The Journal had a pretty fascinating profile yesterday of a member of the Iranian Basij, the militia the regime sics on protesters and dissidents. (They were the ones wielding chains from motorcycles--though the subject of the profile, a 24-year-old named Mehdi Moradani, helpfully points out that none of his colleagues carried knives or guns.)
Anyway, from the perspective of political sociology, this might have been the most interesting passage:
For Mr. Moradani, the biggest shock during the election turmoil came in his personal life. He had recently gotten engaged to a young woman from a devout, conservative family. A week into the protests, he says, his fianc