Passive Aggressive Supression

Image by .faramarz via Flickr

It seems that the Iranian government is trying a new strategy against the opposition. Instead of direct confrontation, they are making as many arrests as possible, coercing detainees into making false statements and even banning any mourning services for the dead. The family of Neda Agha-Soltan, they young woman whose death was caught on film and broadcast around the world, sparking international outrage, was told that they were not permitted to hold a mourning service. They burried her yesterday.

Intimidation through coercion, this will more than likely be the preffered method of the regime from this point forward. Recognizing that shooting people in the streets generates bad press, the Iranian leaders have decided to launch a passive agressive supression campaign in order to conceal what they are doing. At the very least it seems that the government wants to downplay its crack-down on its own people. More reports on arrests and developments as they come in.