Coughing: the latest mode of passive resistance in Iran

Iranians may not be the masters of too many things, but passive resistance is one of the skills they have had thousands of years to make an art of.

JARAS, the Iranian news network associated with Mirhossein Moussavi's Green movement, reports today of a brand new mode of resistance in Iran: coughing. According to JARAS, the soldiers who were brought to the prayer hall in the 01 Military Base in Tehran in order to listen to the Director of the so-called Political-Ideological Bureau managed to disrupt the speech by coughing -a lot.

The 2000 strong audience of soldiers started to show their objection to the Director's speech when he compared the late Ayatollah Montazeri (pro-Green grand ayatollah who died recently) with Talheh and Zobeir (historical figures disliked by Shiites as enemies of Imam Ali). According to JARAS, the soldiers' coughing was so intense and widespread that the guards had to intervene, and the lecturer consequently refused to continue and the event was terminated altogether.

The website adds also that Unit Captains have now been ordered to hand in a list of the coughing soldiers.