- 10 February 2010
- 2 Comments
- Iran Election 2009
“The nation will stun the world on the 22nd of Bahman.” Those were the exact words of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei giving a speech to the commanders, fighter-pilots, and personnel of the Air Force division of the Iranian Army on Sunday. What was more stunning to some was the ambiguity of support the Leader received from the Army, with parallels to the events of the last anti-authoritarian challenge in Iran.
Exactly 31 years ago, a fairly large number of the Imperial Iranian Air Force, Homafaran, defected and lent their support to Ayatollah Khomeini in the revolutionary days of Iran. That was a significant build up to the movement that toppled the Pahlavi Dynasty only three days later on February 11, 1979; a day which many believe changed the political dynamics of the Middle-East forever.
The Iranian Army has a history of neutrality when it comes to internal disputes, and has repeatedly refused to pick up arms against its own citizens. That culture and attitude is still alive today. The Iranian Army, which includes its own ground, air, and naval forces, is the only military wing of the armed forces of Iran that has stayed out of the post-election battle for power. Every other armed group including the police, commanded by the notorious Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has contributed support to the brutal post-election crack down inside Iran. Taking into account the sensitivity of the political arena in Iran today, a lack of clear support for Ayatollah Khamenei, the “Supreme Commander of Armed Forces” of Iran, is an audacious move by all accounts.