Iranians once again have challenged the ruling clerics there in demonstrations that turned violent, according to reports from Iran. The occasion this time was a feast to commemorate the last Wednesday on the Persian calendar known as Chaharshambeh Soori. For the particulars please see Eli Lake’s dispatch at page one. After much hemming and hawing, Tehran’s chief of police allowed the citizens of his city to celebrate the festival in 40 cordoned-off areas over objections from powerful ayatollahs who tried to stop the celebrations because they fell at the wrong time on the Islamic calendar, two weeks after Shiites are supposed to celebrate Ashura, the somber holiday commemorating the martyrdom of Imam Hussein. It is the tension between the Arab dictates of Islam and the indigenous traditions of Persia that was at play last night when some Iranians threw homemade explosives at the feet of the anti riot police and set patrol cars ablaze.

The protesters are extraordinarily brave. Few secret police services in the world are as ruthless as Iran’s Pasdaran, and many of the students who directly challenged the government in the fall and winter of 2002 are still missing. The regime has even arrested close associates of President Khatemi, sending the message that no one will be spared. All the more reason, though, for the Bush administration to give these protesters moral, material, and, to the degree practical, diplomatic support. It was in October of 2003 that the deputy state secretary, Richard Armitage, answered “no, sir,” when asked by Senator Hagel whether the Bush administration supported regime change. The thing to remember is that on the streets of Tehran this week, the Iranians are risking their lives for freedom, and they deserve a resounding “Yes, sir,” in Washington.