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Showing posts from July, 2011

July 1999 Student Uprisings in Iran and its consequences for Iranian governing Institutions

It is difficult to keep up with all the "anniversaries" in Iran these days.    Whether it is in the form of demonstrations against the Islamic Republic's policies,  or  government organized celebrations meant to mobilize the regime supporters,   it is impossible to write about post-revolutionary Iran without addressing the importance ( or lack of importance) of  certain political developments.   For  some Iran observers,  the student uprisings of July 1999 does not deserve serious attention since it did not evolve into broader urban-based movement and was crushed by the regime's repressive forces.   Although the students managed to create enough chaos to scare some of the  officials,   the regime successfully calibrated its counter-offensive in such a way that it did not allow it to broaden beyond the student base. Nevertheless, the students were successful in  dragging the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei into the conflict j...