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Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Armed Uprising in Iran
2004-03-14
From SMCCDI (dissident news service)
Deadly clashes rocked, today, the northern city of Fereydoon-Kenar located by the Caspian sea in the Mazandaran province. Several protesters have been killed and tens of other wounded and arrested. Several official buildings, including the Security divison, have been damaged as the crowd retaliated to the regime forces extreme brutality and use of lethal force. The situation is very tense and the regime forces have blocked all accesses to the city in order to avoid the spread of riots to the neighboring cities, such as, Babolsar and especially Amol where sporadic clashes have happened in the last days.
"Korshid," a regular at the dissident BB ActivistChat has posted some quite dramatic pictures of the Feyerdoonkenar uprising and also reports that the home of the local chief mullah has been burned to the ground(more pics at link):
More from Activist Chat at this link.
Posted by:Atomic Conspiracy

#20  Thanks Phil. That makes me feel a little better after the Spanish news.
Posted by: 11A5S   2004-3-14 5:32:53 PM  

#19  11A5S in this area they are Farsi speakers, i.e. ethnic persians, but with a distintive dialect. There are Kurds in the nearby mountains, but my guess is the crowds are predominately persians.
Posted by: Phil B   2004-3-14 5:25:44 PM  

#18  JFM,

The fundamental problem is that Iran sits on one coast of the Persian gulf and the mouth of the Hormuz straits. They can close it at any time. All it takes is some artillery or even mortars.

If the Hormuz strait is closed, the US will survive. It gets a small portion of it's oil from the Gulf. The same is not true of Europe and Asia.
Posted by: ed   2004-3-14 5:13:09 PM  

#17  rkb

It is not about the pilot putting the ammunition where it has to be but about the fact that Israel levelled Osirak while the USAF people feel that they cannot bomb without first dealing with private Mahmoud who is armed with a sling and is three hundred miles from the action.
Posted by: JFM   2004-3-14 4:48:37 PM  

#16  Wonder if Kerry will criticize the people for rebelling agaist "democratically elected government"?After all,if Bush opposes the mad Mullahs they must be okay.
Posted by: Stephen   2004-3-14 4:09:31 PM  

#15  and, as usual, nothing in the big media about this (not even Fox)
Posted by: mhw   2004-3-14 2:43:57 PM  

#14  Question: Are these Medes and Persians or Azeris?
Posted by: 11A5S   2004-3-14 1:43:49 PM  

#13  Too Soon.

Wait a few weeks - the weather sets in a lot nicer - not too hot nor too cool and the rainy times have passed.

And, interestingly enough, the universities get out as well, letting large numbers of students into the streets with nothing better to do, and a lot of time and nice weather to do it in.

This is just a rumble so far - the real storm is building and isnt here yet.
Posted by: OldSpook   2004-3-14 12:09:08 PM  

#12  Things like this have happened recently before too. It seems like the frequency is increasing but they always seem to be squashed by the government. Its hard to tell where this will go. My gut feeling is this will fizzle out and the instigators will disappear. I feel like the locals want change but haven't reached the boiling point yet and that not until something big around Tehran happens will any of this amount to more than a tragic incident.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam   2004-3-14 11:52:49 AM  

#11  JFM, trust me, the IAF has no lessons to teach USAF regarding precise targetting.

If USAF takes down the whole house, it's because they choose to. And if they hit a single nail on the head, it isn't because they are unable to level the house if they chose to do that, either.

It's a question of doctrine, not ability.
Posted by: rkb   2004-3-14 11:52:16 AM  

#10  Frank G makes a good point. Iraq could potentially become a base for a bdemocratic Iranian resistance. Hopefully we will be in a position to play this card soon.

However, when I see these protests and read articles about young Iranians, I question if these students would be willing to take up arms vs. just protesting in the street. The Mullahs are playing for keeps while the students want to listen to techno.

I have read more promising stories that the Mullah's are starting to alienate the professional military. It could be that military disloyalty in Iran is the more likely route to destabilization of the Mullarchy. The young people would then follow those willing to take up arms.
Posted by: JAB   2004-3-14 10:26:38 AM  

#9  mhw, that's what I heard in one article posted here, that the regulars are pro-American ...

P.S. Yes, I'm none other than Lu Baihu ...
Posted by: Edward Yee   2004-3-14 10:16:54 AM  

#8  If the regular army comes in on the side of the uprising, its show time.
Posted by: mhw   2004-3-14 8:14:08 AM  

#7  be a shame if someone, say.....west of Iran...were to help arm the students?
Posted by: Frank G   2004-3-14 7:54:02 AM  

#6  This is good and bad. Good that the Iranian people are finally rebeling. Bad that when the Mullahs send in the troops, they'll be slaughtered. I sure hope the Mullahs don't test The Bomb on them too.
Posted by: Charles   2004-3-14 7:38:47 AM  

#5  John Shep

I really think some people of the USAF should be sent to take classes in Israel: there they would learn that it is possible to hit a nail on the head without hamùmering the entire house.
Posted by: JFM   2004-3-14 6:03:18 AM  

#4  if any of you ever read AFM (air forces monthly) last year they did an article on a possible strike on Iran and its Nuclear program.Seems like the hardest part is knowing where to draw the line.Seriously if you hit the nuke plants you also have to hit the airdefenses which in turn means you have to hit the command, control and comms systems, then you've also got to factor in the Iranian airforce and thier capable fleet of fighters so they would need destroying on the ground or in the air as well as thier airbases and infustructure, then you wonder what thier army are gonna do about it so you then have to hit all thier mobile 'Scud' type launchers and thier supporting units, then you got the Iranian navy to think of are they gonna start wrecking tankers in the gulf and attackin Allied vessals there? Basically its all out war or nothing with them as there not gonna take it lying down, my plan is simply have an Ohio class sub or two in the gulf waters unleash Atomic hell on them before they even know anything about it, problem solved
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K   2004-3-14 5:32:21 AM  

#3  Please let it be so. Time is running out for the Iranian people with the Mullahs going full bore for their nukes.

Thing is, noone has told the Iranian people of the responsibiliites and consequences of having nuclear weapons have they?

Hang those fuckers by their turbans!
Posted by: Tony (UK)   2004-3-14 4:41:23 AM  

#2  be real sweet if it is starting to roll, a revolution in time for the election would be nice fo GWB. lets hope eh
Posted by: Jon Shep U.K   2004-3-14 4:40:58 AM  

#1  Could this finally be it?
Posted by: Damn_Proud_American   2004-3-14 2:27:22 AM  

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