All students of revolutionary change should read Chalmers Johnson’s epic work, Peasant Nationalism and Communist Power. The book is about so much more than China. It provides one of the best templates ever written to understand that most revolutionary conflict in the modern age is rooted in competing frames of nationalism.
EyeRanProtestr is an example of a Twitter identity that is clearly being used by a pro-Khamenei/Ahmadinejad deployer of misinformation. It’s a remarkable line-up of statements, including the so-far false claim that Mousavi was arrested and that hooligan students are doing all the killing.
(cartoon credit: Jonathan Guyer of The Washington Note) A short while ago, a space-obsessed friend sent me a CNN clip about what it would be like to fall into a black hole, in case I wanted to break up my Iran coverage with something else.
A few years ago, I met then chief Iran nuclear negotiator and now Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani at the Arab Strategy Forum in Dubai.
Over the past week, a young student has been anonymously blogging about the momentous events inside Iran for The Washington Note.
Yesterday, I had a chat with a senior person at CNN who shared that nearly all of the major news organizations were having to work with Iran related video and other information being sent to them that was not as vetted as normal. I know the feeling.
A few moments ago, author of Bitter Friends, Bosom Enemies: Iran, the U.S. and the Twisted Path to Confrontation and one of DC’s best Iran experts Barbara Slavin wrote to me through Facebook and said: steve, iran ceased being an islamic republic a week ago. now it’s just another military dictatorship. She is right.
Here is one of the best summations I have read of today’s events in Iran. A couple of key things are that the government is trying to isolate Mousavi and his ability to communicate. The government is arresting key Mousavi supporters in mass.
This appears to be quite bad news. The Assembly of Experts, headed by former President Rafsanjani, have expressed its full support of Ayatollah Khamenei’s statement on Friday. That means, I think, that those in the streets are being abandoned by many at the elite level of this struggle for Iran’s soul.
NOTE FROM STEVE CLEMONS: PLEASE NOTE THAT I HAVE RECEIVED INFORMATION DIRECTLY FROM THE BRITISH EMBASSY THAT THEY HAVE NOT TAKEN IN INJURED PROTESTERS. THERE IS SOME LEVEL OF MISINFORMATION FLOODING THROUGH TWITTER WITH REGARD TO THE EMBASSIES.