On Friday Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Iranians of dire consequences should they continue anti-government street protests. His warnings were heard, of course, but as today’s events illustrate, Iranians are ready to give their lives for a better future.
Reports of violence and death keep coming from Iran via Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. It’s confirmed that water cannons, tear gas, batons, gunfire, and some sort of acid dropped from helicopters have been used against the protesters. Basij militants are guarding hospitals to arrest (or kill???) the wounded. Protesters are urged to take the wounded to foreign embassies — primarily European embassies and the Australian one — for help.
Now it is a full blown revolution in Iran. Protesters are chanting “death to Khamenei!” There is no going back.
President Obama moves a step closer in supporting the protests with the release of this statement:
The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.
As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.
Martin Luther King once said – “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.
The world is watching indeed, but what about doing? Please keep these brave Iranians in your prayers.
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