OpEdNews - Page 3 of Article: Color Revolutions, Old and New

Iran's rulers know the danger and need only cite Iraq, Afghanistan,
and numerous other examples of US aggression, meddling, and
destabilization schemes for proof - including in 1953 and 1979 against
its own governments.

On June 17, AP reported that Iran "directly accused the United States
of meddling in the deepening crisis." On June 21 on Press TV, an
official said "The terrorist Mujahedin Khalq Organization (MKO) has
reportedly played a major role in intensifying the recent wave of
street violence in Iran. Iranian security officials reported (the
previous day) that they have identified and arrested a large number of
MKO members who were involved" in the nation's capital.

They admitted to having been trained in Iraq's camp Ashraf and got
directions from MKO's UK command post "to create post-election mayhem
in the country." On June 20 in Paris, MKO leader Maryam Rajavi
addressed supporters and expressed solidarity with Iranian protesters.

In 2007, German intelligence called MKO a "repressive, sect-like and
Stalinist authoritarian organization which centers around the
personality cult of Maryam and Masoud Rajavi." MKO expert Anne
Singleton explained that the West intends to use the organization to
achieve regime change in Iran. She said its backers "put together a
coalition of small irritant groups, the known minority and separatist
groups, along with the MKO. (They'll) be garrisoned around the border
with Iran and their task is to launch terrorist attacks into Iran over
the next few years to keep the fire hot." They're perhaps also
enlisted to stoke violence and conduct targeted killings on Iranian
streets post-election as a way to blame them on the government.

On June 23, Tehran accused western media and the UK government of
"fomenting (internal) unrest." In expelling BBC correspondent Jon
Leyne, it accused him and the broadcaster of "supporting the rioters
and, along with CNN," of setting up a "situation room and a
psychological war room." Both organizations are pro-business,
pro-government imperial tools, CNN as a private company, BBC as a
state-funded broadcaster.

On its June 17 web site, BBC was caught publishing deceptive agitprop
and had to retract it. It prominently featured a Los Angeles Times
photo of a huge pro-Ahmadinejad rally (without showing him waving to
the crowd) that it claimed was an anti-government protest for Mousavi.

Throughout its history since 1922, BBC compiled a notorious record of
this sort of thing because the government appoints its senior managers
and won't tolerate them stepping out of line. Early on, its founder,
John Reith, wrote the UK establishment: "They know they can trust us
not to be impartial," a promise faithfully kept for nearly 87 years
and prominently on Iran.

With good reason on June 22, Iranian MPs urged that ties with Britain
be reassessed while, according to the Fars news agency, members of
four student unions planned protests at the UK embassy and warned of a
repeat of the 1979 US embassy siege.

They said they'd target the "perverted government of Britain for its
intervention in Iran's internal affairs, its role in the unrest in
Tehran and its support of the riots." Iran's Foreign Ministry
spokesperson, Hassan Ghashghavi, wouldn't confirm if London's
ambassador would be expelled. On June 23, however, AP reported that
two UK diplomats were sent home on charges of "meddling and spying."

State TV also said hard-line students protested outside the UK
embassy, burned US, British and Israeli flags, hurled tomatoes at the
building and chanted: "Down with Britain!" and "Down with USA!" Around
100 people took part.

Britain retaliated by expelling two Iranian diplomats. UN
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded an immediate end to "arrests,
threats and use of force." Iran's official news agency, IRNA, reported
that the Iranian Foreign Ministry rejected Ban's remarks and accused
him of meddling. On June 23, Obama said the world was "appalled and
outraged" by Iran's violent attempt to crush dissent and claimed
America "is not at all interfering in Iran's affairs."

Yet on June 26, USA Today reported that:

"The Obama administration is moving forward with plans to fund groups
that support Iranian dissidents, records and interviews show,
continuing a program that became controversial" under George Bush. For
the past year, USAID has solicited funds to "promote democracy, human
rights, and the rule of law in Iran," according to its web site.

On July 11, 2008, Jason Leopold headlined his Countercurrents.org
article, "State Department's Iran Democracy Fund Shrouded in Secrecy"
and stated:

"Since 2006, Congress has poured tens of millions of dollars into a
(secret) State Department (Democracy Fund) program aimed at promoting
regime change in Iran." Yet Shirin Abadi, Iran's 2003 Nobel Peace
prize laureate, said "no truly nationalist and democratic group will
accept" US funding for this purpose. In a May 30, 2007 International
Herald Tribune column, she wrote: "Iranian reformers believe that
democracy can't be imported. It must be indigenous. They believe that
the best Washington can do for democracy in Iran is to leave them
alone."

On June 24, Brent Scowcroft, former National Security

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