The big white banner in the photo says "We are loyal to the vice-regent [meaning Leader Ayatollah Khamenei] we are ready for martyrdom."

Today they're also mourning the martyrdom of Imam Reza in 818 AD.

They are happiest when shouting "Death to America." That way they include the civilization they hate in the same fate they dream about for themselves.

They actually talk about exporting this revolution!

The photos above are screen shots from an IRINN video pan of the female half of the sexually segregated audience as it listened to a speech delivered by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on 21 March. The photos show people holding up signs and pictures for the camera. They are there to hear a speech, but they are also expecting to be photographed and have been equipped with the appropriate props. Some are holding a collage photo of Khamenei and Khomeini, as if to say "I think whatever these guys think." Others are holding signs that say "nuclear energy is our indisputable right." The green sign on the right in the top picture is the charming, ever popular "death to America." The diagonal banner at the top right of the two screens says "Year of the Noble Prophet," referring to the Iranian year 1385 which began on the day of speech and has been given the name by Ayatollah Khamenei.

The speech was misrepresented in most American press articles I saw about it; these articles seized on Khamenei's statement that he approved the talks about Iraq with the US. This was entirely out of context, since most of the speech was full of spite and vitriol against the US. Even the remark about approving the talks was hedged with "Our view is that America should get out of Iraq and put an end to creating insecurity and provoking ethnic groups so this country will have security and be able to manage its own affairs, but if the talks are going to be an opening for the clever Americans and a continuation of their bullying, then talks with the Americans about conditions in Iraq are forbidden, as all the others have been."

The audience, consisting of tens of thousands of pilgrims to the shrines in Mashhad, roared with approval as Khamenei went through a long list of denunciations and defiant responses to American accusations against Iran. This massive crowd would have been fairly easy for IRI propagandists to assemble. The people were already there in a relatively small part of the city of Mashhad. They were away from home and presumably not encumbered with scheduling conflicts, and of course a chance to see the country's leader speak would have been a powerful draw.

It is today. Does anyone need to be reminded of this? Whoever does can watch any of Iran's state-operated TV outlets to see elaborate video coverage of anti-American and anti-war demonstrations in Turkey, France, England, Germany, Australia, Greece, Belgium, Pakistan, Italy, Sweden, Japan, the Netherlands and Denmark. This coverage rivals coverage of Iranians celebrating their new calendar year, which begins Tuesday and is also taking up a lot of air time.

The New Year celebration coincides with the 20th day of the month of Safar in the Muslim lunar calendar, which is the 40th day after the anniversary of the death by decapitation of Imam Hussein in 680 AD. One of the ways this mourning event is being observed this year is in a pilgrimage by Shi'ite believers to Karbala, Iraq. Yet another anniversary is 29 Esfand in the Iranian solar calendar, tomorrow, marking the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company under Prime Minister Mossaddeq in 1951. That one is being marked with lots of old black-and-white video. It is called Oil Nationalization Day. It seems there isn't much else to do but talk about the calendar. They'll get back to using it as a time management tool later.

Years from now, every single day of the year will mark multiple religious and political anniversaries. People won't have time to deal with what is happening today without neglecting important rituals. If they do have any time left for today, their vision of it will be informed by the superimposition of old archetypes over living realities. This is a matter of training that is already well underway.

In the American rural south, they used to say of a person who was not considered bright, "He's like a goose; he wakes up in a new world every morning!" I can see advantages to that.

I like Stephen Kinzer's account of the Mossaddeq era: All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror. John Wiley: Hoboken, 2003.

Behruz Souresrafil is an anti-IRI commentator whose program has been well known to Iranians both in Iran and in the United States for a long time. He is currently seen on Pars TV, but became a fixture years ago in the LA Iranian opposition when his broadcasts were shown on the now defunct Azadi TV channel.

Souresrafil's interpretations of Iranian political affairs are always interesting, but his take on the announcement that the IRI and the US will soon hold talks to discuss the issues in Iraq was especially provocative. This event is being presented in the mainstream media as an American initiative presented by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador to Iraq. Souresrafil insists that it was really an Iranian initiative mediated by Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the chairman of the Supreme Islamic Revolutionary Council of Iraq. Souresrafil sees al-Hakim as an Iranian agent. It has been reported in the mainstream press that the Iranian agreement to the talks came as a response to a public request from al-Hakim that Iran accept Khalilzad's proposal for the talks.

There is much more. In this fascinating monologue (very much like the other ones he does every day on his program) Souresrafil uses the Persian term tir-e khalas zan to refer to President Ahmadinezhad. This is language that casts him in the mold of a Darth Vader, a "death-shot shooter" or "shooter of the finishing round". He got this nickname (often shortened to tir-e khalas) because as a revolutionary guardsman, long before becoming president, he is said to have been responsible for personally shooting many prisoners in the head; these unfortunates were people who had been deemed unfit to live by someone a little higher in the IRI hierarchy, but Mr. Ahmadinezhad is said to have considered the task an honor.

Mr. Souresrafil is difficult to translate. He talks very, very fast, sometimes in fragmented sentences, and his train of thought sometimes juts away from the main line at odd angles, but for anyone with an interest in another view of the ins and outs of this affair, I have done a translation of the broadcast:

click here

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IRIB2 is reporting proudly today that Iran is on the verge of becoming the world's eighth nation to master the complex technology of cloning sheep. The report included video of laboratories with their miscroscopes and culture dishes, and Iranian scientists speaking with satisfaction about the approaching achievement. Video was also shown of a small group of sheep, each of which was said to be carrying a cloned embryo.

I am reminded of the crowds of people who have been mustered into the streets of Iran time and again over the last 27 years to demonstrate in favor of whatever the government of the Islamic Republic wants to show that the people of Iran care about. The latest example of this was the huge demonstration marches staged throughout Iran on the anniversary of the revolution, 22 Bahman [11 February].

On this important anniversary thousands of people chanted carefully scripted political slogans, which some of them later repeated verbatim in individual street interviews. The most commonly used of these slogans was the hypnotic and rhythmic incantation, energy-ye haste'I : haq-e mosalAM-e mast (nuclear energy is our indisputable right). Later, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi and other officials made public statements to the effect that the strong desire for this energy expressed by the Iranian people on 22 Bahman puts the government in a position where it cannot back down without going against the 'will' of the people.

These demonstrators, used so effectively for international and domestic propaganda, were another kind of cloned sheep. In a country with high unemployment and a population that is easily manipulated by peer pressure (Iranians are tribalistic wherever you find them), it doesn't take much to get people to leave their homes and repeat the phrases blared at them through bullhorns. A free bus ride, a small stipend for the day and a chance to get together with friends and break the monotony of what is obviously a harsh day-to-day existence, is enough to get the beleagured Iranian masses out for the endorsement of just about any message.

I know that some of them really do hate America when they chant "death to America," but recent visitors to Iran have reported that the Iranians they met were often very taken with American culture and individual Americans; yet these same people were out marching and parroting slogans with everybody else when instructed to do so by the master cloners. Compared to its practiced mastery of population control with lock-step ideological conformity, the IRI's little sheep cloning lab is not much to talk about.

Wednesday 15 March was the last Wednesday of the year on the Iranian calendar for the year 1385 [21 March 2005 - 20 March 2006]. This day is traditionally celebrated in Iran with outdoor events such as picnics. The day is known as chahar shanbeh suri 'Wednesday Outside'. It is a time when Iranians do what Americans do on the 4th of July--play with fireworks. This can be a painful affair, and every year there are major mishaps, especially among teenagers. Severe burns and blinded eyes are not uncommon. In a telephone report from Paris, journalist Morteza Lotfi told PARS TV News:

"The Wednesday Outside celebration lasted until the middle of the night last night. Four people were killed, about 1,000 were injured and hundreds were arrested. Today the Islamic Republic's government news agency admitted that citizens welcomed the new year by exploding various types of fireworks and noise grenades in the parks and in every neighborhood in Tehran. Traffic was severely impeded by the crowds in the streets and almost all of the shops and markets in Tehran were closed. Riot police were stationed in Tehran's various public squares and they clashed with youth gatherings of all kinds and demonstrations against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Despite the heavy police police presence youth used every opportunity to sing the anthem 'Ey Iran'.

"The fear and anxiety of the forces of oppression converted these gatherings into demonstrations against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The riot police attacked on sight every youth gathering in the streets and broke them up. It was reported that in Tehran 841 persons were injured and two were killed. This was just in Tehran and does not include the other municipalities. Two people were killed in the provinces of Kermanshah and Bandar Abbas. Agence-France Presse reported that five people were killed in Tehran. News sources reported the arrest of more than 387 persons, of whom 12 were 17 years of age. The police said those arrested will remain in detention until the end of the month of Farvardin [20 April].

"The police admitted there were clashes between youth and police but they gave no explanation as to the nature of these clashes. The chief at police headquarters said today that more than 50,000 neighborhood guards were used along with the police to provide security. Last night more than 1,000 students at Amir Kabir Industrial University celebrated Wednesday Outside by singing the anthem 'Ey Iran' and jumping over fires.

"In the city of Ahvaz there were clashes between the Islamic Republic's oppressor agents, the youth and the people, and there were 37 injuries. News sources report from the Province of Khuzestan that after the implementation of strict regulations by the Islamic Republic's oppressor forces and the restrictions on public activity, youth ignored the restrictions, poured into the streets, chanted slogans against the Islamic Republic and engaged in celebration and merriment. The police blocked the streets in [Shian] Pars and did not allow automobile traffic. Despite this the people of Ahvaz held a vigorous celebration of Wednesday Outside. In the Province of Semnan 367 persons and in the Province of Fars 306 persons were arrested by the forces of oppression. In clashes between the people and the forces of oppression in the city of [not audible], 67 persons were injured."

Mahmoud Ahmadinezhad addresses a crowd in the Province of Golestan, Iran