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The world watched the historic demonstrations against the Iranian regime this week. By Friday, the government had clamped down hard on journalists, whose reporting credentials were not renewed, and inside Iran access to the outside world was hard to come by. UCSD Professor Babak Rahimi was in Tehran and described his feeling of isolation.
What is happening in Iran now looks very similar to what happened in 1953 (with street protests). The U.S. gov has put a lot of money into covert activities in Iran over the last, at least, 6 years. The press does talk about the 1979 revolution? Why not talk about the entire history? Am I just overlooking the coverage of the 1953 coup (that looks much more like what we see now)? The possibility that the U.S. gov is supporting the protest with covert activities is off the table although the U.S. gov, current and former administrations, has said for years "all options are on the table."
The interview was interesting, but focused on what, on the face of it, seems to be media outlets which are primarily available to upper class of Iranian society. It would have been interesting to also discuss what the less wealthy parts of Iranian society are paying attention to as well.
Mr. Hennessy, having been born in '50, I do not know what the street protests in '53 looked like or what the media coverage was like.
I am very aware of our meddling, as I have seen photos of my mother's sister, her husband and son at the Royal Table in 1970's Tehran. As an early supporter of the revolution, then, I am also aware that there was, even then, a large segment of Iranian society that is resistant to the excesses of the radical Islamist nature of the current regime and it should be no surprise to anyone that our meddling continues.
It may well serve both our nations one day.
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