(insideIRAN.org) | February 17, 2010
Shayan Ghajar
The low turnout and disorganization of Green Movement protestors on February 11, Iran’s 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution, highlighted the weaknesses of the opposition’s approach in the face of intensifying pressures from the government. However, while the Green Movement may have suffered its first significant blow from the government last Thursday, both the leadership and grassroots supporters appear to be returning to their original strategy of decentralizing their protests.
In a February 13 interview with the Daily Telegraph, Mehdi Karroubi acknowledged the need for a change in strategy. Although Karroubi still supports the idea of protests, in light of the heightened levels of violence used by the government against Green demonstrators, he described them as having a “high price” that people shouldn’t have to pay. Karroubi did not delineate any specific new approaches, but spoke of a meeting with fellow opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi in the “near future” and the unveiling of a new strategy afterwards.
Green Movement activists in the blogosphere are publishing their own analyses of February 11, and advancing ideas for future protests or grassroots actions to re-assert pressure on the government.
Read the full article in insideIRAN.org.
