Who is who in the Opposition Meetings?

Balatarin
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Who is who in the Opposition Meetings?
by Faramarz
13-Jul-2012
 

Recently, there has been an upswing in the activities of the IR Regime’s opposition groups in the Diaspora and the meetings and the declarations are now more operational in nature than theoretical.

While we should applaud the efforts of the Iranians in Diaspora whenever they get together and listen to each other and engage in the democratic process, one should always wonder who these people are and what they are up to. Setting aside the people who have enmity towards others and are still fighting the decades-old battles, there are definitely two distinct points of view out there.

After listening to several interviews with the people who attended the meetings or declined to attend, people who signed the final declarations and those who didn’t, I came away with a simple way of figuring out who is who and what they are up to.

There are two basic questions that we should ask the well-meaning opposition to figure out which camp they are in. First question is, who are “The Greens” and who are their leaders, and second question is, what does a “Free Referendum” mean?

If the answer to the first question is that, “The Greens are basically the people who said, “Where is my vote” and their leaders are Mousavi, Karroubi, and maybe Khatami,” then we are dealing with Reformers, the people who believe that only if the votes were counted properly, Mousavi would have been able to enforce the constitution and fix the system.

But, if the answer is that The Greens are the ones that on day 2 and day 3 of the 2009 protests changed their slogans to “Marg bar Dictator, and No to Gaza, No to Lebanon, Only Iran” and also they do not have a recognizable leader, then we are dealing with the people who want the Regime to be gone.

As for the second question regarding the “Referendum” so that the Iranian people can freely decide what type of government they would like to have, if the answer is that, “The “Referendum” can take place while the Regime is in power, and the Regime will allow such “Referendum” as a result of the peaceful protests,” then again we are dealing with the Reformers. Their main argument is also this. Iranians will not (and should not) pay the high price that the Syrians are paying today and any violent uprising against the Regime will result in the disintegration of Iran and all the doom and gloom that goes with it.

But if the response is along the lines of, “In order to have a “Free Referendum,” first, all the political prisoners should be freed, then we need several months to get mobilized inside Iran, and we need to have access to the media inside Iran to get our message out, and we also need money to counter the Regime’s money to buy votes, and we need international monitors to not only supervise the “Referendum” but also to count the votes, and there is no way in hell that the IR Regime would allow any of this!” Therefore a “Free Referendum” can only take place only and only after the Regime is gone.

Balatarin
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more from Faramarz
 
divaneh

Good questions Faramarz

by divaneh on Sun Jul 15, 2012 06:34 AM PDT

I think most Iranians prefer the route of reform instead of an upheaval in the first place. Unfortunately the rgime has shown that it is unreformable and has just become more dictatorial.


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Mehrban

Clarity!

by Mehrban on Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:51 AM PDT

Thank you Faramarz for this blog and trying to bring clarity to the Iranian political scene in diaspora.  

Being from a highly hierarchical society where obedience is a virtue, we (Iranians) simply don't ask enough questions.  Which makes for a lot of confusion and makes us best targets for Charlatans.  

Thank you for asking questions in order to frame issues properly.  I agree, many words being thrown around are not properly defined.  

 


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alimostofi

S: economic pressure has

by alimostofi on Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:29 AM PDT

S: economic pressure has been on much poorer parts of the world and there has never been a regime change.

Not meaning to be negative but the fact is that those with guns will still have money to buy guns.

The people will only want change when there is leadership. There is no leadership.

There needs to be a collection of Iranians that are consulted by UN and US instead of the Ayatollahs.

That we all can do. We just need to form a handful of cultured Iranians who can answer questions that put Iran first.

We all love Iran. We need people who are collaborators and are team players. It will be hard to explain it all to the world.

It is our problem for living abroad and doing nothing about it and leaving it so late.

Khejalat dareh.

@alimostofi
FB: astrologer.alimostofi


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Shazde Asdola Mirza

سپاه نمیتونه شلوارش رو بالا بکشه، کودتا که جای خود داره

Shazde Asdola Mirza
Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:04 AM PDT

بنده از نزدیک شاهد "توانایی و اقتدار" سپاه بوده ام. ملغمه‌ای است از مشتی لات فرصت طلب و گروهی عقب مانده ذهنی‌. چهار تا انقلابی پر شور هم اگر داشت، سالهاست که یا زیر خاک رفته اند و یا خانه نشین شده اند. عامل اصلی‌ شکست ایران در جنگ زمینی‌ مقابل عراق و جنگ دریایی مقابل آمریکا (در سال ۱۹۸۸)، همین اوباش و اراذل بودند و رهبر دیوانه‌شان ... امام خمینی.

تنها اهرم منسجم نظام، همچنان "امنیتی ها" هستند، که فعلا دور خامنه‌ای جمع شده اند و پسرش مجتبی‌. جماعت فعلا نگران این مسائل هستند:

۱- سقوط درآمد نفتی‌ دولت (۷۵% کمتر از سال قبل)؛

۲- انجماد ارزی و عدم دسترسی مالی به اندوخته‌های خارج از کشور؛

۳- سقوط عنقریب اقتصاد داخلی‌، بخاطر گرانی دلار (۴۰۰۰ تومن تا آخر امسال)؛

۴- پافشاری گروه احمدی نژاد بر جنگ افروزی و بحران سازی (زمینه سازی ظهور امام زمان)؛

۵- فروپاشی انسجام رهبری سیاسی، بخاطر پشتیبانی‌ احمقانه از احمدی نژاد (در هر دو مسئله انتخابات و هسته ای) و عواقب داخلی‌ و خارجی‌ آن.


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alimostofi

F: the common denominator is

by alimostofi on Sat Jul 14, 2012 08:43 AM PDT

F: the common denominator is culture.

@alimostofi
FB: astrologer.alimostofi


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Faramarz

Thanks for Reading and Commenting

by Faramarz on Sat Jul 14, 2012 08:32 AM PDT

 

 

DK Jaan,

This referendum thing has now become the most discussed topic of these meetings. They are even talking about a multiple choice questionnaire and a variety of options!

 

Shazde Aziz,

I completely agree with you that the Regime change will be bloody and worse than Syria. The other topic that you hear more and more about is, Sepah doing a Coup and supposedly to derail the opposition.

 

Thank you MPD.

 

Ali,

I see your point, but the problem is that we need to come to a common agreement, a common denominator. In my book, the common denominator among all the opposition groups should be the Regime change. After that, we can argue about how and everything else.


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alimostofi

We need an organization.

by alimostofi on Sat Jul 14, 2012 07:51 AM PDT

F: the only way, is for Iranians in the world of freedom, to represent Iran freely in the various international forums. We need a group of recognised intelligent Iranians in every major city in the world, fhat the media and world organisationa can contact. It is that simple.

Call it Iranians in Exile, or anything. It needs to be NOT THEM or not mullahs. Otherwise Iranians in the diaspora will put their two cents on twitter facebook or here, and that will be the most we will ever accomplish.

We have the psople. We do not have the organisation. Simple. You would think that with a website called iranian.com we would have set one up right here right now. But we prefer to have pictures of jj travels. Madness.

@alimostofi
FB: astrologer.alimostofi


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Multiple Personality Disorder

very interesting

by Multiple Personality Disorder on Sat Jul 14, 2012 06:42 AM PDT

thank you


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Shazde Asdola Mirza

بدون عقب‌نشینی رژیم، ایران ۱۰۰ برابر از سوریه بدتر خواهد شد

Shazde Asdola Mirza
Fri Jul 13, 2012 07:26 PM PDT


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Darius Kadivar

The whole referendum 'thing' was a Silly idea in the first place

by Darius Kadivar on Fri Jul 13, 2012 03:24 PM PDT


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