Following Egypt? Protestors take to the streets in Iran

The scenes leaking out of Tehran on Monday, captured on hundreds of cellphone videos and hasty photos smuggled onto the Internet, formed a chaotic patchwork quilt of forbidden dissent stretching across much of the city. Tens of thousands of young people filled the squares and boulevards of the Iranian capital, dodging canisters of tear gas, blockading roads with cars and burning garbage bins, engaging in frantic stone-throwing skirmishes with the motorcycle-riding basij militia, who are loyal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and with thousands of police.

If it resembled Cairo a week ago, that was deliberate, for this was meant to be Iran’s day to import the Arab uprising to the Persian world, and revive the democracy movement that erupted after the June, 2009, election but was violently crushed. Without question, Iran is not Egypt. The stakes are far deadlier, the clerical regime more hardened against dissent. The regime’s fear of an Arab-style democracy uprising was palpable, though, as it shut down the Internet across Tehran Monday and scrambled foreign TV and some cellphone signals.

It is remarkable to see the democratic protest movements taking place in Egypt and Iran. We in North America learned a long time ago that when united in a common cause, the people truly do hold the power. These corrupt, dictatorial regimes rule through fear, coercion, propaganda, and censorship. In other words, they go against the fundamental nature of basic human rights. Sometimes it only takes a single spark to ignite a much larger flame. If the recent events in Egypt provide the precedent for broader democratic revolutions throughout the Middle East, then we could truly be on the eve of significant historical events. Only time will tell. Unfortunately, expect the Iranian government to respond swiftly and brutally to these initial protests. The will of the protesters will certainly have to withstand tremendous pressure, yet if their passion is strong enough and can endure, a united movement of people truly can change the world.