Iranian bastardry

While I have great respect for Iranian repudiation of many Western values - Iran after all [being successor to the ancient empire of Persia] has a long and rich history - I find it hard to justify the announcement that five people arrested in the unrest after Iran's disputed presidential election have been condemned to death.

The demonstrations that followed the rigged election were an expression of the peoples' will, pure and simple. Why shouldn't the people be able to express themselves? Because some corrupt theocratic regime threatens so? It is appalling, and the sooner the corrupt leadership of Iran is sent packing, the better.

A