And speaking of Iran

Pejmanesque:

This is par for the course:

Leaders of Iran's embattled political reform movement have been targeted for violent attacks by pro-regime vigilantes in the run-up to this week's presidential election. READ MORE

In the most graphic example, Behzad Nabavi, a former parliamentary speaker, was beaten bloody as he tried to address a meeting in the holy city of Qom, the headquarters of the country's leading Islamic clergymen.

Nabavi, a prominent member of the Islamic Revolution Mojahedin Organisation, was heckled then attacked by religious extremists as he tried to give a speech in support of Mostafa Moein, the leading reformist candidate. Witnesses said about 120 young men, bearded and wearing similar clothes, surrounded Nebavi as he tried to leave the meeting. They chanted: 'Poor Nabavi has nowhere to run', and then attacked him.

The pro-reform newspaper, Shargh, ran a front page picture yesterday showing Nabavi with a black eye and a gashed forehead as a result of last Thursday's beating.

The attack highlights the plight of Iran's reformers as President Mohammed Khatami, their leading advocate, prepares to surrender power after two terms in which he has largely failed to deliver promised changes in the face of staunch opposition from the establishment.

It was one of a series of beatings meted out to reformers, which demonstrate the determination of religious conservatives to retain power.

Another Moein supporter, Alireza Rajai, a member of the reformist National Religious Forces, was viciously beaten after a speech in Fajr in Hamadan province. Members of Moein's election team have threatened to stage a sit-in outside the governor's office unless the lives of its workers can be assured.

Mohsen Armin, a former reformist MP and member of Nabavi's group, complained to the Interior Ministry after hecklers broke up one of his meetings in Boroujerd, in southern Iran.

Another reform candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, was interrupted when he tried to address supporters in Qom.

In a clear indication of where the authorities' sympathies lie, only two of Nabavi's attackers were arrested. In contrast, four Moein supporters at the meet ing were arrested and detained in a police compound usually reserved for drug offenders. They were later released.

It does say something about the regime's fundamental sense of insecurity that it would resort to such intimidation tactics despite having engaged in so many anti-democratic activities to curb the power of the reform movement. that having been said, the reform movement's power will be curbed still further unless the international community takes note of this kind of abuse and states its outrage in no uncertain terms.

So why is there so little attention being paid to Iran's internal politics and the anti-democratic violence that accompanies it? We are talking about political ferment in a country with vast strategic importance. Doesn't it deserve a little bit of curiosity from more in the mainstream media?