We have witnessed a strange phenomenon in Iran now for several weeks as Ahmadinejad has been appearing in various Iranian state media with the flag of Iran in the background, with the green part of the flag changed to blue, or black.
Since the rigged presidential election in Iran in June of last year, the movement that sprung from the campaign of one of the candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi, has presented the regime with the biggest challenge to its rule since the inception of the Islamic Republic. This movement rallied around the color green, and is commonly referred to as the Green Movement.
The changing of the color of the flag has shown quite clearly that the current government of the Islamic Republic of Iran doesn’t care about the culture and history of the nation, let alone Islam.
As surprising as such an action is, even though it is coming from this un-Iranian regime, I was even more surprised when I saw the odd behavior in this video (see below) from Tehran, showing areas of a street curb that are green being painted over in black by a city worker.
The regime in Iran is so paranoid about–and terrified of–the power of its own people (witnessed over the last nine months in the massive social and political upheaval brought about by the green movement) that it wants to wipe the color green from existence.
This begs the question: Does this show a strong and confident regime?
Or does this show a regime that sees the writing on the wall (or bus, or banknote), literally as well as metaphorically, and knows that its jig is up.
(“Death to Khamenei” written in green on the back of a bus)
(Green graffiti on Iranian bank note)
Green is the color of the living earth. It is a part of the Iranian flag. It is a beacon of the aspirations of the Iranian people and the world.
Changing the color of the curb from green to black won’t change the inevitable demise of this bankrupt regime, but it does help to illustrate to the world the extent to which this regime will go to allay its own fear of the power of its own people, and for that it has value.
Watch the video, and wonder.