Babak Namdar

It seems the international media are of the opinion that if you’re protesting then you must be pro-Mousavi.

Here are some pictures with their respective captions labelling protests as pro-Mousavi.  There are many more then the pictures I’ve cited here, but this is just to give an idea about the spin media are putting on protests in Iran.  I wouldn’t doubt it if they have pictures from this years July 9 uprising (18 tir) with a caption claiming protests support Mousavi.

Perhaps AFP thinks anyone who is out on the streets protesting against the regime is actually pro-regime… er I mean pro-Mousavi.

Supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi throw stones at Iranian police during a violent demonstration in Tehran on June 20. Iranian opposition leaders have called for the immediate release of hundreds of people arrested in a crackdown on post-election protests and denounced the “brutal attacks” by security forces.(AFP/File)

Supporters of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi run past a burning bus in Tehran. Mousavi plans to unveil a new political grouping which will keep up a protest campaign against last month’s disputed presidential election, an aide said on Wednesday. (AFP/File/Olivier Laban-Mattei)

Again, the same formula is used:

Protester = supporter of regime reformists

A supporter of defeated Iranian presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi holds a stone as he stands with fellow demonstrators during riots in Tehran in June 2009. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday renewed a limited US offer to talk with Iran despite its post-election crackdown and defended the principle of engaging anti-American regimes. (AFP/File/Olivier Laban-Mattei)

How can someone holding the Lion & Sun flag be branded pro-Mousavi?  Mousavi is a creature of the regime, he is by no-means anti-regime having served as the regime’s prime minister.  It is therefore difficult to understand how an icon for resistance like the Lion & Sun flag can be associated with the Islamic Republic reformist to which Mousavi subscribes to.  Difficult to comprehend for you and I, but not for Associated Press.

Demonstrators wave Iranian flags outside the Iranian embassy in Brussels, Saturday June 27, 2009, protesting the outcome of the presidential election in Iran. The demonstrators are expressing solidarity with Iranian opposition leader Hossein Mousavi. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert)