Are the rulers of Iran actually worried about the possibility of a nonviolent movement for regime change?
Watch this fascinating video produced by the Interior Ministry, and broadcast on Iranian TV, and see what you think.
First there’s a chillingly realistic reenactment of a sinister meeting among “senior White House official” John McCain, “Jewish tycoon” George Soros, “theoretician of civil disobedience and velvet revolutions” Gene Sharp and “one of the CIA’s senior experts on Iranian affairs” Bill Smith.
McCain, Soros and Sharp are real people. The generic name “Bill Smith” suggests that he is not.
Later we meet three opposition figures planning nefarious activities on behalf of the US so they can get visas and “have a good time in America.” One of the oppositionists lives with his sister and his wheelchair-bound mother (a nice touch), who worry over his strange behavior. The sister discovers what he is up to and rats him out to the Interior Ministry. This, of course, is a Good Thing.
The oppositionist is arrested, but because he cooperates with the investigation– without any rough treatment, this being a fictional account– a Ministry official promises the sister he will be released soon. (Yeah, right.)
Finally, viewers are asked to do their part to thwart “global arrogance and international Zionism” by reporting suspicious activity to the Interior Ministry’s special hotline.
Update: An interesting subtext of the video just occurred to me. The old coots who remember the 1979 revolution are portrayed as reliable supporters of the Islamic Republic. It’s the youngsters born since then who need to be watched.
Further update: A reminder that, in some ways, the attitudes of Iran’s current rulers aren’t so different from those of the past:
(Hat tip: Engage.)
