TEHRAN, Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Internet cafes and Western-style food courts are booming in Tehran, with young people telling CBS News they almost wish the United States would liberate them.
While a military invasion of Iran would meet fierce resistance even from the young, the sentiments reflect the anger and helplessness that consumes Iranian youth.
Every year thousands of young Iranians leave Iran for good to work as computer specialists, engineers and entrepreneurs. By choice, most would head for the United States, but since they are no longer eligible for U.S. visas, they go to Canada, Germany, Sweden and Britain.
The report said young Iranians also have lost faith in peaceful political change. Hopes were high in 1997 when moderate cleric Ayatollah Mohammed Khatemi was elected president. But he dragged his feet on liberal reforms, and time after time refused to confront the hard-line mullahs.
Instead the youth are biding their time and quietly pushing the limits. They know that roughly 60 percent of Iranians are under 30 years old, and there are not enough Islamic police or jail cells to take them all on.
