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BBC NEWS | Business | Youth shapes Iran's economy
Iran: the next revolution? Iran's population is mostly young, educated, and frustrated with the country's social restrictions. And they're starting to make noise | New York Times Upfront | Find Articles at BNET
Iran's young people are disenchanted with the lack of freedom offered by the current regime | Children of the revolution | The Economist
A Different Face of Iran - washingtonpost.com
Iran's young reformers | open Democracy News Analysis
No doubt they have plenty of radicals in Iran. There is however a moderate population that exists throughout the Muslim world and in Iran, and appealing to them is a key tactic in the war on terror.
I didn't say that they don't have a moderate population, I was asserting that I don't think they have a large moderate population, what I'm getting at is that many Islamists get labeled moderates simply because they don't endorse offensive Jihad, however, they still support sharia based theocratic governance, and in my book that is anything but moderate.
The point being is that the problem goes much deeper than political freedom as demonstrated in places like Afghanistan where even when the people are granted free and fair elections they choose to elect legislators who continue to promote such backwards jurisprudence as death for apostasy, the problem is deeply rooted within the culture of the Arab and Muslim world and I really don't see anyway to bring that world into line with the 21st century, it's not just the governments in the region it's the people under these governments as well.
Now I agree with you that there are moderates in Iran like the guy from your second article, I would consider him to be an actual moderate as he promoted a separation between Mosque and state and would assume that he would flatly reject all forms of Sharia jurisprudence, and it's true that he is our ally and we need more people like him in the Muslim world but it's my opinion (and one backed by polling data from the Pew global attitudes study) that he is in a tiny minority and that my friend is the problem and a very serious one at that.