Apathetic youth don't share mullahs' anti-U.S. sentiment

[rodbarnett]

Growing gulf between Iranians and their leaders

TEHRAN, Iran - At the pulpit of Friday's traditional prayers here, the slogan master warmed up the crowd with a familiar refrain. "Down with America! Down with Israel!" he chanted, readying several thousand mostly older Iranians for the main act, a sermon delivered by Ayatollah Ahamad Jannati, one of the country's hard-line leaders

Across town, at the Computer Capital mall, Ali Reza Jafari, a 30-year-old computer technician, said he didn't see much wrong with America.

"I have an uncle in Tennessee and a cousin in California," said the 30-year-old with shoulder-length hair. "Iran needs relations with other countries."

Tehran's weekly prayer, and the capital's multiplying malls, offer a snapshot of this country's political and social complexity, as Iranians voted Friday in controversial parliamentary elections.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4325421/

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

1. If there's hope for them, there's hope for us. (nt)

[bahrbearian]

2. Self Deleted