Reports out of Iran indicate a widening gap in the Islamic Republic between the clerical regime and the vast majority of Iranian citizens, a large majority of whom are under 40 years of age. Young Iranians are chafing under restrictions such as a dress code which many find stifling and antiquated, and are turning for help to president Hassan Rohani, who has made bold statements against the power and influence of the hard-line Shi’ite clerical regime that he is a founding member of. “Let people relax,” he said in a recent speech. Let people be mentally healthy. We cannot send people to heaven by force or the lash.” His remarks have received harsh criticism from several leading Shi’ite religious figures, including one who said that ‘chaos” would result if the government stopped administering public whippings as a punishment for violating the laws of Shi’ite Islam.
Click here for a report on the internal social, religious and political conflict in Iran(PDF)