FROM IRAN - AT 7:30 P.M. ET:  The sketchy news from Iran indicates that there were small demonstrations today, brutally put down by the government.  It is clear that the mullahs are winning the battle in the streets, no surprise given their overwhelming military and police power.

TEHRAN — Hundreds of protesters clashed with waves of riot police and paramilitary militia in Tehran on Wednesday, witnesses said, as Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, insisted that the authorities would not yield to pressure from opponents demanding a new election following allegations of electoral fraud.

It was impossible to confirm the extent of the new violence in the capital because of draconian new press restrictions on coverage of the post-election mayhem. But the witnesses reached by telephone said the confrontation, in the streets near the national Parliament building, was bloody, with police using live ammunition.

COMMENT:  I fear that this story will be history within days, and a relieved Obama administration can get back to the real business of "engagement," with a heavy dose of appeasement and a flavoring of apology.

Oh, by the way, in an act of diplomatic courage unrivaled in modern history, the Obamans today withdrew - yes, I said withdrew - the invitation previously extended to Iranian diplomats to attend July 4th celebrations at American embassies around the world.  No hot dogs for them!  And dammit, no Cokes either!  You want tough, we'll give them tough!

Uh, yes, we have to add the administration's admission that no Iranian diplomat had accepted our invitation anyway.

June 24, 2009