In support of the Iranian activists

Dear Peace Community,

The world has witnessed an astounding Iranian insurrection against the theocratic government of Iran since its presidential election on June 12, 2009.  Prior to the election, the Iranian Labour News Agency conducted the largest opinion poll in Iran, interviewing 300,000 people nationwide, which put the former prime minister of Iran and reformist candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi ahead of the politically conservative incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by 20 percentage points.  The election resulted in an unprecedented 85% turnout.  In a suspicious turn of events, however, Ahmadinejad won the election with 63% of the popular vote.  Almost immediately, Mousavi denounced the results.  He accused the government of election fraud due to several abnormal findings, including:   uniform percentages by which Mousavi lost in all Iranian districts (including his home town); 50 Iranian municipalities reporting a larger number of votes than eligible voters (more than 100% voter turnout); the claims of several ex-government bureaucrats who said they were purged because they refused to participate in the planned fraud; and the suspicious rapidity of the vote-count.  Massive protests have been taking place on the streets of Tehran, Iran’s capital, since June 13^th.       Demonstrations of this scale haven’t been seen since the Iranian revolution of 1979.  The power structure of Iran has been shaken to its foundation.  This is the first time Iran’s Supreme Leader, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been openly defied by the populace on such a scale.  Khamenei’s government has been cracking down on non-violent protestors with deadly force, arrests and censorship.

In the U.S., President Obama has wisely avoided officially endorsing the uprising, while denouncing the violent crackdown against protestors.  Iranians have been wary of U.S. interference, ever since we overthrew their democratically elected leader, Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, in 1953, after he tried to nationalize the Iranian oil industry.  Any official endorsement by the U.S. might carry historical undertones that would undermine the pro-democracy movement in Iran.  Individually, however, we should all support the Iranian people’s right to protest and denounce the iron-fist tactics used by the Iranian government.  The following link provides six options for supporting Iranian activists:  http://matadorchange.com/6-ways-the-western-world-can-support-iranian-activists/

Yours in Peace,

Sean Gibbons, coordinating council member