Iran Students Hope to Reignite Smoldering Unrest

Iranian students are planning a major protest tomorrow, their first in six weeks, hoping to turn an annual parade commemorating the taking of the US embassy in 1979 into an anti-government rally. Though largely forgotten by the media and discounted by Western policy makers, the so-called “green movement” that erupted after Iran’s presidential elections is still active, particularly on college campuses, the LA Times reports.

Though tomorrow’s march will be the first major public gathering in some time, protests have continued on campuses. Yesterday a group took over a cafeteria in Ahvaz and sang anti-government songs, while in Tehran, students shouted down an ex-Ahmadinejad minister. But in the West many are urging the Obama administration to forget the greens and push ahead with sanctions. The regime has “pretty much decapitated the opposition,” argues one ex-CIA analyst. “I don’t think the government is particularly worried about it.” (More Iran stories.)