It is what it is

A typical Tehran street.

Being in Chicago and away from Iran has provided me the opportunity to reflect on my experiences outside of the tense, yet admittedly enjoyable atmosphere I had previously been in.

There are, of course, a few things which have to be discussed regarding Iran's presidential election turmoil.

First off, it must be stressed that what took place in Iran's streets wasn't some kind of fantasy revolutionary action I often felt media outlets and others made it out to be. It's wasn't glorious. It was bloody, rough, and scary. Anyone that actually experienced the unrest will testify to this. Civil uprisings are risky and uncertain; many were killed, thousands were jailed, and opposition leaders currently live not knowing if they will be detained.

There is so much complex analysis coming out of think tanks (I may be guilty of this too) and so-called "Iran experts" about why people were protesting, what types of people were marching, and what this means for Iran's political future that we ended up missing some basic points. While these are of course important questions which have to be addressed, we have to look at this situation as it is.

People were marching because they were discontent with the election outcomes. That much is simple. Instead of reading some armchair report on the Iranian protests, I just asked those who were protesting why they were doing it. And really, it was primarily because they believed there was fraud. They didn't want four more years of Ahmadinejad; they couldn't take their wretched economic situation, international embarrassment at Ahmadinejad's behavior, they had demands for more social freedom, and the list goes on.

But whatever their reasons were, they were mad as hell and weren't going to take it anymore.

At this point it's still unclear what the fate of the opposition movement will be. Certainly, its leaders are thinking in the long term, with Mousavi at the helm of his new "Green Path of Hope Association." I really wish all this damage and unrest had not occurred, but since Iranians have taken this route, I hope that in the long run, this turns out to strengthen Iran and push through necessary compromise in order to better the Republic instead of invoke regime change, chaos, and exploitation by others. Nobody is asking for a regime change, only reform -- there is a big difference.

As a nation, we fought, bled, and suffered for the Islamic Revolution and its values; we are not going to abandon it this easily. However, reform is necessary in order to preserve change. We just have to be careful which route and form the reform takes and we can't allow it to be hijacked by the fringes.

Personally, I detested the violence and was utterly disgusted at what I was witnessing on the streets. I saw really vicious beat downs, sometimes at the hands the ill-trained paramilitary. In the protesters' views, these were the men who made Islam harder upon themselves, or who wanted to make themselves appear religious because of the material rewards they would get, misrepresenting Islam along the way. While regular police and riot guards certainly weren't nice, they usually operated within the parameters of their duty to control the crowd -- they didn't beat people once they were down, or take particular pleasure in it.

I happened to experience much of this first hand.

Three days after the election, on Monday, I traveled to Tehran to attend Ahmadinjead's victory speech. Opposition had planned to have a rally during the same time, and at this point accusations of fraud were firmly established and tensions were high; clashes had broken out and people were hitting the streets. On my way to the speech, I encountered a mini-demonstration. Due to the property damage the nights before, the police were given orders to clear out the demonstrations.

As soon as I walked towards Vali Asr square, where the speech was being held, a guard hit me with a baton, at which point I decided it would be wise to run away. Unfortunately I ran straight into tear gas. Thoroughly burned and confused, I went to wash my face. However, in Iran the street water drainage system isn't underground, it's next to the sidewalk in a special curb. I was forced to splash that water into my face. Not as refreshing as one might think. Luckily, a man farther up the street saw the pain we were in and placed an alcohol swab in my nose.

I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, but it didn't really matter -- there was no way to differentiate between protesters and innocent bystanders.

Through that experience though, I grew much more understanding of the opposition movement. I'm a moderate; while I don't consider myself a Mousavi supporter, I do think at this point he has some value to the political system and for bettering the country if he takes the right steps. While Ahmadinejad has certainly furthered Iran's strategic position in the region and done other positive things in his first term, he botched the economy and appointed too many loyalists to positions which need experience and intellect. Further, it's time to engage in diplomacy with the West, not unnecessarily ratchet up rhetoric -- all of Iran's jostling for position had an ultimate goal: preservation of the Iranian nation, promotion of its interests, and moral defense of the region's Muslims and Shias. It's time to reap those benefits and all the struggle and hard work Iranians undertook.

I think by now, most people in Iran recognize that opposition within the country is not being directly orchestrated by the West. Of course, it is a concern that Western intelligence can have a potential hand in the opposition movement -- especially with the increase in funding and efforts the U.S. and Israel is putting into Iran -- but it has to be recognized that there are real, legitimate, genuine concerns within the country that are independent and justified. This "Green Movement" was genuine. That much is for sure.

As someone primarily living outside of Iran, I don't believe I have the right to define the nation in my own terms, but as an Iranian who went through many of the same experiences other Iranians did this past summer, I have just as much stake over the future of my country as any other citizen. I have tied myself to the fate of Iran. If I have misrepresented the nation or gone outside of my bounds, I am sincerely sorry. But I love my country and its people, and can only see a bright future for Iran.