[prmwsinfo]

Alma Bahmanpour, 23...Her favorite television show is the American reality series, "So You Think You Can Dance?" She watches it with an illegal satellite dish on the roof of her family's apartment in an affluent neighborhood in northern Tehran. Her iPod, tucked under a form-fitting coat, is filled with rap and alternative rock.

On weekend nights, Ms. Bahmanpour applies dark eye-liner and red lipstick and lets her long brown hair loose. She wriggles into a miniskirt and high heels before heading to one of Tehran's underground parties held in private homes. DJs spin English and Persian tunes. Bootleg booze and drugs flow freely.

"Our lifestyle here is a copy of western lifestyle that we see on television and on the Internet
...Ms. Bahmanpour plans to leave Iran. She has studied French in school and is hoping to get accepted at a graduate program in France. Her parents support her ambitions.

"You can't really be who you want here. You have to always pretend because of all the contrasts between what the society expects from you and what you really want," she says.
Mostafa Sodoghi, 36 My generation did not vote for the Islamic Republic," roared Mostafa Sodoghi, his black robe sweeping the floor. "As our fathers, you were the ones who voted and brought this regime to power and now we hold you accountable."

The packed room of about 1,000 went wild with applause.

"We want real change, we want to move forward, not backward, just like the Americans who elected Obama," Mr. Sodoghi continued.
...Shadi Sadr, 35

Last year, Shadi Sadr served 17 days in solitary confinement in Tehran's infamous Evin prison. The lawyer was arrested at a women's rights protest and charged with threatening to overthrow the regime.

Ms. Sadr was arrested as part of the government's crackdown on the "One Million Signature Campaign." It aimed to collect one million signatures on a petition to parliament for rights in marriage, divorce and child custody issues among others. She is currently out on bail and awaiting trial.

Mahdi Moradani, 22"I'm afraid that the regime and Islam's dignity will be endangered when I hear such things. I have to put them in their place," he says.

Mr. Moradani is a member of the volunteer plain-clothed paramilitary task force Basij. Basij operates under the order of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and has neighborhood task forces across the country. Its forces serve as law enforcement, morality police, social service provider, and organizer of religious ceremonies.

When he was 14, the Basij forces piled Mr. Moradani and 100 other youths into buses and took them around the dormitories of Tehran University. They were ordered to beat up the students who had staged a pro-democracy and anti-regime rally, Mr. Moradani says.

"The revolution and Islam need me. I will give my life in a heartbeat if the regime asks me. Our society is now at the verge of sin," says Mr. Moradani, who tries to avoid making eye contact with women.
Inside Tehran's Hearts and Minds - WSJ.com

[Nubtoubrem]

Inside Tehran's Hearts and Minds - WSJ.com

I saw a great documentary on whyy a few months ago by a documentarian who was actually permitted to film in Iran. Actually it was that Rick Steves guy. Anyway everyone who he talked to told him how much they loved the United States, and how happy they were to see an American in Iran. It was interesting.

No matter how much Iranians like us, they don't have the guns.

[AlistDakisa]

Inside Tehran's Hearts and Minds - WSJ.com

There's pleanty of pro-America sentiment in that country, which is why we would be wise to let regime change happen there by popular movement. The second we attack, you'll give an opressive regime an even bigger incentive to crack down on anything an everything pro-Western.

[VYholden]

We created and seem to maintain all the "enemies" we have.

Just read any modern history of Iran and Iraq.

[numinertyuesk]

...

No matter how much Iranians like us, they don't have the guns.

We could give them guns. So long as these guns never kill Americans or Israelis.

[QXCharles]

We could give them guns. So long as these guns never kill Americans or Israelis.

Worked out well when we armed Osama Bin Laden to kick the Russians out of Afghanistan.

[gogFloark]

Worked out well when we armed Osama Bin Laden to kick the Russians out of Afghanistan.

We didn't. We armed the Afghans, not the so-called "Afghan Arabs" -- including bin Laden -- who came from elsewhere in the Middle East.

[prmwsinfo]

right, the CIA was unawares

[MAKEMONEY]

A lot of things done in the past come under the heading of "it seemed like a good idea at the time". It's a shame we don't have a Go Back button.

[JennyStewarta]

Something seems to be happening today. I'm at work, but the reports coming out of Iran are encouraging. I am amazed by the courage of these demonstrators, considering the risks their taking and the terrible abuses many have suffered.

[MAKEMONEY]

Something seems to be happening today. I'm at work, but the reports coming out of Iran are encouraging. I am amazed by the courage of these demonstrators, considering the risks their taking and the terrible abuses many have suffered.

I couldn't agree more, those demonstrators are taking a chance of being killed or maimed and still come out in force. They are even protesting Russia for backing the election. It's good not to be the bad guy for once. We demonized the whole country in the past and ignored the fact that the citizens were not happy campers. At this point in time I am very pleased with the Obama administrations handling of the middle east.

[Loopyjr]

I know it isn't much, but I'm wearing a green ribbon to show support for the Iranian opposition. If enough of us did that and those protesting in Iran--and living in such terror--knew it, it just might be nice for them to know they've got moral support in the rest of the world. I know it's a very small gesture, but just a green ribbon, or wrist band, would make a statement.

Bullying and abuse of power infuriates me more than almost anything else. I had to make some gesture against it. And yes, I know it doesn't take any courage on my part to do it. I'm not risking arrest, imprisonment, torture, or execution in doing this. But I had to express my deep sympathy and support for the Iranians who are risking all of that.

[BWJfEkOB]

I saw a great documentary on whyy a few months ago by a documentarian who was actually permitted to film in Iran. Actually it was that Rick Steves guy. Anyway everyone who he talked to told him how much they loved the United States, and how happy they were to see an American in Iran. It was interesting.

If it was the one where the dude went there to have a traditional Iranian marriage, I saw it too. Good stuff. It's amazing what you can learn about other people when the State Department isn't getting in the way. There was another example the other night on the Food Network with the chubby guy who goes around eating weird stuff. He was in Saudi Arabia.