The wall that crumbled
Friday 16 Jul 10
The anniversary of the tenth presidential election in Iran is approaching. A short while before the election and for the first time, Iranian women were able to appear in the street with a light Hijab and without the bothers of the security forces. They could sing and chant and speak up about their hopes to have a decent life of respects and privileges. After the election results were announced, the world stood watching as they appeared silently, valiantly and in protest alongside the men. In their silent and magnificent presence, the women disrupted the official policy of the regime based on separating the two sexes in the public domain and with their iron will, broke down the facade of deceit and pretence. That wall is forever shaken from the core and in spite of their efforts the regime is not able to rebuild it.

Supreme Cultural Revolution Council
Friday 16 Jul 10
The Supreme Cultural Revolution Council has ruled without legal authorization for a long time—this is not new. What is new is the infighting among the elite as they attack one another. The grievances are old and worn and if we choose the revolution as a marker of time, then the troubles with censorship, in their post-revolutionary format, date back to the revolution.

Political Parties in Iran
Friday 16 Jul 10
Two of Iran’s main reformist parties now find themselves up against a force that is above-the-law that is bent on dissolving them within the framework of the law. The two parties are the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mujahideen of the Islamic Revolution, both of whose charters state the need for reform and which were able to pass through numerous security filters and be registered legally. The measures against these parties are occurring despite the fact that the Iranian Constitution, which the Islamic Republic of Iran refers to with the holiest of words, does not easily allow the dissolution of registered organizations and parties.