Protest Movement in Iran: Fighting the Arrogance of Power

clipped from en.qantara.de In Iran the talk is no longer simply of election fraud. The issue has long since become the regime's ignorance of the population and its contempt for their intelligence, writes the Iranian cultural journalist Parandis Ahmadi* Straight after the revolution countless women and men were killed, their crimes unknown, and many political leaders and opposition supporters were executed or forced into exile. A democratic beacon of hope turned disappointment to many reformist Iranians: during Khatami's period in office the chain murders of intellectuals and the suppression of the student protests of 1999 occurred After Ahmadinejad's election in 2005 the reform process begun under Khatami came to an abrupt end. The political pressure from civilian society has increased steadily since then "Enough is enough!" It is above all women who have led the peaceful protests against the suspected election fraud and re-election of president Ahmadinejad The author's name changed by the editor for security reasons