Iran Election Result

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by Rip

You are being delusional. There are plenty of civilized and even secular people all over Iran. They can't have a candidate because all candidates have to be approved by the mullahs. Which mean to run you must believe in the type of government they want and swear an allegiance to them.

That is correct, but these social classes are not "all over Iran". They are formed by an educated social middle class, that is quite bourgeouis and interested in european cultural influence. But that should not hide two facts: another part of the same middle class is very conservative, and even many of the "moderate" are for the most strictly Islamic. Also, they are not all over Iran, but are concentrated in the bigger citiesd and metropoles, especially Teheran of course. I must say I met some extremely kind and very - really: VERY - polite people there, and I know many Westerners who could learn better manners from them. But the rural places are dominated by strict conservatism and orthodoxy. I compare the situation to that in Turkey, where there is a similiar split between city and rural populations.

It's a bit paradox, because in the early history Islam focussed on controlling the cities and ignore the rural country a bit and ignore nomads as well as long as they payed their taxes. It was too difficult trying to control them completely.