The Green Banner

The last time we saw unrest in Iran, a number of bloggers turned their flag green, in solidarity with the color chosen by the protesters to the foul regime of Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and his mullah handlers. Twice now such protests have been put down with massive shows of force and eventually most bloggers returned their flag to whatever color it had been before.

I never did, because I've always assumed that the protests would return. And in the wake of recent events elsewhere in the Middle East, the protests are back. And so is the iron fist of the regime:

Iranian members of parliament on Tuesday called for the death penalty against several opposition leaders who they say incited the unrest in the country.

At an open session of parliament, pro-government legislators chanted "death to Mousavi, Karroubi and Kahatami," referring to opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi and former reformist President Mohammad Khatami.

More than 220 lawmakers said in a statement that the trio should be held responsible for the unrest. "We believe the people have lost their patience and demand capital punishment" for the opposition leaders, the statement said.

Hardliners have long sought to put high-ranking opposition figures on trial, but the calls for the death penalty signaled an escalation in their demands.

I fully suspect that "the people" have lost their patience, but it isn't with Mousavi, Karroubi or Khatami. The mullahs are nasty, ruthless people and they have demonstrated that they have little compunction about killing their own citizenry. They might kill these men -- I have no doubt that they would if they feel that they can get by with it. And they might, for at least a while. This is not going away, though.