This Is Rich...

...Khamenei: 'American Sniper' encourages harassment of Muslims

Why, it was only a few years ago the Mad Mullahs were killing Muslims on the streets of Tehran for not being Muslim enough.

"June 12 is the fifth anniversary of the birth of Iran's democratic Green Movement. Though the open resistance of this popular movement has been suppressed, it has been morally vindicated in the intervening years and remains as a constituency imbedded in Iran's body politic, ready to emerge once again when the opportunity arises.

And the opportunity will surely arise. The Islamic Republic of Iran is not your usual authoritarian state. As a hybrid of religious dictatorship and competitive elections, the regime generates its own opposition, see-sawing back and forth between conservatives and reformists. One day, the balance of power will shift decisively toward democracy and against the Ayatollahs.

It is precisely because competitive elections within a religious dictatorship are so meaningful that the election five years ago in 2009 was so passionately contested.

On that day in 2009 Iran's 10th presidential elections were held. Over 39 million people, representing about 85 percent of the eligible voters, cast their votes. According to the government's claims, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad received 62.6 percent of the votes, while his main opponent, former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi received 33.75 percent. The disbelief that these results were accurate ignited the widespread protests of the Green Movement."