A homeland crisis, a local response

On a warm evening with the skies threatening rain and the sun setting quickly, the balloons were being filled. Directly in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, roughly 50 Iranian Americans worked together Tuesday night, using helium tanks to inflate hundreds of green balloons, some pale and dull, some brighter, others marked with the Trader Joe's logo.

The protest was small compared to others that raged across the globe in the last three weeks. But as the balloons sailed off into the cloudy sky and the group dispersed, the protester's message remained pointed.

Alarmed by mounting evidence of vote fraud in their home country's June 12 presidential election, Iranians throughout the world have spent the rest of the month decrying what they see as a corrupt electoral system backed by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the nation's Islamic government. On a few occasions in Washington, large scale protests of more than 1,000 people have rallied against the election in which Ahmadinejad scored a landslide defeat over popular challenger Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Largely organized by "Where is my vote," an international campaign pushing for a fair electoral system in Iran, the protests incorporated a broad group of Iranian Americans, not the least of which included college students. Facebook became a key organizing tool; Iranian students all over the world changed their last names on the social networking site to "Irani," as events sprouted nearly every day and have not yet subsided. Wearing green, the color of Mousavi's party, has become a rallying cry.

"I was staying up watching the election results," said alumnus Siavash, who declined to provide his last name for personal reasons. "As soon as I heard, because it was a blatant fraud, I wanted to get out and do something. I sent as many messages as I could and started an event on Facebook."

Siavash was raised in Iran and left when he was eight years old. He and other Iranian Americans have maintained deep connections to their former homeland - many have family and friends still living in the Middle Eastern nation.

This university boasts a large number of Iranian students and one of only a handful of Persian studies majors in the nation. Program Director Ahmad Karimi-Hakkak said students came to the Roshan Center for Persian Studies after the elections depressed, some even in tears.

The noted professor has "directed [many of his students] to what is happening in Iran." He understands many students have taken the recent violence in Iran to heart.

"I feel very connected; I know it's been a long time, and I have a cultural disconnect," Siavash said. "Many of my family members live in Iran. It's very important. It's part of who I am."

Siavash is not alone. Iranian students hold a tight grip to their culture which is unique among Middle Eastern nations. Iranians speak Farsi, not Arabic. And unlike other Muslim nations, the country is overwhelmingly Shia.

Many Iranian Americans came to this country to escape the current regime and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. They've grown bitter at their country's governance, which is dominated by Muslim clerics and the Basij, a Gestapo-like militia reporting directly to Khamenei.

Iran's government system rose to power 30 years ago, causing many intellectuals to flee the nation, with many settling in the Washington area.

It's only now many first-generation Iranian Americans are getting their a taste of true Iranian politics surfacing to an international level.

"I've never at my house had a legitimate political discussion with my parents [until now]," said Mina Jafari, a senior government and politics and Persian studies major. "My parents, they lived through the revolution. Their understanding of these protests is very different."

In part to educate the Iranian American student population, Karimi-Hakkak has organized a teach-in at the Roshan Center in Jiménez Hall tonight at 6:30 p.m. The event intends to provide historical context and organize support for the movement.

But Karimi-Hakkak also wants to hear students vent out their frustrations.

Hassan, a graduate student who declined to give his last name for security reasons, lived in Iran until just two years ago. He said he worries American protesters may be hurting the cause as they chant "Marg bar dictator" - "Death to the dictator" - at rallies.

"We always say we don't want a supreme leader - nobody wants it," Hassan said. "The thing is, some people here want to overthrow him. In Iran, we tried it. ... All of our views are going to be misused by Iran media. I want to say 'This is my legal right based on the current state.'"

Tonight's forum will provide a voice for such concerns, and Karimi-Hakkak hopes it will keep students active even as the story itself has begun to slow.

Protests are fewer and fewer each day. Nearly three weeks after the election, the outpouring of news from Iran has slowed, and the movement itself has become far less visible.

"I refresh The New York Times' website, like, 20 times a day," said government and politics and Jewish studies major Josh Swanner. "Lately, the updates are getting less and less frequent. I'm resorting to finding news in any way I can."

Karimi-Hakkak, though, has faith in the movement. The message is not dying down, rather it is still spreading, he said.

Well before the green balloons were released Tuesday, a few stray balloons sailed off into the sky after slipping from someone's grip. They remained visible, specks in the sky, long after being released.

The balloons are a symbol of the potential for change in Iran. As with Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman who was brutally shot and killed on video at a Tehran rally Saturday, June 20, the green balloons are a visible symbol of the first cracks in the armor of country's Islamic regime.

Karimi-Hakkak believes these protests will not be easily brushed out of sight, even if they do fall short of creating any real change.

"It says this is serious," Karimi-Hakkak said. "This is something people are willing to shed blood for. ... Even if the movement dies today, something has snapped in Iran."

ajosephdbk@gmail.com