Filibuster Cartoons
 |
|
 |
In the last few days, there has been much turmoil in Iran. With an election approaching in February, the “Council of Guardians,” Iran’s un-elected executive branch of government abruptly decided to ban over 2000 candidates from running, on the charges that they are not sufficiently committed to Islam.
Among those covered by the ban includes 80 sitting members of the Iranian parliament.
In the western press, the conflict is often described as being a clash between the democratic Iranian “reformists” and the hard-line religious conservatives. However, yesterday’s National Post featured an excellent editorial by a dissident Iranian journalist who said that in reality, Iran’s political turmoil is really little more than a “power-struggle between two Khomenist factions.” Both factions are fundamentally Islamist and theocratic in nature, but one side is just more quiet about it.
