Justin and Andrea Speak with GMA Re Iran

CAIRO - We left Iran and, after 12 hours of travel, are now in Egypt. Upon landing, we taped an interview for Good Morning America on ABC News about our experiences there. The piece, titled "US Tourists Witness Iranian Protests," aired Sunday morning but you can see the full video clip by going to http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7892189

The segment is also on the abcnews.com homepage ticker. Bear in mind, we did this on virtually no sleep and having come straight off the plane! We look forward to your comments. You can also listen to Justin's phone interview with Kate, taped earlier, here: http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7891347

Hope Fading, the Iranian People Look to Mr. Obama

By Justin McMahan
June 21, 2009

Note: Andrea and I left Tehran yesterday. We had no choice, really. So many people, fearing arrest, or worse, are getting out while they still can. We will continue to blog from Cairo.

CAIRO – A few days ago, John Kerry penned an op-ed in the New York Times in which he admonished fellow Senator John McCain for criticizing President Obama’s “tepid” response to the Iranian opposition demonstrations. Kerry was right. Mr. McCain’s desire to take on every super or regional power on behalf of the little guy is well intentioned, but ill advised. It would have been a big mistake for the U.S. to insert itself publicly into the Iranian fray, until yesterday.

Until yesterday, the Mousavi-led opposition movement was a force to be reckoned with. The former Prime Minister had the power to summon one million Iranians to Enghelab Square with little more than a rally announcement. Until yesterday, no one knew where the Mousavi train was heading. What was known is that the people who were willing to take to the streets in opposition to the current government far outnumbered those willing to do the same in support of it.

Until yesterday, it would have been a mistake for President Obama to publicly back Mousavi for two reasons. First, this was an election by Iranians, for Iranians. As many opposition supporters told me, vociferous White House support for Mousavi would only serve to undermine the cause.

When Obama made plain his desire to reach out to Iran, he removed the foreign enemy that serves to unite domestic support behind the President and Supreme Leader. Today, the Iranian government needs The Great Satan more than ever. In his sermon at Tehran University last Friday, the Supreme Leader endeavored to cast the UK in that role. That the UK has replaced temporarily the US as The Great Satan is likely due to the BBC’s omnipresent coverage of the current crisis. If CNN had been on the ground during the election, no way the UK would have stolen our Great Satan crown.

Just after the election, a story ran about the break-up of an Israeli plot to bomb twenty mosques on election day. It is impossible to know for sure, but I would bet good money that the motive was the same – to cast Israel in the role of villain of the Islamic Republic. Israel might one day strike the Natanz nuclear facility, but bombing twenty mosques on election day is just not their style. On a side note, having driven by the Natanz facility, I can attest that those puny anti-aircraft guns would not stand a chance in the event of an airstrike.

The second reason it would have been a mistake to publicly back Mousavi is that the US will need to deal with whichever government is in power. Had Obama come out for Mousavi the man, he would have started behind the eight ball in the talks that will likely take place by the end of the year with the Ahmadinejad regime .

But all that changed on Saturday. The outcome of the election is no longer in question. When the Supreme Leader followed through on his promise to crack down on opposition supporters, he took the wind out of the Mousavi sails. On that fateful afternoon, try as I might, I could not find a strand of green fabric within a five block radius of Enghelab hotel, because those seen wearing green were beaten by the police or Basij Militia.

Today, those who oppose the Ahmadinejad government are looking for some sign of hope. They are looking to Mr. Obama.

Now is the time for the President to make public his belief in the right of the Iranian people to gather publicly without fearing a Basiji beating. Supporters of Mr. Ahmadinejad have the right to demonstrate publicly. That right should be extended to all Iranians.

This is not a partisan position. It is a human rights position. The Iranian people have fought a valiant fight for the right to have their vote counted. They have sacrificed a great deal. Hundreds have been arrested. Some, like Neda, have been killed. The Iranian people love Americans, and they love Mr. Obama especially. As the leader of the free world, he should offer them some words of support. The Iranian people would never forget it.

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Supreme Leader Follows Through on Promise to Crack Down on Protesters

By Justin McMahan
June 20, 2009

TEHRAN - Police and Basij militia indiscriminately clubbed bystanders. Women screamed as a large group of Tehranis came running around a street corner toward us. We could not see from what they were running, but that it was Basijis administering brutal beatings is likely.

Today we learned that the Supreme Leader meant what he said yesterday at Tehran University. Opposition protests will no longer be tolerated. There were police dispatched all over the city. More than a mile from Enghelab (revolution) Square, I saw them stopping pedestrians, searching backpacks and throwing green scarves – a sign of support for the opposition – on the ground. Closer to the demonstration site, police employed water canons, tear gas and batons to break up the rally.

Around Eghelab hotel, where we are staying, I could not find a single person wearing green. Many walked briskly in the opposite direction of the planned protest site. Some looked as if they had planned to demonstrate, but then thought better of it. It is impossible to know for sure. In addition to the thousands of cops in camouflage, brandishing shields, helmets and clubs, there were thousands more in plain clothes armed with the same gear. They looked as though they might have stopped at the club store on the way home from work, then come to practice crowd control in the city center. It was one of these young guys who told us that a certain street was closed off. We turned and walked the other way.

Together with “Jerry,” our guide, we jumped into a taxi bus. After driving a few blocks, we were stopped dead in traffic, so we got out to walk. It was then that the chaos erupted. People were running and screaming. Most of them probably had no intention of joining the protest. Jerry steered us through a phalanx of riot police. As we approached another crowd of police, a few of them unleashed their batons on a man running down the alley. As Jerry reminded us several times, never run when the Basijis come, because they will assume you are among the protesters.

In this writer’s humble opinion, the opposition movement may not be over forever, but it is over for now. We leave Tehran in five hours.
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Supreme Leader Speech Poses Grave Dilemma for Opposition

June 19, 2009
By Andrea McMahan

TEHRAN - It is a dismal day here in Tehran. The opposition is struggling to keep itself together after being dealt a heavy blow yesterday. In a speech given at Tehran University, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, said in no unclear terms that any further election protests are unacceptable by the government, and those persons choosing to participate in the protests would be breaking the law and face grave consequences. In addition, he stated that the elections were devoid of any cheating and that he unequivocally backed former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the winner. This was a striking change in tone from earlier in the week, when the Ayatollah said that the government was looking into allegations of election fraud and had appointed a Guardian Council made up of the country’s clerical establishment to investigate disputed ballots. The Council was set to offer an answer on the election within ten days.

But instead they have now issued a warning to the people of Iran: if you do not accept the election outcome or any of our terms, you will be punished. They have said they will not tolerate dissent and will use the government’s power- presumably military force- to squelch further debate. Obviously the Opposition has a very difficult decision to make. They either continue to rally in the streets and face violent consequences—even possible death-- from the government’s Revolutionary Guard and Basiji, or they go under ground and risk losing the critical momentum that has helped propel their cause.

It is not confirmed where the Opposition’s presidential candidate, Mir Hussein Moussavi, is right now. Some say he is detained under house arrest while others claim he is moving surreptisously around the city. He continues to maintain a facebook page, offering details on upcoming protests and heightening rhetoric around the dissident’s cause. His supporters have found creative ways to access these updates since Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites have been blocked across the country, mainly by tapping into friends and family abroad who can relay his message. However, most agree that it is only a matter of time before Mir Moussavi is arrested by the government, after which supporters have said there will almost certainly be even greater upheaval.

Either way, the outcome is bleak for the Opposition’s future. At a small gathering in Northern Iran yesterday, I was able to talk to several of the Opposition’s supporters and get a sense as to where they go from here. Many of them said they were feeling depressed, that the day’s speech had left them hurt but not entirely broken. They agreed it was not enough to deter them from marching in the protests Saturday and described how they would continue to ‘protest in silence’ by carrying signs that read “Where is your 63 percent?” rather than shouting slogans. They emphasized that theirs is a peaceful movement and acknowledged that it would almost certainly be met with violence in the hands of the regime. One Iranian woman, an art gallery owner, explained to me why she was willing to risk her life to march. “We have to do this,” she said. “If we don’t get out there and protest they [the government] will think it’s okay and they have to be stopped. We cannot live like this.”
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Happy Birthday Vanessa!

As the Iranian communications death grip tightens and I am unable to use Skype to call my little sister, I must use this space to wish her the happiest of birthdays. Happy Birthday, Vanessa...I love you very much!! - Justin