Iran Student Criticizes Khamenei in Person

Excerpt: “An unassuming college math student has become an unlikely hero to many in Iran for daring to criticize the country’s most powerful man to his face. Mahmoud Vahidnia has received an outpouring of support from government opponents for the challenge – unprecedented in a country where insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a crime punishable by prison… The session began with a speech in which Khamenei told the students the “biggest crime” was to question the results of the June 12 presidential election that returned hard-liner Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power. Khamenei himself declared Ahmadinejad the victor despite opposition claims of widespread fraud. After the speech, Vahidnia raised his hand, then for 20 minutes he criticized the Iranian leader over the fierce crackdown on postelection protests, in which the opposition says 69 people were killed and thousands were arrested… In brief excerpts broadcast on state TV, the thin, bespectacled Vahidnia was shown standing behind a podium, gesturing at times for emphasis. ‘I don’t know why in this country it’s not allowed to make any kind of criticism of you,’ said the student, wearing a long-sleeved blue polo shirt and appearing calm. ‘In the past three to five years that I have been reading newspapers, I have seen no criticism of you, not even by the Assembly of Experts, whose duty is to criticize and supervise the performance of the leader,’ he said, referring to the clerical body that chooses the country’s supreme leader.”