How is Iran changing?

ARTICLE: Police Unleash Force On Rally in Tehran, By Thomas Erdbrink and William Branigin, Washington Post, June 21, 2009

Sad to say, this is how I expected the unrest to unfold: increasingly amounts of repression and intransigence from the authorities, wearing down the people.

I never had much expectation of a rapid fall.

The question for me has been, what do the Iranian people take from this experience? Either it mobilizes for the longer struggle, where some real potential exists, or it demoralizes further.

Either way, Iran's leadership is incentivized--more than ever--to push ahead on the bomb. A near-death experience for the regime will not dissuade it but make it bolder. Now, more than ever, Tehran wants to prove itself immune from regime-changing pressure from outside.

Comments

[Anthony]

One thing you are forgetting is that this is not about people vs the establishment. There is much infighting between powerful elements inside the regime. Having said that I too dont foresee any success from this uprising, atleast in the short term.

[Tom Barnett]

Not forgetting necessarily. Just not mentioning in this post.

You might try "may be" instead of "are" next time, because I don't seek to cover the entirety of issues with each post.