Iran had it's revolution 33 years ago. What we see today in the Arab countries is in fact the "Islamic Awakening" that the Iranian revolution promised and is finally delivering. Iranians are enjoying the fruits of their revolution and are very gratified to see their revolutionary ways are being adopted in the other parts of the Middle East. Yes, the losers, and you know who they are, will try to stop this tsunami but they have and will fail again and again and again.

Did that that sounded rehearsed or was it just me?

Who becomes a mute when the worse of the fascist regimes oppress their people. It is going to happen, that is without any question. As with the Arab regimes it is a mere matter of time, how many times it's going to happen and into how many countries will it split.

As all Western-conducted opinion polls show, the people whom the author has talked to are a minority in Iran. A majority supports their government (all parts of which are elected directly or indirectly, after all). I ask everyone to google World Public Opinion, International Peace Institute and GlobeScan's polls of Iranians. They also show that Ahmadinejad indeed won the 2009 election, and the people who protested were merely supporters of the loser candidates (who got ~14m of the votes). Of course this doesn't mean that Iranians are happy with everything happening in their country, but the government is theirs, and the vast majority of Iranians consider it legitimate and democratic. Since the minority opposition comprises many of the English-speaking, Western-minded and wealthy Iranians, they're more likely to be in touch with Western and Israeli media. They create the illusion in the journalists that they're the majority. Western & Israeli journalists should seek more objective sources on what Iranians actually want; otherwise they will remain in the now 32-year-old illusion that Iran is ripe for a yet another revolution.

On a larger, more encompassing scale, there has been great deliberation about Iranian presidential elections. There are massive, well-supported claims of voter fraud and repeat balloting at many polling stations throughout Iran, how is that free and democratic? Many people I know were very skeptical about the results. The 2009 protests were bigger in scale than even the Egyptian and Tunisian revolts, and our party leaders sit in jails. The situation won't remain like this forever

Implosion ...sooner rather than later.

Israeli-centric article. Comparing the the "Arab spring" and the Iranian situation are like comparing apples and oranges for the lack of a better term. To start with the military role in Egypt and Tunis versus Iran and Syria, it should be clear that the military in the former were "owned" by the US, whereas those in the latter are part of the regimes that are totally independent from the US and/or Western political and financial pressures. The military in Tunis and Mesr threw Ben Ali and Mubarak under the proverbial bus to preserve the US control in those countries. The Iranian situation is immensely different because the Iranians have had their revolution, not a "spring". Having established a republic of their own that has the support of a "the people" in general terms, the Iranians are in the process of moving on to the next stage, which is to get rid of the authoritarian groups who hijacked the Iranian revolution in order to monopolize power and to a large degree to enrich themselves financially. A sure sign of this evolutionary process is the relentless repression by the regime and imprisonment of many influential personalities who were considered "insiders" by the likes of Khamenie and other unelected clerical personalities, who make up the core of the current authoritarian and corrupt Iranian regime. Iran's "Spring" has passed and "Summer" is coming. The Iranian movement towards liberation is not based on setting up tents in the Azadi (Freedom) Square in Tehran. That movement is now busy building the foundations of grass-roots opposition to the Mollahs' despotic regime. Curiously, Ahamdinejad seems to have sensed that too, so he's busy separating himself and other "technocrats" from the Clergy. (LA Times had an excellent article about that, which was the cause of the rift between him and the Rahbar or the so-called Leader). In that respect the "Arabs" have nothing to offer to the Iranians, they can only learn. BTW, I am wondering what the author thinks about the hole Israel has dug itself into. When are the people of Israel going to find out about the wool that has been pulled over their eyes. Why does Israel keep losing "friends" in the region, and what is she going to do about it?

Excellent article, and typical for you: you pull together totally disparate, unrelated 'facts' and ask totally unrelated and nonsensical questions as red-herrings; to try and get people to think of your "questions" and not what is really happening. Your first knee jerk reaction is always to blame Israel and then the US, especially if they are not mentioned in the article. And this happens no matter how ridiculous your twists and turns are to make your "point". Keep up the good "work".

The odd revolution now and again can be a good thing but when you have so many happening at the same place in the same part of the world you risk it going wrong somewhere along the road. It looks like its all over for Assad although he may still be able to survive if he plays his cards right. As far as Israel is concerned we are probably better off with Assad who we know how to deal with. A new regime could be unpredictable and we may even end up with Hizbollah or the Muslim Brotherhood. If Assad thinks its all over he may decide that he will look for an excuse to start a war with Israel in the hope it will boost his popularity and of course it will get people off the streets ending the momentum for change. In Iran regime change would be a good thing but not until its nuclear program is dealt with first. A desire to become a nuclear power is not something that will end with Ahmadinejad. The Iranian people want them as do the so called reformers like Mousavi. End the nuclear program whilst the west is calling Iran a rogue state then regime change is good but if regime change comes before that then it will be bad because most probably the world will shut up about the nukes in their attempt to embrace the so called reformers.

Thank you for excellent and informative contributions As #4 said, don't you think that with Obama's support the current regime successfully eliminated most of the leaders of progress? I suspect that democracy and freedom will come to Iran only after Obama leaves the presidency, as long as no foreign country attacks Iran.

the big difference between egypt and iran is that president obama doesn't like pushing enemies under the bus - he prefers to push his friends...

The last quotation by the Canadian Iranian is closer to the mark .The iranian revolution has played it self out with no achievement for the people , so what is left for the ruling elite is banking on nationalism via the pride to acquire nuclear weapons , hence, the only significant , quick, and effective way to deprive them of the opportunity in decisive way.Once that is done the Iranian masses will take care of the rest . You are right the people especially the middle educated and higher loath the regime and the religious establishment, and that will be a strategic improvement for the whole region and the world.

If what you say is true, then why is the Iranian leader not elected? And how, in the current regime, would wealthy Iranians end up being against the regime? That doesn't make sense. Wealthy people support the regime that made or keeps them wealthy.

No matter how you twist the facts, no matter how you try to use the words to serve your own points of view, facts are facts, and facts say that the MOST repressive regime in the world today is Iran's, where women are stoned to death for adultery, homosexuals hung, and journalists arrested and improsned for speaking the truth. The author is absolutely right, Iranians will not stand for this for much longer. The Iranian social and political tsunami is on its way.

If the protersters are wealthy as you say, then why the hell would they risk their lives and try to create a revolution which would destro their wealth? You must be smoking too much water pipes, my friend. THE MAJORITY IS IN CONTROL AND YOU ARE CORRECT ABOUT THAT. AND THEY ARE PAID BY THE GOVERNMENT AND THEY HAVE TO SUPPORT IT. THE UNHAPPY IS THE MINORITY. YOU ARE CORRECT THERE AGAIN. Iran will never change just becuse of this fact. The majority like their lives in this way which is a mafia style way. They get paid through the corrupted government channels. And that's what the real face of Iran is whether we like it or not.

The revolutionaries hated Jews and the West. That was in Egypt and Tunisia. These revolutions have nothing to do with "democracy"/ In Libya, Gaddafi fights Al-Quada for power. The same in Yemen. In Syria people want war with Israel, and Assad not ready for the war yet. If Iranians ask for war they may get it without revolution. If these revolutionaries get visas to US there would be no revolution.

How many protesters have died since the last elections? I hear the true number is around 100,000. Is that true? If yes, then more people are unhappy than the Iranian regime would like us to think. We know that Iran has a problem -- it has essentially two militaries; the regular army, which the regime does not trust and periodically purges and the Revolutionary Guard. That it has never combined the two is a hallmark of a very unstable government; why else maintain a private army? Iran is teetering on the brink. It is only a matter of time.

time for a change, even if this means more casualties by these ruthless murderers

The revolution that the Iranian people got was not the one they wanted. At the beginning, the Ayatollah Khomeini (may his name be cursed throughout eternity) surrounded himself with moderates -- people like Bani-Sadr and Gotzbadeh -- and then he tightened the noose. I do not believe that the majority of the Iranian people wanted a repressive regime and ruthless Sharia law. I do not believe that the majority of the Iranian people wanted their skyline dotted with people hanging from jib cranes. I do not believe that the majority of the Iranian people wanted to see homosexuality criminalized, or unfortunate drug addicts hanged rather than rehabilitated. The fact of the matter is that Islamic uber-fundamentalists have hijacked the revolution and, sooner rather than later, the people will take it back. They wanted to see the SAVAK gone; I doubt that they wanted something in its place that has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands more than ever met their end at the hands of the Shah's secret police. I doubt the Iranian people wanted a revolution that has produced massive unemployment, empty shelves in supermarkets, periods without electricity on a daily basis and crushing repression. I don't believe that the Iranian people wanted a revolution that has turned Iran into a much-reviled pariah state. The mullahs who control the Islamic Republic are a serpent eating its tail. They -- and their supporters such as yourself -- are going to go the way of the woolly mammoth.

CHANGE is COMING I think your title "wishful emotional thinking" best describes your warped state of mind, continue to pretend everything is just fine, soon reality will have you chasing after your own tail! For the record, not one of the Arab revolutions has asked to become an "Islamic Republic of...."! Stop fooling yourself, wake up & join the people of IRAN, the countdown is well on it's way for the REGIME to fall, and IRAN to become Free! God Bless the FREEDOM seeking, brave & proud people of IRAN Thank You

Correction: The Majority is manipulated and controlled by the extremist Minority REGIME. That what you stated was the way, not until too long ago, however no longer the case for the past sevral years, this REGIME will collapse soon enough! GOD BLESS the FREEDOM seeking & brave people of IRAN Thank You

Put up a naval blockade for all of the major Iranian seaports...and freeze all foreign assets of Iran...Iran is at war with the west and it's own people...

I know my own people. Manipulated or bought? What's the difference? Reality is reality. Some day Maybe things will change. But it won't be any time soon. I want to be as positive as you, but I know my own people far better. The side that's willing to kill more will be the victor. And that's so far is the monkey.

1970 I visited Teheran and enjoyed very much my staying there .I remember a great opulence on the shops windows ,no gasoline restriction,no women clad with black hijabs and so on. But to day tourists are afraid to visit Iran thinking they will be accused of beeing Wests spy! Your mullahs destroyed youincoming tourist industry by their sick hatred that all which come from the West is bad for Iran. There is a saying which states when you have a new thing you remember the old one with nostalgia!!!

Yes ! The Ayatolahs fulfilled the dream of the Iranian people,that Iran involve itself in adventures in foreign countries,finance and arm the Hamas terrorists in Gaza,dismantle Lebanon with the help of the Iranian Viet Cong,called Hizbolla,Iran is the envy of all nations for the great justice system the Iranian people enjoy,hangings,stoning,shootings, about a year ago hundreds of thousands of misguided Iranians demonstrated against the ayatolahs, questioning their authority to rule over them,the demonstraters were treated with the right medication,which was very effective,no more demonstrations,all Iranians very happy.