PrintJune 22, 2009
Curious incident on the streets of Tehran
Gregory (Scotland Yard detective): "Is there any other point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"Holmes: "To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time."Gregory: "The dog did nothing in the night-time."Holmes: "That was the curious incident."
I have been looking and looking in every news story about the demonstrations and counteractions by the Iranian regime that I can get my hands on. I have been looking for mention of the armed forces as an instrument of repression in Tehran.
I can't find it. What I have come across are statements by various satraps, and reports of brutality by the Basij, the Iranian equivalent of the Nazi brownshirts.
We have "security forces," Tehran police, and the Basij deploying at various intersections and plazas in order to break up anti-regime gatherings. We learn of the Basij riding around on motorbikes randomly shooting demonstrators and hitting others with batons. We have reports of Hezbollah soldiers being brought in from Lebanon.
But, the streets are not filling up with Iranian soldiers. Tanks are not rolling down the boulevards. At least not yet.
Is this a sign that the regime does not trust the armed forces to do its bidding against fellow Iranians?
Once the soldiers take up positions in the capital, once the tanks control the intersections, a very unstable dynamic exists. Will the officers order their men to fire on the protesters or to fire on the Basij? How does the army commanders view Palestinians and the Basij killing Iranians? How many Iranian commanders have sons and daughters in those demonstrations?
If the mullahs don't trust the army on the streets of Iran, that is a sign for hope.
