Tahrir in Tehran

I visited Tehran's Azadi Square for the first time the winter before the election crisis. As I see images streaming in from Cairo, masses camped in the center of town for what is turning into weeks of public defiance, I often try to imagine how this square would look similarly peopled. I wonder how it must have felt for demonstrators standing here three decades ago and again after the 2009 elections. Opposition leaders have requested, and been denied, permits to demonstrate here on the 25th of Bahman in solidarity with activists across the Arab world. This square, with its iconic monument, stands as a quiet, daily reminder of promises yet to be fulfilled and more struggles to come.