Harbingers Of An Iranian Revolution

Where, oh where, is the Iranian democratic revolution?

In a green Kurdistan valley hard by Iran, it turns out. And Michael Totten's visited and is writing about it at Reason. Here's an interesting excerpt from his conversation with one of the camp's leaders, Abu Baker Modarresi:

“How much longer do you think the Iranian regime will survive?” I asked Abadi after they put their cameras away.

“Ask your government,” he said and chuckled. Big laughs all around.

“What would you think if the United States invaded Iran?” I said.

“There are many points of view about that,” Abadi said. “But in general the people of Iran are happy to see that.”

“A war?” I said. “Really?”

“Invasion, yes,” he said. “The people of Iran are thinking politically. The people have had many bad experiences since the 1979 revolution. They want the American people to topple the regime, not to occupy the land.”

Officially, Totten tells us, the Komala party does not support a US invasion of Iran, only US support of an Iranian revolution. But times are tough for Iranian revolutionaries, so sometimes the party line and the line of the party leadership diverge a bit.

Modarresi is a revolutionary. He helped topple the Shah, then fled the ensuing terror of the Islamist revolution. Now he dreams of new fights against the Islamists so there can be a democratic Iran where human rights are valued. He thinks it might come soon:

“We have an internal opposition,” he said. “We have an internal movement against the regime. Women were warned not to celebrate 8 March, Women’s Day. They did. There are demonstrations in Iran. There are movements in Iran. You have the intellectuals, the political activists, the human rights activists, then the Kurds, Arabs, Azeris, Baluchis, different nationalities. There is a movement in Iran, unlike in Iraq under Saddam Hussein, where you had Kurds and nobody else.”

A revolutionary's wild dream or an accurate projection of Iran's near future? It's probably more of the former than the latter, but his view is confirmed by a young Iranian who just fled to the camp after getting out of prison for crimes against the state, i.e., writing the truth.

“Movements are taking shape in Iran,” Sanjari said. “The Iranian regime confronts the whole world with its policies. Political developments are very rapid now. Developments in Iran aren’t controllable. I hope the Iranian people overthrow this regime with no or few sacrifices. But that is a dream.”

If you want a dash of hope that someday there will be a better, less threatening Iran, read the piece.

hat-tip: Instapundit