An Iranian student criticizes Supreme Leader Khaminei to his face, in public:
It was near the end of a meeting Wednesday between Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a group of university students when the man who is Iran's highest political and spiritual authority asked if there were any other questions.
He spotted a young man in the corner with his hand raised and called on him, asking him to go to the podium to speak through the public address system.
What followed was an extraordinarily candid 20-minute speech by the student, later identified as national math Olympiad winner Mahmoud Vahidnia, in which he publicly and explicitly criticized Khamenei for the government's conduct in the unrest that followed Iran's June 12 elections.
Vahidnia apparently hasn't been arrested--yet.
Intellectual rigor. Honest reporting. Influential analysis. Don't miss another issue of the magazine considered "required reading" by the world's top decision-makers. Subscribe today.
COMMENTS (3)
Well, it's not as brave as a Congressional Republican standing up to Rush Limbaugh, of course, but it might reach that far someday.
gw
Well, it's not as brave as a Congressional Republican standing up to Rush Limbaugh, of course, but it might reach that far someday.
gw
Wow. The Green Movement is not even close to being dead. This guy's my new hero.
Wow. The Green Movement is not even close to being dead. This guy's my new hero.
Mormon Socialist - I'll second that. Truth to power may well set them free. Glad to see that the dismal ending to the uprising may yet be rewritten.
George - Please, just shut up, would you? Quantity does not equal quality. Maybe leave some commenting for the rest of us next time.
Mormon Socialist - I'll second that. Truth to power may well set them free. Glad to see that the dismal ending to the uprising may yet be rewritten.
George - Please, just shut up, would you? Quantity does not equal quality. Maybe leave some commenting for the rest of us next time.