6/17/2009

Disorder Is Increasing In Iran


Iran's Basij volunteer militia raided university dormitories

BBC News



[...] Overnight, members of Iran's Basij volunteer militia reportedly raided university dormitories in several Iranian cities.

The Basij stormed compounds, ransacking dormitories and beating up some students. Several arrests were made, our correspondent says, and the dean of the university in the city of Shiraz has resigned.

Students have been active among Iran's opposition and there have been several reports of security forces moving in on university premises since protests began over the weekend.

In the most high-profile incident, 120 lecturers at Tehran university resigned after a raid on that institution.

The overnight raids came after another direct intervention in the crisis by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Ayatollah Khamenei has not appeared in public since the election results, but now seems to be deeply involved in the search for a solution to the stand-off.

Meeting representatives of the four election candidates, he urged all parties not to agitate their supporters and stir up an already tense situation. He also repeated his offer of a partial vote recount, a proposal already rejected by the main opposition. [...]

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Unless Iran's leaders are willing to do the right thing, there will even be greater chaos in their land. Are they not aware of the recent cycle of the night sky above their land? Seven more days from now is maybe too long a time for Iran's leaders to waste.