I just got a long fax, in Farsi, from friends following the events in Iran. The bottom line is that, once again, the extreme instability of the country has been demonstrated. It seems that more than two thousand people have been arrested. Several members of the Revolutionary Guards have been killed. Depending on your point of view the catalyst for these clashes was either appeals from outside Iran, or the continued collapse of the mullahs (banks closed, salaries unpaid, teachers locked out of schools, etc.) or the incredible tempo of executions, notably of young people, on charges that seem preposterous. It is clear that opponents of the regime are increasingly armed, there are gunfights in the streets of several cities, and the clashes are going on all over the country. It is not just Tehran, or Tehran and Isfahan.
I’m leaving soon for a college weekend with #2 son, and probably won’t get the full translation until we return on Sunday. By then there may be more, and I’ll get back on it, natch.