IRAN

Speaking as someone whose sole act of political bravery was an anti-apartheid protest that earned me a disorderly conduct charge and a ride in the back of a police van, I stand in awe of the Iranian men and women who, day after day, risk beatings, imprisonment, and death simply for the right to have their votes counted honestly. I have no idea how the events will play out in Tehran and the rest of the country, and I fully understand that the religious faith that inspires and strengthens them is one for which, as for all religious faiths, I have no sympathy. But I would like to believe that if I were in Tehran, I would have the courage to stand with them. May the complexities of Iranian state politics and the accidents of street actions favor them; may they triumph, in whatever fashion that is possible.