Iran: the Struggle for Democracy

I thought these articles were very informative. It was great that they included the students' opposition to the strict policies of the government, which started in 1997. Granted, I didn't know much about anything in 1997, except maybe some Harry Potter trivia, but it was great to find out that this uprising of wanting reform from the youth has been taking place. They specifically called for "separation of mosque and state" and now, more than ever, it shows that although a country might have been founded under a general religion, it is best to separate it from ruling, because there will always be someone who is different and could be offended. If they are to have rights like anyone else, it is best to separate all partiality factors, including religion. Khomeini, who I also didn't know by name, rejects western culture, and could also be the reason he is following such a strict representation of Islam. Also, the country's background information helped me to understand the conflicts and how they were putting a dividing line between the youth (and citizens for a revolution) and strict fundamentalists, who go so far as to eliminate those rights of people who worship differently or not at all. Also, it was informative to learn that (on both sides of the coin), oil is a huge bargaining chip and can make countries greedy.