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Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-tactics18-2009jun18,0,7264327.story
Iran Treads Lightly in a Culture of Martyrs
[Los Angeles Times] Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim - As new protests were planned for Thursday in Tehran, unsuccessful presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi has asked backers to go to local mosques to pay tribute to those killed in the protests. Within a culture steeped in the Shiite Muslim mystique of martyrdom, each death may motivate rather than discourage activists. Perhaps more perilous for the authorities is the possibility that some soldiers, security officials and Revolutionary Guardsmen might refuse orders to fire on protesters. "I would never do it," said Hossein, 23, a member of the security forces who said he and many of his friends at the military base where he serves support the marchers.