Defiant Courage in Iran’s Ongoing Turmoil

If your political mind has been entirely consumed by issues like Afghanistan and health care reform, you may have missed the reports about the continuing unrest inside Iran. Today’s NYT has an update.

In the course of the opposition’s evolution since this summer’s stolen election, it appears the most widely recognized of the losing presidential candidates, Mir Hussein Moussavi, has been somewhat sidelined. Still, he continues to display moments of defiant courage:

As Mr. Moussavi was leaving his office in a car, dozens of men on motorbikes, some wearing masks, blocked his way and chanted angry slogans against him, the Gooya News Web site reported.

Against the advice of his security team, Mr. Moussavi got out of his car and angrily shouted at the men, “You are on a mission — do your job, threaten me, beat me, kill me.” Mr. Moussavi’s security detail then took him back inside the building.

Perhaps he’s a man with nothing to lose, although I suspect few of us, in similar circumstances, would be capable of mustering such iron nerve.