Courtesy: GETTY and the Independent (see link)
Protesters hold up a poster of Ayatollah Khomeini during a demonstration against the Shah on 1 January 1979
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/history-suggests-the-coup-will-fail-1708996.html#
History suggests the coup will fail, according to Patrick Cockburn, who reported from Iran during the 1979 revolution. In an article today he reflects on the fall of the Shah and explains why the current uprising is very different
Friday, 19 June 2009
"At first sight, what is happening in Tehran today looks very like the extraordinary events of the Islamic Revolution 30 years ago. But how deep do the similarities go? On 2 December 1978, two million Iranians filled the streets of central Tehran to demand an end to the rule of the Shah and the return of Ayatollah Khomeini. It was the most popular revolution in history. At night, people gathered on rooftops to chant "Allahu Akbar – God is Great". In the daytime, mass rallies commemorated as martyrs the protesters who had been killed by the security forces.
The methods of protest are very similar."
-"The spectacle, the symbols, and the language in Iran in 2009 are similar to those present in 1978-9, but the political forces at work could not be more different. The protesters then were much stronger than they looked; those of today have the odds heavily stacked against them."
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