海角大神

Iranians marked the 32^nd anniversary of their Islamic revolution on Friday, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claiming that Iran was the vanguard of a popular and divine "awakening鈥� now under way 鈥渋n every corner of this planet.鈥�

State television showed split-screen images juxtaposing the annual rally in Tehran with Egyptians massing in Cairo, as Mr. Ahmadinejad said that Iran鈥檚 1979 revolution was inspiring a 鈥渘ew Middle East鈥� with popular upheavals.

Iran鈥檚 revolution was 鈥渢he starting point of the rule of God over the earth,鈥� Ahmadinejad proclaimed. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a long path to fight against evil-doers; everyone must be aware of Satanic deceptions鈥� of the United States, Israel, and the West, he said; they would soon be 鈥渄estroyed鈥� with divine assistance, as Iran led humankind to 鈥渟ummits of perfection.鈥�

Iran's 1979 revolution electrified the Middle East by toppling a US-backed dictator with people power. Ahmadinejad鈥檚 speech, given just hours before Egypt's Hosni Mubarak stepped down from power, is the latest in a series of attempts by senior Iranian officials to take ownership of the popular unrest spreading through Arab nations.

Despite the revolutionary rhetoric, many Arabs note the irony of Iran giving advice, when it crushed its own pro-democracy movement in 2009.

In Sunni Egypt especially, protesters and the embattled government alike have dismissed any connection to Shiite Iran, past or present, as inappropriate and unwanted. One Egyptian minister told Iran鈥檚 supreme leader to hear calls for freedom in Iran, instead of 鈥渄istracting the Iranian people鈥檚 attention by hiding behind [events] in Egypt.鈥�

And there is trouble for Iran at home, too, where Iranians often express disappointment that the revolution has failed to live up to its promises of freedom and greater social equality.

Paranoid about change

The result is that Iran鈥檚 leaders 鈥渁re paranoid鈥� of similar change in Iran, says a veteran analyst in Tehran, who could not be named. 鈥淲hen they think about it in a serious way, and distance themselves from the propaganda they are making, they notice that the divisions [in Iran] are huge.鈥�

鈥淭he potential is there and it is real, that if they loosen the grip they have, voices will start to express themselves 鈥� and they are resisting that so strongly,鈥� says the analyst. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 even allow for a small divergence from the official line. They see, in the smallest diversion, Satanic influences.鈥� of course, [this] is not healthy.鈥�

Iran鈥檚 2009 mass unrest erupted when the opposition Green Movement declared fraud and more than 1 million people protested the official reelection victory of Ahmadinejad. The scenes closely resemble the current street clashes and public defiance in Tunisia, Egypt, and elsewhere in the Arab world.

No permit to march on Feb. 14

Iran鈥檚 demonstrations were brutally squashed by pro-regime militia. Those actions still divide the nation and ruling elite. So Iran鈥檚 embattled opposition heard the sound of hypocrisy on Friday, when Ahmadinejad advised Arab protesters they had the 鈥渞ight to be free 鈥� the right to express your views, and to choose your government.鈥�

Green Movement leaders themselves requested a permit to stage a Feb. 14 march in solidarity with the Egyptian and Tunisian people, but were denied. It is not certain if the first opposition call to protest in a year will be called off 鈥� or if the fall of Mubarak may rekindle public protest in Iran.

鈥淪editionists [Iran鈥檚 Green opposition] are no more than a corpse,鈥� senior Revolutionary Guard commander Hossein Hamedani said on Thursday. 鈥淲e will severely crush any of their movements.鈥�

In a bid to embrace the pro-democracy rise in Egypt, while rejecting it in Iran, the hard-line Kayhan newspaper recently gave this version of reality: 鈥淚n the case of Iran, the dictators were in the streets.鈥�

鈥淚n both cases, it鈥檚 a struggle against dictators,鈥� says the Tehran analyst. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an amazing statement. They have created this analysis and have bought it 鈥� that [2009] was a conspiracy to overthrow this popular regime, and these [protesters] denied the result of an election and therefore are anti-democratic. So they are dictators.鈥�

Green Movement leaders say it was their 2009 uprising, in fact, that helped prompt a 鈥渘ew discourse鈥� across the region. Iranian hard-liners have 鈥渄amaged鈥� the ideals of the 1979 revolution, they say, by 鈥渋magining their power as a splendid symbol of the divine authority while it was not supported by the people.鈥�

Opposition: Iran now has 'totalitarian' quality

Opposition chiefs and former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi 鈥� a cleric put under house arrest on Thursday 鈥� said in a joint statement this week that Iran's leaders now had the 鈥渢otalitarian鈥� quality of past Iranian dictators.

鈥淯nquestioning obedience before power has become divine and godly,鈥� they said, decrying the 鈥渙ppressive and anti-religion actions鈥� of the government. 鈥淭his religion has taught us not to bow to oppressive individuals, for if we do so, we will be deprived of God鈥檚 help.鈥�

According to US-based sociologist Said Arjomand, the decision by Iran鈥檚 supreme religious leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to support Ahmadinejad and dismiss fraud charges in 2009 was a 鈥渃ostly mistake鈥� that 鈥渦ndermined what had appeared to be a robust, post-revolutionary course for the first and only theocracy in modern history.鈥�

鈥淭he cries of 鈥楪od is Great!鈥� have now been overtaken by chants of 鈥楧eath to the dictator!鈥欌�� Mr. Arjomand wrote in a multi-author collection of essays published in the US Friday and titled 鈥淭he People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran鈥檚 Future." 鈥淒eep down, [regime leaders] know there is no conspiracy. Their fear is grounded in what they see in front of them: the forward march of history.鈥�

Yet laying claim to divine support 鈥� and the 鈥渢rue鈥� mantle of the Islamic revolution 鈥� has long been a game played between Iran鈥檚 hard-line leadership and its critics.

Ahmadinejad on Friday went further than usual in stating that the 鈥済lobal revolution鈥� now under way was being 鈥渕anaged鈥� behind the scenes by the Shiite Messiah 鈥� the Twelfth Imam Mahdi who is meant to return one day to bring justice to the world.

Ahmadinejad is a firm believer that the Mahdi鈥檚 return is imminent, a position scorned by many clerics as a superstition. 鈥淵ou can see the hands of the Imam of Time [the Mahdi] managing this revolution,鈥� the president said, according to a simultaneous translation by state-run PressTV.

Some Iranians at the rally in Tehran carried Egyptian flags with a smaller Iranian flag set in the middle.

One young man wore the scarf of a basiji militiaman, and linked the father of Iran鈥檚 revolution with current Arab unrest. He told PressTV: 鈥淭hese events in Egypt show that Imam Khomeini鈥檚 theories and ideas after more than 30 years is going to be realized today. I think the new Middle East is going to be born.鈥�

And yet Iran has sought to control the message from Cairo. State broadcasters have headlined the Egyptian protests for days, ever since Ayatollah Khamenei encouraged them as part of a worldwide 鈥淚slamic Awakening.鈥�

But the BBC Persian television channel 鈥� which is illegal but widely watched in Iran 鈥� was jammed starting Thursday night, during continuous coverage that included call-in comparisons between Egypt and Iran. In a statement, the BBC cited 鈥渢he impact of this coverage鈥� for the jamming.

PressTV preferred to cast events in Egypt another way, with comparisons only to 1979 鈥� and not to 2009.

鈥淭he Egyptians, like the Iranians 鈥� like all the people in the region 鈥� want independence from American hegemony, they want the West, they want the overlords, to leave,鈥� Seyed Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran University professor who frequently argues that Iran鈥檚 reelection of Ahmadinejad was legitimate, told PressTV.

鈥淭he courageous nature of the uprising in Egypt reminds the Iranian people of what earlier generations [of Iranians] went through in overthrowing the shah,鈥� said Mr. Marandi.