Iran Thinks Arab Spring Is Swell, As Long As It's Not In Iran

Iran's rhetoric is reaching a crescendo again, but the what are they saying.

Here we go again, as Iran praises the Arab Spring which it has made a point of quashing in their own country:

Iran's Majlis speaker noted that the growing wave of Islamic Awakening has now spread all across the world, and US authorities cannot avert popular uprisings or dissuade people from pursuing their demands.


Addressing White House officials and regional leaders, Larijani said, “Do not think that you can prevent Islamic Awakening through these measures.”

Of course, when the Arab Awakening happens in Iran, the Iranian government prefers that that the protesters go back to sleep--or drop dead:

Thousands of Iranian opposition activists rallied in support of popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia on Monday and a semi-official news agency said one person was shot dead and several wounded by protesters.

An opposition website said dozens were arrested while taking part in the banned protests, which amounted to a test of strength for the reformist opposition in the Islamic state.

By late evening, chants of "Allahu Akbar" (God is Greatest) echoed from Tehran rooftops in scenes reminiscent of 2009 protests against the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Eight people were killed in those mass street demonstrations which lasted about a month and resulted in many arrests and several executions.

A further sign of the empty rhetoric of Iran is that they act as if they are clueless as to the real cause of the protests around the Middle East--economics as opposed to Muslim pride:

Mohammed Bouazizi's final act of hopelessness -- setting himself ablaze in front of a government building in Sidi Bouzid, Tunisia, on Dec. 17, 2010 -- touched off a wave of civil unrest that toppled two governments, threatens to bring down at least three others, and has redefined the relationship between the ruler and the ruled across the Arab world. But the protests, which were spurred by rising food prices and unemployment, have bequeathed a cruel irony to their makers: A worsening of the very same conditions that sparked the Arab Spring.

The economies of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Syria, and Tunisia are projected to shrink by a collective 0.5 percent this year, reversing 4.4 percent growth in 2010, according to a report published by the Institute of International Finance in May. In Yemen and Libya, which are still in turmoil, the numbers will likely be worse; and the growth forecast for the North African region as a whole has fallen from 4.5 percent in 2010 to less than 1 percent this year, according to the African Central Bank.

The fact that Iran--so far--has not joined those 6 countries, despite the sanctions and Iran's own financial mismanagement, is something that cannot be counted on. After all, Iranians cannot eat nuclear power--which Iranians themselves may be awakening to.

Technorati Tag: Arab Spring and Iran.