(The Newest Deal) | February 26
In his 17th statement, Mir-Hossein Mousavi made five specific points that he deemed necessary to start the political (and national) reconciliation process. The proposal lead to a noticeable uptick in talk about the need for national “unity”in the weeks leading up to 22 Bahman, and also garnered much attention from [...]

By calling into question the success and sanctity of the Iranian Revolution, Moussavi is questioning the legitimacy of the government as a whole, not merely the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Moussavi continued by drawing parallels between the struggles against injustice in 1979 and the current goals of the Green Movement, a comparison that carries heavy implications regarding the current government.

Khordaad 88, February 2
Mir Hossein Mousavi ’s Interview with Kaleme
Kaleme reports that in this interview which took place close to February 11th [22 of Bahman], the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution, Mousavi stated that the main reason for the collapse of the dictatorial and unpopular regime of the Shah was its illegitimacy [in the [...]

(Globe and Mail)
Doug Saunders
It’s always been a dangerous fallacy to believe that the main boosters of Islamic fundamentalism are the Muslim poor. Now, movements in impoverished parts of Cairo, Tehran and elsewhere are demanding more from their rulers than pious rhetoric
If you take an evening stroll around the southern fringes of Tehran, where the mountains [...]

ROME (AFP) – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini would have annulled the results of Iran’s presidential elections in June, defeated reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi told an Italian newspaper.
In an interview with La Stampa, published on Saturday, Karroubi said the leader of the Islamic revolution in 1979 would have recoiled at the bloodshed that followed the re-election of [...]

On February 1, 1979, Khomeini returned to Iran from France, accompanied by various supporters and western media personalities like Peter Jennings. Millions showed up at the airport to welcome him.

On the airplane returning to Iran, Peter Jennings asked him, “What do you feel in returning to Iran?”

Khomeini did not express any elation. His foreboding reply was, “Hichi.” Hichi is the Farsi word for, Nothing.

It was probably at this moment that some in Iran started to question what they were getting themselves into. Iranians are fiercely proud of their 2500 years of history and heritage. Hichi, is simply not acceptable as the feeling that most of them have towards their national and cultural identity.

Little did most Iranians know what Khomeini’s return would herald. A dark era had begun.

The people have not sat idly by, and in the past month a clear distinction has been made between the people on one-side, and the regime on the other. The world has seen the people’s aspirations for freedom, and their bravery in the face of terror and the tyranny of a false theocracy. The world has also seen the last shred of legitimacy that the government of Iran may have held disappear to reveal what can be safely described as a government structured like a mafia that sees itself as God’s representative on earth with the right to butcher its own people. It can’t be more clear than that.

The price has been paid in blood by the Iranian people. And blood has been spilled across every facet of Iranian society.