By publicly endorsing the Egyptian people’s rights to hold protests, to be heard and to achieve their freedom, analyst Amir noted on Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his regime have exacerbated the problems they now face from their restless people. “How, after all, it will be wondered, can Ahmadinejad say ‘yes’ to the rights of the Arab peoples, but deny those same rights to his own people?”

Further complicating matters for the Iranian regime is the fact that Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul just happens to be visiting Tehran, and used a press conference there on Monday to declare, albeit without specifying which “people” he had in mind, that “The desires of people must be taken into account. In this respect, fundamental reforms must be carried out, whether economic or political.”…

In contrast to 2009, when the Obama administration chose not to energetically encourage the protests against the ayatollahs’ regime, the State Department has opened what Amir described as a “symbolically significant” Twitter account in Farsi. “We want to join in your conversation,” it tweeted initially. Later posts, according to AP, “noted the inconsistencies of Iran’s government supporting Egypt’s popular uprising but stifling opposition at home.”