Revolutionary Guards commander defies Khamenei's orders to use force on protestors

General Ali Fazli, who lost an eye in the war with Iraq.

IBTimesUK reports:

22 June 2009

A commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards has been arrested for refusing to obey Iran's Supreme Leader, according to reports from the Balatarin website.

General Ali Fazli, who was recently appointed as a commander of the Revolutionary Guards in the province of Tehran, is reported to have been arrested after he refused to carry out orders from the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to use force on people protesting the controversial re-election of President Mah

moud Ahmadinejad.

For full coverage of the Iranian election protests click here

Fazli, a veteran of the devastating Iran-Iraq war is also believed to have been sacked and taken to an unknown location.

READ THE REST HERE.

OATH KEEPERS:

So, at least one Iranian General has refused orders issued by the "supreme leader" to use force against protesters. Good for him! May we see more like him step up, and may their troops under their command do the same. Unfortunately, so far the Iranian government has had plenty of obedient orcs who are willing to shoot unarmed protesters, like this [WARNING, VERY GRAPHIC]:

Shooting Death of Unarmed Young Iranian Girl, Neda Soltani:

Here is the statement of a witness to the shooting:

..Basij shots to death a young woman in Tehran's Saturday June 20th protests At 19:05 June 20th Place: Karekar Ave., at the corner crossing Khosravi St. and Salehi st. A young woman who was standing aside with her father watching the protests was shot by a basij member hiding on the rooftop of a civilian house. He had clear shot at the girl and could not miss her. However, he aimed straight her heart. I am a doctor, so I rushed to try to save her. But the impact of the gunshot was so fierce that the bullet had blasted inside the victim's chest, and she died in less than 2 minutes. The protests were going on about 1 kilometers away in the main street and some of the protesting crowd were running from tear gass used among them, towards Salehi St. The film is shot by my friend who was standing beside me. Please let the world know.

And here is another video of unarmed college students who have been shot by the Iranian government's thugs:

And here is a report on how the Iranian government is suppressing the reporting of news crews, by beating them, and also how it is trying to stop the use of social media like Twitter and Facebook to get the news out [most of the video and reports coming out of Iran are by citizens using social media]:



But there are likely not enough hardline "Basij" Gestapo in Iran to stop the Iranian people from rising up. And in fact, despite the willingness of the government enforces to fire at unarmed protesters, IBtimesUK reports that "Iranians are set to gather at 4pm (12:30 British time) [today] for a rally to mourn the death of 27 year old student Neda Agha Soltani, dubbed the "Angel of Iran" after her death, allegedly at the hands of a Basij militiaman was caught on camera." [see above video].

That memorial will be held in the face of very real threats of violence from the Revolutionary Guard which has, according to the Associated Press:

issued a threat to people considering further protests on their website.

The site warns protestors to "be prepared for a resolution and revolutionary confrontation with the Guards, Basij and other security forces and disciplinary forces."

All mosques in Tehran have been banned from holding memorial services for Neda."

Reported here.

And so a memorial will be held anyway, despite threats of more violence from the government enforcers. Now you have to admire the courage of people willing to take to the streets in defiance of a government ban and hold a memorial service for a girl who was herself shot dead in the street. The more unarmed protesters are shot and beaten, the more Iranians are going to step over to the side of the protesters and the more the regime will lose legitimacy.

And maybe, just maybe, a tipping point will come where the Iranian military, including even the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, may side with the resistance. If they do, all they would have to do is step aside and let the people deal with the "Basij" directly. As one young American soldier said not long ago, "masses win. Masses win." May the masses in Iran win.

Oath Keepers