In Iran, a 'second revolution' gathers steam
Ten days of pro-democracy protests spur militants to counter with a show of conservative force in the streets.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
TEHRAN, IRAN – The deep roots of Iran's Islamic Revolution give meaning to the life of Zeinab Bolooki, an Iranian mother who sacrificed a son during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
Every Friday, draped in black, Mrs. Bolooki visits the vast martyr's cemetery south of Tehran, sponges off the white marble tombstone of her son and sprinkles it with a mother's love and red flower petals.
The fierce dedication to Islam, the Iraq-Iran war, and the 1979 revolution once made Bolooki's family quintessential supporters of Iran's conservative clerics. But their desire for reform is indicative of a significant change below the surface of the political battle now playing itself out in Tehran.
"It's like a volcano coming up, which you can't see until it blows." says one Iranian analyst here.
Hardline supporters of the regime vow to bring five million militants onto the streets today, in a climactic show of strength
Ten days of pro-democracy protests spur militants to counter with a show of conservative force in the streets.
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
TEHRAN, IRAN – The deep roots of Iran's Islamic Revolution give meaning to the life of Zeinab Bolooki, an Iranian mother who sacrificed a son during the Iran-Iraq war of the 1980s.
Every Friday, draped in black, Mrs. Bolooki visits the vast martyr's cemetery south of Tehran, sponges off the white marble tombstone of her son and sprinkles it with a mother's love and red flower petals.
The fierce dedication to Islam, the Iraq-Iran war, and the 1979 revolution once made Bolooki's family quintessential supporters of Iran's conservative clerics. But their desire for reform is indicative of a significant change below the surface of the political battle now playing itself out in Tehran.
"It's like a volcano coming up, which you can't see until it blows." says one Iranian analyst here.
Hardline supporters of the regime vow to bring five million militants onto the streets today, in a climactic show of strength
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