Iranian student calls out supreme leader

Iran has a long standing taboo when it comes to criticising the supreme leader, but it seems that recent tensions between those in charge and the public are beginning to come to a head. Long has it been considered improper to openly criticize Iran’s higher authority, which can lead to prison time, if the offense is considered worthy of such an action. That, however, did not stop Mahmoud Vahadnia from standing up to the unpopular leader and directly asking why it was that everyone was so afraid of him. He went on to question the leaders roll in the presidential election and his involvement in the deaths of election protesters.

BEIRUT — An unassuming college math student has become an unlikely hero to many in Iran for daring to criticize the country’s most powerful man to his face.

Mahmoud Vahidnia has received an outpouring of support from government opponents for the challenge – unprecedented in a country where insulting supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is a crime punishable by prison.

Perhaps most surprising, the young math whiz has so far suffered no repercussions from the confrontation at a question-and-answer session between Khamenei and students at Tehran’s Sharif Technical University.

In fact, Iran’s clerical leadership appears to be touting the incident as a sign of its tolerance – so much so that some Iranians at first believed the 20-minute exchange was staged by the government, though opposition commentators are now convinced Vahidnia was the real thing.

It wasn’t long ago that the people of Iran stood up and fought back against their government, protesting what they felt was an illegal and unlawful election of current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

As it stands now, Vahidnia is being heralded as a hero and an inspiration for standing up to Iran’s hard line regime. For the time being, he has been allowed to speak and no repercussions have befallen him. I wish this young man the best of luck in this and wonder just how massive his cojones must be.