Iran's model of "Islamic Democracy" (many forget that Iran is a sort of democracy) is coming under increasing criticism from young Iranians. People in Iran are looking for more freedom while the far-right mullahs who ultimately control the country are trying to keep a lid on things.

Religion News runs a press release from the Council for Secular Humanism, stating:

Today a pro-Western, media-savvy, anti-“fundamentalist reformist,” and explicitly secular student movement is afoot to dismantle Iranian theocracy. Largely ignored by the international media, recent polls show that an overwhelming majority favor a new referendum asking one question: theocracy or democracy? Student activists who have been exiled to America and Britain and in Iran are disseminating calls for secular democracy through street demonstrations, Web sites, and radio and satellite-TV programs that broadcast in Iran.

“The Next Secular Revolution,” a special section in the June/July 2005 issue of Free Inquiry magazine -- on newsstands now -- investigates this student movement. Contributing authors include Roya Hakakian, a writer, producer, and documentary film-maker who has worked with 60 Minutes, and the Discovery and Learning Channels; Soroush Danesh, a student in Tehran; and an interview by noted scholar Ibn Warraq, research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, with Michael Ledeen, foreign policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute.

The revolution which ushered in the current Islamic state was led in large part by young people who were dissatisfied with the totalitarian government of the Shah. The current government isn't quite as bad as the Shah in most areas (it seems), but there seems to be something about Iranian culture that encourages revolts against oppressive systems eventually. If the mullahs don't give up some power willingly, they may face a popular uprising led by students — just like the uprising that brought the mullahs into power in the first place.

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