Remember that Iranian space monkey? Fake.

Eli Lake

This is not about some abstract concept, but a genuine concern. The Iranians are, after all, a nation whose leaders have set themselves a strategic goal of wiping Israel off the map.

Ehud Barak, Israeli defense minister, discussing the reasoning behind discussions whether his country ought to launch a pre-emptive attack against Iran.

Her cell was 10 by 14 feet. It had no bed. The lights were always on. Neon lights. It was part of the torture.

Ramin Setoodeh, in a compelling narrative about the American hikers who’ve spent 775 days in Iran’s most notorious prison, accused of espionage. On Monday, Iran said the hikers would be released. Today they said the release is not imminent.

After almost a year since my release, in October 2009, I still receive threatening phone calls from Iran. The callers tell me that I should be silent about what I saw and endured in prison. “Otherwise you will be brought back in a bag to Iran,” they say. I am not sure what threats Sarah Shourd received in the days leading to her release, but I am sure she’s been threatened that if she talks … she would jeopardize the release of her fiancé and her friend.

Newsweek correspondent Maziar Bahari, in a plea for journalists to leave Sarah Shourd alone

I have been deeply supportive of Iran’s Green Movement. I wrote glowingly about it, highlighted it on television, and showcased its advocates. But I do not think there is much evidence that it was likely to overthrow the Iranian regime. To believe that, one has to believe the government in Tehran is deeply unpopular with a majority of Iranians, holds onto power through military force alone, and is thus vulnerable to a movement that could mobilize the vast majority in Iran who despise it. None of this is entirely true.

The Iranian regime has many, many opponents, but it also has millions of supporters. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may have actually lost the presidential election of 2009, but it was a close contest in which he got millions of votes. What little polling has been done in Iran, coupled with the observations of people who have been there, all suggest that the regime has considerable public support in rural areas, among the devout, and in poorer communities.

Fareed, on why Iran’s government persists.

Iranians have a word, roozmaregi, which means in essence “to live one day at a time.” It’s an apt description for Khamenei’s style of leadership. He is a skillful tactician. But he appears to have no long-term plan for the country, or even for his own political survival. If he thinks he has defeated Iran’s Green Movement because there are no more protests, he’s wrong. The fact that Iranians are prevented from publicly demanding their rights does not mean they’ve forgotten their ideals.

Maziar Bahari, on the future of the Green Movement

The basic tenet of the Internet is openness: you don’t need to forfeit all privacy, but if you want to protect it, don’t post publicly. The debate about quitting Facebook certainly takes on a different hue when exposure, not secrecy, becomes the critical fight. In the past few weeks, both Pakistan and Bangladesh shut down Facebook in response to the group Everybody Draw Mohammed Day, because it is considered blasphemous to create images of the prophet. Facebook has been slammed by clerics in Egypt and Syria for being a gateway to adultery; and a woman was shot in Saudi Arabia after her father discovered her chatting online with a man she met on the site. Increasingly, the idea that everyone should be able to log on, publish, upload, download, update, or tweet at will—and whim—seems vital.

Julia Baird, “Freedom Should Trump Privacy Online”