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Iranian Opposition Grows Beneath the Surface

(Washington Times) Iason Athanasiadis and Barbara Slavin - Iran's opposition movement has yet to produce a charismatic leader but has a diverse and growing group of organizers, including numerous students and veterans of an abortive 1999 uprising, Iran specialists say. While the government focuses on Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the two presidential candidates who refused to accept the results of the June election, a new generation of activists is working behind the scenes to sustain the movement's momentum. These leaders have "agreed on nonviolence and are trying to reach out to their parent's generation," said Kenneth Katzman, an Iran specialist at the Congressional Research Service in Washington. "They are very optimistic," Katzman said. "They believe they are going to be rid of [the regime] in six months to a year. They feel that a lot of security people are starting to back off because they don't know how this will come out and don't want to be" on the losing side.
2010-01-01 07:22:43
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