Iran
* Re “Iran’s Pressure-Cooker Repression,” editorial, April 25: I hope that the inability (or the unwillingness) of President Mohammad Khatami and his so-called moderate followers to stop the latest round of oppression in Iran, including the closure of over 15 newspapers and magazines, can serve as a wake-up call to those supporting him and waiting for the delivery of his campaign promises.
Iranians (and maybe even Khatami himself), like the Russians, will soon realize that structurally corrupt and inherently illegitimate governments such as the Islamic Republic of Iran (and the former Soviet Union) cannot be simply reformed from within. Of course, the $64,000 question will be which of the Khatami’s lieutenants will become Iran’s Yeltsin.
HAMID BAHADORI
Mission Viejo
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