Main focus of Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Power struggle in Iran

In spite of police brutality tens of thousands once again took to the streets on Tuesday in a protest at the outcome of the Iranian presidential elections and incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. On Monday several people were killed in the course of the demonstrations. The government in Tehran has taken massive action to prevent coverage of the situation by foreign media.

Diena - Latvia

The daily Diena considers that Iran has reached a decisive crossroads: "[Presidential candidate Mir-Hossein] Mousavi is certainly not a democrat in the Western sense, but he does promise change, including more rights for women and an alternative to incumbent president Ahmadinejad. The Iranian leadership is now faced with the biggest problem that can be confronted by any 'steered democracy': it can only function as long as the people agree to be steered in this way. If that's no longer the case, the regime can either drop to its knees or apply merciless repression. Iran's leaders have lost their legitimacy at home, and their nuclear programme has caused them to lose their legitimacy abroad. Now they are standing at this crossroads." (17/06/2009)

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All available articles from » Aivars Ozolins

El País - Spain

The left-liberal daily El País writes that the mass protests pose a dilemma for Iran's regime: "More than anything else Iran needs a credible opposition that acts as such and contributes to cleaning up a perverted system. In the current situation the acid test consists in finding out how much brute force the rulers in Iran are willing to apply to bring their opponents to their knees and how willing the reformers are to expose the corrupt system. Tolerating the demonstrations will undermine - perhaps for good - a theocracy that can no longer be defended. Crushing them will liquidate the myth of an Islamic revolution of the people." (17/06/2009)

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De Standaard - Belgium

At least for the outside world an election victory for presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi would only bring cosmetic change, writes the daily De Standaard. Because true power in Iran lies not with elected politicians but with the country's religious leaders: "A president Mousavi would have appeared as 'someone you can talk to'. But for the West, for Israel and on the Iranian nuclear programme he basically agrees with the supreme leader, Ayatollah [Sayyid Ali] Khamenei. ... The question arises whether Mousavi's supporters are really capable of plunging the regime into a political crisis. ... They are facing a formidable force: Khamenei and the religious establishment; the army and the revolutionary guard which control roughly a third of the economy; and the violent Basij militia. The price for political resistance is high in the Ayatollahs' repressive Iran. The outside world can only look on without any great illusions, and push for an honest recount of the votes." (17/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Domestic Policy, » Religion, » Iran
All available articles from » Mia Doornaert

La Tribune de Génève - Switzerland

The daily La Tribune de Genève examines the reasons for the uprising against the Iranian regime: "At first glance the picture seems clear. The mullahs' regime is being destabilised by a national uprising. But it won't be long before it regains the upper hand through arrests and - if necessary, open violence. However on closer examination you see that the situation is much more complex. Although the protests are aimed at President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the religious leader [Sayyid Ali] Khamenei, the people demonstrating are not necessarily those one would expect. The presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi was once prime minister in the times of the Ayatollah Khomeini. … All the evidence points to a fight within the regime between the ultra-conservatives … and the pragmatists. … Undoubtedly Ahmadinejad's aggressiveness is to blame for this - that and his disastrous economic performance. Even the mullahs want better living standards." (17/06/2009)

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All available articles from » Andrés Allemand

Corriere della Sera - Italy

The liberal-conservative daily Corriere della Sera takes a look at the repression of foreign media reporting in Iran: "The bureaucrats at the Ministry of Culture have turned off the tap drop by drop. First the government ordered that journalists' work should be made more difficult, then they blocked it altogether. ... Never before has there been such a ban in the Islamic Republic. In 1999 it was prohibited to film or photograph the suppression of the student revolts. Now you can't even go [to the demonstrations] with a notepad in your hand to jot down your thoughts. ... Ahmadinejad's answer is that people needn't fear for the freedom of the press, because 'newspapers come and go'." (17/06/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Press freedom, » Iran
All available articles from » David Frattini

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