enqelab (Revolution) Avenue, removed her
head scarf, and began waving it in the air.
A video clip of the woman, later identified as Vida Movahed, a
31-year-old mother, quickly went viral, and that was the beginning of
"Girls Of Revolution Street." Now there is a movement for women to
take off their headscarves and wave them in the air in protest of
compulsory headscarves and hijabs.
This is anathema to the hardline geezers, who consider a girl without
a headscarf to be almost as bad as an infidel. In 2007, Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad, Iran's president at the time, ordered police in Tehran to
swoop down on women with loose headscarves
and arrest them. In some cases, they were simply
warned. but in other cases they would be piled into a bus and taken
to the police station for "questioning."
Every generational Awakening era has a climax. America's Awakening
era climaxed with the resignation of president Richard Nixon in 1974.
Iran's Awakening era will climax with some sort of regime change that
will replace the Khamenei and the other hardline geezers that
survived the Great Islamic Revolution of 1979 and are still running
the country with a new, younger generation of leaders. And since
young people in Iran today tend to be pro-American and pro-Western,
and have no desire to push Israel into the sea, expect Iran to become
an American ally once the Awakening era climax takes place. Radio Farda (RFERL) and CNN
Related Articles
- Iranian police swoop down on women with loose headscarves (25-Apr-2007)
- Theological split in Iran widens as opposition protests continue (09-Nov-2009)
- Escalating violence in Iran protests brings calls for Iran-Israel friendship (02-Jan-2018)
- Anti-government, anti-war and economic protests spread across Iran (30-Dec-2017)
- Political crisis in Iran grows over nuclear agreement (09-Nov-2015)
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei
Mehdi Karroubi, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Great Islamic Revolution,
Girls Of Revolution Street, Vida Movahed
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
