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It ain't over until the fat lady sings. Well, there doesn't seem to be any fat lady on the streets of Tehran in these past few days. Instead, the world is witnessing tens of thousands of courageous Iranian men and women making their voices heard.

And instead of singing, they are shouting, chanting and telling the powers that be that they want change and they want it now.

About a month ago Iran's Guardian Council, the highest decision-making body in the country, endorsed the questionable re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The mullahs said it was a free and fair election but obviously a significant number of people in this Islamic republic don't seem to think so.

They greeted the announcement with mass protests that lasted for days until the authorities unleashed massive numbers of troops to halt their advances.

But it was obvious that, as seen this past Thursday, the tactic did not work. Iranian authorities may have temporarily halted the mass demonstrations but they could do nothing to change the people's determination to see change. Protesters, held back for a few days to regroup, unleashed an overwhelming show of force. A public holiday was announced.

In defiance of the government, they returned to the streets on Thursday in spite of threats from the government that brutal force would be use.

The problem with Ahmadinejad is that he does not think the demonstrators count. Instead, he referred to them as "trash". And yet, as video footages and media reports revealed, no amount of teargas canisters could dampen their spirit. The more the police swing their batons the stronger their spirit grows.

Some of the people were bloodied but their passion for change appeared to outweigh the fear of physical pain.

Presidential candidate Mir Hussein Moussavi openly challenged the "free and fair" verdict of the powerful Guardian Council, while former president, Mohammad Khatami, also voiced his disapproval of the way the election was held. He is expected to pursue his complaints through the legal system.

In spite of growing restlessness among the public and certain political quarters, the establishment is not going to let up easily. "If some people make moves that are contrary to security initiatives under the influence of anti-revolutionary networks, they will be trampled under the feet of our alert people," Tehran governor Morteza Tamadon told the official IRNA news agency.

There is no doubt that democracy will come to Iran. The country today is not the Iran of 1979 when the Shah was ousted by street protests as the mullahs stepped in to fill the power vacuum.

A majority of the country's people are young and don't relate to the 1979 revolution, no matter how glorious the mullahs claimed that episode to be in the proud history of the Iranian people.

Today's Iranians are not just young but energetic and want to connect with the world.

Iran will not be able to contain the aspirations of the young people today no matter how many times they shut down the mobile-phone system or disrupt the short text messages or close universities and declare public holidays. Neither the holidays nor any excuses, including blaming the West and foreign media, will dampen the will of the Iranian people.

However, is Iran's blame-game really fair? Is it the fault of media and the West or is it Iran that has to change?

In the international arena, Iran is being clobbered left and right over its ambitions to become a nuclear power. One wonders if such an aspiration is in the interests of the Iranian people.

As US President Barack Obama hinted at the G-8 Summit in Italy, a new move against Iran could mean new UN sanctions or unilateral US penalties.

Leaders attending the G-8 have set a September time frame for Iran to respond to offers to discuss its nuclear programme. Iran owes it to its people and the world to make its intention clear.

The G-8 leaders also issued a joint statement deploring Iran's crackdown on protesters.

Clearly the world is telling Iran that it has a choice between diplomacy and isolation. By US estimates, Iran is one to three years away from the capability to make nuclear weapons.

Ahmadinejad insists the programme is intended only for peaceful nuclear purposes. But obviously, the world, including his own people, do not believe him.