Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Political activists missing in visited prisons(by parliament members)

A report from Etemaad newspaper reports that the cells in which the political prisoners were kept, have been emptied before the recent visit of some of the parliament members. Some of MPs visited few prisons, probably mainly in Tehran, but they haven't seen any prisoner of the recent uprise in Iran. This is a news to be worried about since there are reports of brutal and barbarian style torture of many prisoners in order to make them to confess about being connected to the foreign secret services. There have been continues reports of "torture to kill" acts of the coup organizers against the famous reformist politicians in custody. Many of the families of the prisoners have nit heard anything from them since being arrested from more than a month ago!! Although such actions are in contrary to human rights and even the local Iranian laws!!

I will write more about the details soon.

Demonstration of mourning tomorrow in Tehran


Tomorrow a demonstration and mourning ceremony, for the victims (now estimated to be in order of thousands, since the body many many people who have been arrested during June-July demonstrations have been given to their beloved ones for burial during the past two weeks) of recent events in Iran, will take place in Tehran's "Mosalla" (Huge mosque built for gathering people in extraordinary religious occasions).

Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karrubi two candidates of the last presidential election have asked the inner ministry for permission to demonstration! Mohammad Khatami the reformist ex-president and an ally of Mousavi has also supported the action and declared himself as a participant of the rally. A few of Grand Ayatollah's from city Qom are going to take part reportedly.

Yesterday the inner ministry has declared that to receive permission application for mourning! and such permission should have been asked from the families of the victims!!! Well, that means "No"!!

But Mousavi, Karrubi, and Khatami have announced that they will take part, and so do a lot of people.

I still don't know mow many people may take part attend and how the anti rebel forces will react. But a minimum of friction is expected between the paramilitary forces and the demonstrators!! Complimentary news will be posted tomorrow evening.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

I will start writing again soon

Sorry for the pause. I needed to recollect some data. I am trying to write analysis from now on, not just re-reporting activities. Re-reporting will go on. But probably we will have some simple analysis too!

Spiegel Online has a nice article in German

http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/gesellschaft/0,1518,638032,00.html

Friday, July 24, 2009

an article by Garry Kasparov

By GARRY KASPAROV

Regardless of its short-term outcome, the Green Revolution in Iran is already a tremendously important event. Iranian citizens are risking their lives to defend their votes and giving the lie to the idea that democracy cannot sprout in hostile soil without external influence. This is of great relevance to people living in autocracies, especially in Russia, my home country.

The Iranian dictatorship is harvesting the bitter fruit of its own policies of radicalization. For decades it exploited fanatical religious beliefs and hosted mass demonstrations. Now these forces are turning against the regime. Citizens who once chanted "Death to America" now call for the blood of Ayatollah Khamenei.

This is encouraging news, but autocrats learn from each other and from history how to hold onto power. Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sees not a great reformer in Mikhail Gorbachev but a leader who was too weak to hold the Soviet Union together. Others have learned from China's Tiananmen crackdown the value of brutal force. So it is interesting that in the midst of the upheaval in Iran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made a trip to the Kremlin.

Mr. Putin has a great deal riding on the outcome in Iran. With the Russian economy teetering, he needs a steep increase in oil prices to stave off the collapse of his government. So he has been working to increase tension in the Middle East and now sees the Iranian crisis as potentially helpful -- if Ahmadinejad comes out on top.

According to industry analysts, Iran could produce up to four million more barrels of oil per day if foreign companies were allowed to modernize the country's oil infrastructure. Rapidly increasing Iran's oil output would likely force oil prices to fall. However, if Ahmadinejad retains power, foreign companies aren't likely to be invited in and Israel may well feel compelled to attack Iran's nuclear sites, which will likely drive up energy prices.

After watching the Iranian regime murder its own people in cold blood, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be able to tell his people that they won't face an existential threat if Iran acquires nuclear weapons. The Ahmadinejad government has also lost its moral legitimacy and is therefore more likely to support a proxy war against Israel through Hamas and Hezbollah in hopes of uniting its people against a foreign enemy.

For Mr. Putin, the unknown factor in all of this is how the West will respond to what's happening in Iran. It could give him pause if Iran faces penalties of real significance for using lethal force against nonviolent protestors. Surprisingly, European leaders are showing unusual assertiveness in condemning the Iranian regime.

But what has been flagging so far has been leadership from the United States. Only in his second statement, a week into the crisis, did President Barack Obama underscore the importance of nonviolence, though he still declined to support the Iranian protestors. I understand the reluctance to provide Iranian leaders with the opportunity to smear the protestors as American stooges. But can the leader of the Free World find nothing more intimidating than bearing witness when it is clear that the regime doesn't care who is watching?

Sen. Richard Lugar (R., Ind.) and Fareed Zakaria on CNN, among others, have defended Mr. Obama's extreme caution. Mr. Zakaria even compared the president's actions to how George H.W. Bush responded timidly to the impending collapse of the Soviet Union and its hold on Eastern Europe in 1989. Mr. Zakaria explained, "Those regimes could easily crack down on the protestors and the Soviet Union could send in tanks." True. But the Soviet Union used tanks to quash dissent when it could. Dictatorships use force when they can get away with it, not when a U.S. president makes a strong statement.

President Dwight Eisenhower might have learned that lesson in 1956 when he said nothing and the Soviets sent tanks into Budapest anyway. Likewise, in 1968 the Soviets cracked down in Czechoslovakia even though the West said little. Regardless of what Mr. Obama says, the Iranian leaders will use all the force at their disposal to stay in power.

There is no reason to withhold external pressure that can tip the balance inside Tehran. Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi is not an ideal democrat. But should he and his supporters win power they will owe their authority to an abruptly empowered Iranian electorate. It is reasonable to expect that the people will hold a Mousavi government accountable for delivering the freedoms that they are now risking their lives to attain.

Millions of Iranians are fighting to join the Free World. The least we can do is let the valiant people of Iran know loud and clear that they will be welcomed with open arms.


Source: Wall Street Journal

Archbishop Tutu in solidarity with people of Iran

Watch this video if you are following the development of events in Iran and abroad related to the movement of Iranians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1_JLj0wKKM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fhome.php%3F&feature=player_embedded

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Hunger Strike in front of the UN's NY headquarter


Yesterday, the 22.07.09, some people have gone on hunger strike in opposition to the recent events in Iran specially imprisonment of many Iranian social and reformist politicians. The hunger strike has been initiated by Akbar Ganji whose very long term hunger strike in Evin Prison of Tehran had been projected by the world media, as he was under arrest in Iran due to expression of his political views at that time. Famous figures like Noam Chomsky have supported the hunger strike this time.

One can see some pictures of yesterday's hunger strike by checking the following link:

http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=4119

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

2000 meter long green scroll


The Iranians in different cities of the world had started a symbolic movement a few weeks ago. In each city the people who wanted to object to what has happened during and after the election has signed a piece of green textile on which is written ''Ahmadinejad is not my president''. They have thought of sewing the pieces together later on, and hang it from a tall building somewhere in Europe. The Eiffel tower was the main candidate! But, since the length of the scroll has passed 2 kilometers, they have decided not to hang it from the top of the Eiffel, since it is just nearly 300 meters of height. So they will hang it between two monuments in Paris on 25'th of July between 7pm to 9 pm. One can watch the event live. A symbolic movement, but it help the people to be hopeful that the others haven't forgotten them.

Monday, July 20, 2009

Call for referandum from Khatami


Former president Mohammad Khatami has called for a nationwide referendum on the legitimacy of the government, saying Iranians have lost faith in their political leaders after last month's disputed election, according to reports posted Monday on several reformist Web sites.

Friday, July 17, 2009

a recomended reading

Here i share a text from Masoud Behnoud my favorite journalist and author. The original text is to be found on http://behnoud.com/ I recommend this web blog although it is not very often updated in English, but there are magnificent short texts to read there. The following text is not written by me, nor it has been changed or edited. I just copied and pasted it. I hope you enjoy it. Naturally the persian version is much more delicate, but difficult if not completely impossible to understand for the non-Persian speakers.


Friday, June 19, 2009
Your Eyes Say That You Have Cried
With her small frame she would sit in the first row of class, squint her eyes, and listen. She never raised her voice, even at the end of the class when she would come to my office to ask something. One time, however, she did not learn a particular lesson, meaning she could not accept it, could not believe it. When I was saying that a reporter has to be objective, Fereshteh stood up and asked whether she still had to be objective in an interview with Saeed Criminal. I said, “Yes.” With a pitch louder than usual she asked, “How can I be objective?”

Saeed Criminal was Saeed Hanai, the same guy who had strangled 16 women in northern Iran. He became a darling of fundamentalists because he claimed to have killed the women in order to purify the earth. Saeed Criminal was a monster. And Fereshteh means angel in Persian.

I was sure she did not accept the notion that a reporter has to be detached and objective. She did not accept it even when I reasoned that only with detachment would her work be effective; only when it was not in opposition to someone or to a situation right from the beginning; only when she can lay out or question the situation effectively. Only then will the reader take a side in the end. “It will turn out the way you want it to,” I said.

Even to influence, one has to be objective. A report cannot take a side and have a direction …

Even when I said these things.

In the next class, Roya was the same, as she stood up and renounced the idea. She asked, “Are you objective?,” and she firmly questioned how anyone can be objective.

In those years, Banafsheh was a young girl in that class. When I asked the class to write a report of their choosing, she described a man who had nice facial features, wrote well, and spoke romantically, but whose heart was not tender, maybe made out of iron. Banafsheh was describing me. She had not accepted that one could be objective, either, and she had voiced her dissent in that way.

Objectivity in a society in which violence against women has become institutionalized is a difficult task, and in vain I wanted young women to discover this—the very ones who can better feel pain. Why was I adamant to dictate callously and test them on classic journalism?

The day they arrested Fereshteh, I could not believe they would take that delicate girl to prison. But they did, and the newspaper picture showed her walking toward prison with a smile, staring straight at the camera—into my eyes. It was as if she was saying, “See professor, it’s not possible to be objective.”

The day they were trying Banafsheh, I went and sat in the back of the courtroom. I hid myself pointlessly so she would not be embarrassed. I was mistaken; she was not ashamed to be standing on the defendant’s stand. She stood tall and proud and said, “I wrote it. I gave my signature for women’s freedom, in order to prevent oppression in a misogynist society and legal persecution of women.”

She did not even ask for mercy. The judge, prosecutor, guard and court were all men; even Banafsheh’s lawyer was a man. Except for a few members of her family and a couple in the audience, there were no women in the room. Still, it seemed to me, even the lifeless statue of justice with its empty scale was crying—the consequence of the words of a romantic young girl.

Our daughters, our students, young women reporters, in a traditional society like Iran, take photographs, conduct interviews, and write reports. Some like Asieh exhaust their own health in their effort to help young girls facing execution; some like Massih become wanderers. All because they say something their patriarchal society deems bigger than their mouth. They say you talk too much. A woman should be modest and chaste, raise kids, cook and clean the house for her man returning from work, tired and expectant.

Young women are doing in one generation something that in other societies it has taken many generations to accomplish. So what if they cannot be objective about Saeed Criminal who murdered all of those women and the serial killers who murdered 10 intellectuals and dissidents.

Today’s generation of Iranian women reporters are doing big things. Their mark will be left on history. Let the professor not accept their papers. Let the heartless professor tell them that in writing a report they have to be objective. Objectivity only had meaning when Fereshteh smiled at her guard while being taken to prison, teaching him that he was not her enemy and, if she had any enmity, it was with the tradition of misogyny.

She had learned this lesson from life.

for: neiman report

posted by masoudbehnoud at 4:59 AM

Iranians again in streets in millions

Today hundreds of thousands of people if not a few millions have joined the main Friday prayer in Tehran. As i wrote before it could have become a historical fridaz prayer, since Hashemi Rafsanjani a very influential critic of Ahmadinejad was going to lead the prayers for the first time after the election. Hashemi was mainly in silence after the election, although his children and his wife have been actively taking part in the demonstrations including the too huge mass rallies in Tehran. His elder daughter Faeze has also been arrested and released a day after during the demonstrations. One should know that his children are all active political figures, including Faeze who has been the record vote holder in parliamentary election once in Tehran.

There were rumors that Hashemi was engaged in behind the scenes political debates after the election to affect the idea of the clerics against the coup. There has been also rumors about him trying to convince the Assembly of Experts on the way the supreme leader should be treated due to his injustice, and probably making an strategy for past this supreme leader's term.

So people didn't know what they should expect him to say this week. He has been a target for Ahmadinejad during the past four years and specially during election campaigns in which Ahmadinejad has called him and his family corrupt billionaires.

Even the supreme leader has called him a close friend of 50 years, but he also said that he finds the ideas of Ahmadinejad closer to himself as the Hashemis'.

Another development was that most of the famous and well known Reformist politicians have declared that they will join Friday prayers lead by Hashemi this weekend. This is crucial knowing that they have all boycotted the Supreme Leader's Friday prayer just after the election. Friday prayers in Iran are not just religious ceremonies. They are a huge political signal. When one accepts to pray on Friday behind someone it means that he accepts him as a fair and worthy leader, and not doing so means not accepting the prayer leader as legitimate.

Interestingly it was the first prayer lead by a moderate politician closer to reformists.Friday prayers all the weeks after election have been lead by conservatives till now. Reports clearly state that Hashemi has strongly condemned what has happened after the election and during vote counting process. He indirectly questioned the authority and legitimacy of the Khameneyi the existing supreme leader, and has asked for freedom of all the arrested people. He has also stated the system must remain a republic and the trust of the people must be gained in any necessary way. Probably millions of people have joined the prayers today and has chanted against Ahmadinejad and the existing supreme leader. Direct reports from participants shows figures comparable with the 2 monster rallies just after results were announced.

After the prayers and Hashemi's speech were finished the people have demonstrated loudly in favor of Mousavi and against Ahmadinejad and Khameneyi. They have been again hit by policemen and anti rebel forces. But it seems that the people have made it in an interestingly successful way. Politically it has been the most important Friday prayer in Tehran in the past 30 years.

Translation of some the chants:

1. ya Hossein, Mir Hossein, Mir Hossein (referring to Mousavi)
2. You are a traitor if you stay silent (referring to Hashemi)
3. Iranians die, but won't forget their dignity.
4. Down with Russia (for recognition of Ahmadinejad as one of the first state who recognized him as the new President, for training anti rebellion forces, for suppressing it's religious minorities, and also against the normal chant of down with USA or down with Israel)
5. Down with dictator ( Khameneyi, Ahmadinejad)
etc...


I add some links to videos availabe on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXpz-a383IQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63rxIkO64Sg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k757G_X4RI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko3AqkBXcfo&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRx5zcmE-o0&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U4cwqeGliE&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvx7J9OZSyo&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYnqLOg1dIc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjHdD7Gk6nk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CM6vLy6czfQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNsiaKYSy6U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecSj5l2LE-4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36d98mwyPFM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPUQHZ7e2EU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nua5MfIH-s

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Ahmadinejad in Mashhad (City)


There are reports that many people in the city of Mashhad has protested with green colors simultaneously as Ahmadinejad paid a visit to the city and made a speech inside the shrine of Imam Reza (Shiite Saint). There are reports of arrests by police forces. There are also reports mentioning as Ahmadinejad was giving a speech inside the shrine about 100 people have chanted against him inside the shrine.

Another event is that he has not been greeted by Ayatollah Waez Tabasi who is the chief of the "Astane Ghodse Razavi" the biggest religious and most complex institution of the the province of Khorasan Razavi province, which maintains and expands the shrine and operates charities and supports religious activities. The chief of the institution traditionally greets the state chief politicians who are visiting the city.

Just some information: Mashhad is a big city in north east of Iran, which is a very important place for religious tourism of Shiite Muslims, since it hosts the shrine of the Shiites 8'th Imam(Saint). Mashhad is also the resting place of the "Ferdosi" the Iranian poet whose book of poems "Shahnameh (book of the kings)" has played a major role in helping the Persian language revive after the Arab conquest of Iran. The city is also the resting place for of the last mighty classical kings of Iran "Nadershah". Thus, a symbolically very important city.

News

CONFIRMED:Mir Hossein Mousavi has announced that he will be joining the masses in attendance at the Friday Prayers July 17, 2009, This weeks Friday prayer in Tehran is lead by Hashemi Rafsanjani the ex-president and parliament speaker who is a strong critic of Ahmadinejad's government, while being the head of the two strong constitutional institutions of expediency council and Assembly of Experts. His words may draw the outline of what is going to happen in the political scene of Iran in future, and also his last month background activities.

An interesting column from Etemad Newspaper


It took more than 50 days before the podium of Tehran’s Friday prayer to echo the voice of Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani for the Iranian nation. During this time a series of events occurred in the 30-year history of the Islamic Republic of Iran, that were arguably rare if not unique; a series of events that their aftershocks have penetrated to the depths of domestic and foreign policies and have involved all the political players.

But why is this week’s Friday prayer, that Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani is going to deliver, important? To answer these questions one should turn back the clock to the night that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in the stature of a presidential candidate to defeat his rival Mir Hossein Mousavi and for the first time, charged the chairman of the Assembly of Experts and the head of the Expediency Council with heavy accusations. Also four years ago, in the second round of the ninth presidential election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the main rival of Mr. Hashemi and defeated him. This time also he tried to portrait his stature not in competition with Mousavi, Karoubi and Rezaei but in competition with Hashemi-Rafsanjani; and by mentioning his name on the national media and for more than 50 million viewers tried to change the competition atmosphere.

Although after that debate people were waiting for Hashemi’s quick reaction to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks, the chairman of the Assembly of Experts remained silent. However the media affiliated with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the form of various subjects recreated the same atmosphere in different ways. For example, Hossein Shariatmadari on the last Wednesday before the election wrote an article titled “A candle that was blown off....” which the whole article was not aimed at anyone but Hashemi-Rafsanjani.

This article was published on the [same] day that Hashemi-Rafsanjani had complained relentlessly about the behaviour of the ninth president by writing an open letter to the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah Ali Khamenei). In a part of his letter, Hashemi had described the reason for his silence in front of Ahmadinejad’s positions as such: “In order to avoid tainting the country’s political atmosphere with more apprehensions in the eve of the election, I have refused to show the immediate reaction expected by the people.” In continuation of the letter, a few paragraphs later Hashemi writes as such: “Of course in the appropriate time the deviations and the untold injustice of the election and the actions of the ninth administration will be available to the public and for the history”.

After writing and publishing this letter no other political or electoral position from the chair of the Assembly of Experts was reported. Of course this was when the announcement of election results had entered the country in to a new phase. During this time that the protests, according to the authorities, had left 20 killed and more than a thousand arrested, Hashemi-Rafsanjani was still insisting on his silent position. Even when Faeze Hashemi, his daughter, and four other members of his family were detained for one night during the Tehran’s unrest, he was still silent. Hashemi-Rafsanjani’s meaningful silence along with his long-term absence from the Friday prayer has increased the speculations regarding Hashemi’s position. Now that it is Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani’s turn to deliver the Friday prayer’s sermon, both parties are waiting to see what the content of his sermon would be.

On one side, the supports of the administration have already started to demand their requests from Hashemi-Rafsanjani and are insisting that Hashemi takes a position coordinated with theirs. Accordingly “Raja-news”, the website close to the administration, has published a letter said to be from a group of students from Tehran University in the form of three suggestions. In this letter it was demanded from Hashemi to support “the administration risen from the will of people”. In another part of this letter it was demanded from Hashemi to dishonour what the authors describe as the movement of “division”, which is hiding itself behind the name and history of the chairman of the Assembly of Experts, and by taking clear position to expose the complex hypocrisy of the division.

However on the other side, there have only been calls for vast presence [of people] at the Friday prayer.
Supporters of Mousavi, Karoubi and Khatami are encouraging each other to attend Hashemi’s sermon at the Friday prayer, by sending and publishing group invitations. Encouraging the supporters of the candidates protesting the election result to attend this week’s Friday prayer has this message to Hashemi-Rafsanjani that he expresses positions that have not yet been heard by the protesters from the official podiums to calm their pain. They expect that the chairman of the Assembly of Experts and the head of the Expediency Council to express position that both help maintain peace in the society and recognize their protest. Although predicting Ayatollah Hashemi-Rafsanjani’s positions will be the focus of political associations until delivering his sermon, no one knows what will happen in this week’s Friday prayer. Will he provide, as he wrote in his letter dated 19 khordad (June 9th), the deviations and the untold injustice of the election and the actions of the ninth administration to the public and for the history?

Thursday, July 9, 2009

The people were out again

Today the people went out again in protest to election results and the post election behavior of the regime. The number in Tehran is not confirmed but it should be in an order of few thousands! It is not at all comparable with after election numbers of protesters, but after 3 weeks, and considering that it has been banned to protest, and the occasion that is an important occasion for students not all different groups of the nation, makes even such scales interesting. I believe that the hope is not dead there, and that's the most important point. Chanting on the roof tops have been reported to be more severe than before. Police and paramilitary forces have been heard to put down the demonstrations before they shape, in the most prominent parts of the city.

The type of slogans has been changed and today they have been direct addresses to the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khameneyi and his son who is intensively named to take control of anti rebellion forces specially the revolutionary guards and Basij paramilitary. The people are also seen demonstrating with a happier look dancing and singing and chanting. It looks for me like the very first days of demonstrations in Tehran just after the election results have been announced, at that time the numbers were not that huge, it has changed to massive proportions after the Mousavi came out for the first time. If it goes like this it would be very good, since it can demoralize at least a part of security forces. If such demonstrations happen more often they will be effective, since they are less dangerous than the huge ones and more difficult to crack down if they happen simultaneously at different parts of the cities. They erode the security forces in long term.

There have been reports that people were mostly willing to walk towards Revolution square and march from there to Freedom Square, the same route that they have used a few times to mak ethe monster rallies. And it is heard the highest priority of the security forces have been trying to stop the demontraters reach any of the fore said squares in Tehran and atop them from forming big clusters. No reports still from other cities. There are reports of clashes between the people and security forces and paramilitary in front of the entrance of University of Tehran. There are also rumors that the paramilitary forces has attacked one or two dormitories of the Amir Kabir University of Technology in Tehran beating the dorm guards and students and vandalizing the properties of the students.




I add some links to video from Tehran:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcTMZxQnTsE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3534&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnN4ZnVgflM&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3534&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGi3Vp_yG0k&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3522&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCOApTqq3iQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3521&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTj4T2UVInQ&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3520&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6DBQaWAky4&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3518&feature=player_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGKFtVwX40E&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3517&feature=player_embedded

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

What's up

Well i have been really writing nothing impressive during the past 10 days at least. There is much hot news or interpretations. There is a deadlock situation in Iranian political scene, and not many people express opinions. The only case is that it seems the people still continue chanting late in the evenings on the roofs! Well, behind the scenes there still stuff going on. Some of the most soft spoken officials in Iran have spoken against the election process and results, and the hardliners are continuing their hardline talks and speeches against Mousavi and his supporters, and in favor of Ahmadinejad! by the way he is also dead quiet!

There is a sort of superficial report from yahoo! news that i share with you. It is in fact a summary of some different reports being put together in a way i call low profile!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090708/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_discontented_clerics

Tomorrow is the anniversary of the attack of paramilitia fores to the camp0us of University of Tehran and University of Tabriz, and a few days of unrest following the event. Somethign like a decade ago, in the first term of the reformist president Khatami, some news papaers have been closed by the order of justice department due to political reasons. A famous one was "Salam" news paper. It was a well structured newpaper managed by a group of politically active iranian reformists, and had criticized the politics of Iran strongly at that time. The hardliners who were not happy with president Khatami's popularity and his reformist politics, started to close the papers close to his camp! When salam was shuted down students have started mass rallies inside and outside the universities. But mainly inside the campus of Tehran University. The paramilitary forces with support of secret services attacked the dorms and injured many students and killed a few of them (depending on the prapagand you read). The result was students and youth in the streets doing rallies of thousands of people (much smaller as what happened after this election). After two day it was sort of quiet again, and the reformist government has apologised the people for it and has condemned attacks on dorms, even fired the chief of Tehran's police forces if i am not mistaken. All this was a short story of that time. That time, i was still in the last year high school.

Every year students comemorate the anniversary of that bitter event. The security forces never like this comemoration and they always try to sort of avoid any demonstration, but the students continue each year in a way or another. This year there are some rumors and also observed activities to make it a huge nationwide rally against what happened at that time, and more specially against the election results and its confirmation through the guardian council and the supreme leader. I don't know if it's going to be big or small, if it's going to be quiet or loud! or if thesecurity forces want to stop it or they just let the people demonstrate under their observation. Tomorrow can be a key date, the reason is that there is much symbolism behind the event, and potential demonstration. Let' see.

I don't know if i tomorrow find the time to write something or not. But i am going to a one week trip for some professional reasons, and i will probably won't take any labtop with me. Maybe i don't write during the week to come.

Till the next post

Sunday, July 5, 2009

The way it gonna be

After a few days of thinking and finding new ideas, i have decided to continue this blog in two English and Persian languages! May be a third language will be added in future, but since i should write everything myself it means triple amount of work.

From now on the posts will be more about what to do and how to do? and also the news and events that are covered by the Iranian and foreign media. The mass media has almost forgotten the story. But, i have not. I am just warming myself up for a new round!! like many other Iranians!

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

article from Independent on June 28'th in Tehran

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/tara-benyamin-in-tehran-surely-they-would-not-fire-in-a-mosque-1722934.html

Monday, June 29, 2009

start of an end!!!

Well, How should i write it?

I just came back from work to home today, and like everyday i jumped to my labtop and i turned it on to see what's been going on in the past few hours!!

Well, i read something that should be a shock for me, but it was not!!! I read "The guardian council has confirmed the results of the Iranian Presidential Election". Well, i have expected it partly unconsciously! Well the guardian council under the affirmative and apparent speeches of the the Khameneyi has made the process as long as possible and as opaque as possible, so that they can crackdown all the demonstrations. At the same time the shuted the Ahmadinejad up for while so that he doesn't provoke the opposition more. Simultaneous arrests of the the influential reformist politicians, authors, and students have been the other part of their tactic.

Well we know that coup oriented governments try to spread fear as the first step of their establishment process. Shooting, killing, tyranny, ... etc are the very well known methods of killing people's morality in order to avoid any opposition.

The second step of establishing will be hidden crimes like assassination of opposition active members, prosecution the arrests, long term sentences and execution of the hardline opposition's active members. At the same time comes more arrests, and trying to disable the civil activists' movements, and pressing the media for showing the coup government legitimate. Falsifying information and trying to bring the economy at least superficially into normal situation are some other actions necessary for the second step.

The coup government of Ahmadinejad-Khameneyi has already finished the first step of the coup, but i can guess that they never thought of such a strong response from the opposition. Specially an opposition which wasn't really an opposition till days ago. They have also not imagined the countrywide civilized monstrous demonstrations of the people without a real leader!!
As a result they lost control and they did many horrible acts of violence i wrote about earlier on!! They have also made huge political mistakes. All of the mistakes they have made, will slow them in their way towards starting and finishing the second stage of their coup,the establishment of Ahmadineajd as the legitimate president of Iran.

We should try to make most of their mistakes. My fingers are sort of blocked right now. So i write you again after thinking about the issues before us, and reading some more reliable sources of news.

Sunday, June 28, 2009

vandalism

I have wrote you before that the Basij paramilitary forces attack the houses and properties of the people and vandalize everything they find!! Here is a video showing one of the neighborhoods in which it has happened! The video is a Persian footage but it speaks for itself. The man whose apartment is attacked says that the violators have been officially wearing anti riot uniforms (police).
The vandals attack the buildings on the roof of which the people chant in the evenings more often. Interestingly state media tells that a group of people provoked by reformist politicians are vandalizing the others' properties!!! This is really tyranny.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEKR-NdVTMs&feature=related

People demonstrate again in front of Ghoba Mosque in Tehran

People have demonstrated in front of Ghoba mosque in Tehran. The number of demonstrators should be less than last week due to geographical position of the mosque in northern Tehran. There is no major wide and long streets there at that region. The last weeks' crackdowns has probably played a role in lower attendance . Till now no major report of brutal crackdowns has been out. It is still so early to say what has happened.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v-OOpUbkm8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D3025&feature=player_embedded

A report from Sueddeutsche Zietung in German language

http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/962/473478/text/

News

It is heard that out of the 70 university professors who have been arrested after meeting with Mir Hossein Mousavi midth of the last week,all except 4 of them are released.

Mir Hossein Mousavi has declared that he doesn't trust the problem solving jury founded by Guardian Council since they are all from the same political party, and they have shown their closeness to one of the candidates (Ahmadinejad) before.

The Iranian political scene seems to be in a deadlock situation. They are still reports of behind the scene meetings and talks. The conservatives seems to be wasting the time to calm down the society a bit! But maybe their silence is also due to a freeze in decision making ability.

One of the reformist politicians who have been arrested at the begining of the unrests have been brought to state TV confessing that he has been in contact with foreign intelligence agencies to falsify the information about popularity of Mousavi and inginitng the unrests. We have seen such acts from the state media before in other cases. This is against the law to rbing someone to tv for confessing before he/she is convicted at the court. This is also very wellknown that such confessions are made through brutal methods of investigation including physical and mental torture, which makes the confessions unworthy in court of justice. These are very old fashioned expired methods used by Iranian inteligence system.

8 Iranian local employees of the British embassy have been arrested with charges of conspiracy for foreigners and igniting forbidden!!! demonstrations.

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Tehran Today

In many parts of Tehran and probably Iran (i can't confirm) people have stayed at home in order to avoid the crack down of police and para military forces. But they sent green balloons into air. Chanting "Allah o Akbar" over the roof top between 9pm to 11pm is also done like every evening.

http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=2978


The parents of the last two weeks' victims wanted to gather in Laleh Park of Tehran. It seems that as they have started gathering their demonstration has been cracked down by special anti riot forces brutally beating the people with batons, and arresting some of the demonstrators.

The atmosphere of the city is reported to be tense, and the city is controlled by the police force and military. The eye witnesses say it looks like martial law!!

Farid Zakaria

Farid Zakaria about the revolutionary guards:

http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2009/06/26/gps.revolutionary.guard.cnn

Animation

http://friendfeed-media.com/3e71b8c92f1062120e298093ac16ebedb4d710a4

Roxana Saberi Iranian American Journalist Speaks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SdSwU4oq0Y&feature=related

Iranians Silent Protest In Vancouver

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su1c-a0fSbA&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.peykeiran.com%2FContent.aspx%3FID%3D2944&feature=player_embedded

or

http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=2944

Meaning of Vote recount

http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089914.php

my status

Right now i am not able to write any interpretation for what is going on at the moment in Iran. The reason is that everything is very complicated. I need some more reliable information for a better understanding. Many discussions are going on behind the curtains amongst the politicians. I believe the out come of those discussions will play a very important role in political and social future of Iran.

The streets seem to be much more quiet and inactive after the brutal crackdown of the regime. The leadership of the country seems to have lost its legitimacy amongst a big part of the society, so is the situation for Police forces and specially revolutionary guards and their subsidiary paramilitary Basij forces. The term of "Republic" doesn't make much sense anymore. Cities are quiet but it seems for me more like a burning fire hidden under the ashes as we say in Persian.

A link to a very informative article from Slavoj Žižek

This is very nice article interpreting the situation in Iran from Slavoj Žižek. Worth reading at any cost.

http://itself.wordpress.com/2009/06/24/will-the-cat-above-the-precipice-fall-down/

A letter from Iranian film director Bahman Farmanara in English and Persian

http://news.gooya.com/politics/archives/2009/06/089989.php

Demonstration and Hunger Strike of Iranian Students in Cologn

http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089984.php

Friday, June 26, 2009

A doctor tells the story of Neda's death

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8119713.stm

Thursday, June 25, 2009

University Professors!

In the first post election days the university dormitories have been attacked by the Basij paramilitary forces, under support of official police forces. The university dorms of many Iranian cities had been the scene of anti government protests. During the raids there were many documents of dorm vandalism by the Basij paramilitary, and reports of at least five students dead due to gun shots and lethal baton beats, stabbing,...etc just at University of Tehran. There were similar reports from University of Shiraz and University of Isfehan. Many other cities are also named to be attacked and students injured or killed. The government denies all of them. But who does really believe them anymore?!

There was a report yesterday evening that 70 university professors who met with Mr. Mousavi and discussed the issues with him are now under custody in an unknown location. There are enough reasons to worry about their health and lives.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

National football team players

During the protests against presidential election results in Tehran, something amazing happened. Some if the football players of Iranian National football team have carried Green Ribbons on their wrists during the first half the Iran-South Korea football match.

Since green is the official campaigning color of opposition candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi and his fans. This has encouraged the followers of Mousavi at that moment, since the state media has boycotted the Mousavi's fans rallies in Iran and they were not broadcasting them in anyway, or they broadcasting the demonstrations calling the demonstrators as hooligans being conducted from abroad!!

Today i read that two of those (totally5 or 6) players have resigned from playing in national football team including the captain Mehdi Mahdavikia who plays now in Eintracht Frankfurt, and Ali Karimi Ex Bayern Munich player. Also Javad Nekunam the reserve captain currently under contract with Spanish team Osasona has not comeback to Iran leaving the south Korea directly to Spain. There are near to fact rumors that the aforesaid player who were carrying the ribbons are under extreme pressure to resign from the National Football team.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jun/23/iran-football-protest-ban

I am back again

After a short professional trip i am back home.

There is very interesting statistical study of Iranian Presidential election electoral demography. I recommend reading it.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jun/22/iran-election-voters-numbers

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Iran, a nation of bloggers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfA6lR8agrE

News

The number of murdered people on the streets of Tehran is much higher than stated before. 48 deaths due to direct gun shots is approved by the hospital workers. There are reports claiming that the paramilitary forces together with the secret service agent put the doctors under pressure not to cure the injured. The bodies of dead are also reportedly taken away without registration to unknown destinations without informing their relatives.

24 column writers of newspapers and bloggers are arrested. Most of the well known reformer politicians are arrested and taken into unknown places.

Today there were protests inside Iran specially Tehran, shots have been heard. People have been injured and died. No statistics available till now. There are confirmed reports that paramilitary forces are mobilized from other cities to Tehran.

News

The hospitasl has confirmed 19 deaths due to yesterdays' demonstrations. The real number should be much higher.

News

It is heard that after yesterdays' bloody crackdown, the para militia forces of Basij has continued to vandalize of properties of citizens in order to stop their continues uprising. They go into street and destroy people's houses. Break into houses and hit them and destroy their properties. Most of all it's seen that they destroy the cars parked outside in the streets. They have the full support of the official police force if not their contribution.

This video show vandalism of citizen's properties in the dark of the night:

http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=2602

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Voting fraud in a basement in Iran

The video shows some people in an unknown place filling out multiple votes!!!!! That how Ahmadinejad won 24 Million votes!?




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kX7GkkSRvvs

Some pictures of today protests in Tehran

Rage of the people as a result of unacceptable application of brutal force against them. The most peaceful demonstration of the past 30 years has changed to a brutal back clash as a result of inhuman act of Iranian administration. The people need your support in all the possible ways.



http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089610.php


http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089609.php


http://news.gooya.com/didaniha/archives/2009/06/089608.php

The turning point

Today they made us to change our direction. Till now we have been just asking for our votes to be counted and our voice to be heard. From today we ask for all above, beside bringing the murderers into justice. They have planned it. The June,12th, 2009 was a turning point for the Islamic Republic. 20th of June is a turning point towards a free Iran. They have made us to remvoe them from power, no matter how long does it take. The people have already paid enough for it.

Ayatollah could have chosen between being Mandela or Pinochet. He has chosen the second one!! The blood of the people streaming on the street surface will wash them away, it has a cost!! I write emotionally, but it seems that they don't follow any logic!

Where is humanity?

I have just seen some videos of today's protest. The heavily armed police forces stopped the people from demonstrating by using water canons and tear gas, and beating them unbelievably brutally. They beat to kill, not even to stop them! Just to kill!! I have just watched a video showing a young woman being shot in chest by Basij paramilitary, I am shocked, wordless. Who can do it? For what? She died just for watching demonstrations or maybe taking part in it! Is it the way that a government treat its people, specially a government that calls itself Islamic? Is that Islam? Is that a constitutional republic?Barbarians do what they can do to keep the power and control a whole country with bloody hands. Where is humanity? What are they doing? I heard many people have been died and much more injured today!! History shows that Iranians will not forgive the people who handle them with guns and brutality. We will put you in your place. I am emotional, but they are killing us, they are shooting us. This is our country. Where is the so called free world??! We need support.

Video supporting the coup hypothesis

Mohsen Makhmalbaf the well known Iranian film director, and Marjane Satrapi, the iranian novelist and the director of the ''Persepolis" animation movie speak in the European Parliment telling the coup story:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7fiBxU8wEU

Dictator's Speech

Yesterday in Tehran's Friday prayer the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khameneyi has addressed the crowd. He has given a long speech. I am not into word by word translation of his speech. There were some mild indirect criticism of Ahmadinejad because of his remarks and allegation on other key role players of Islamic Republic, including Ahmadinejad's earlier remarks on financial corruption of Rafsanjani (ex-president, current head of Expediency Discenment Council, and the speaker of the Assembly of Experts)!! But Khameneyi has stated that Ahmadinejad's ideas is closer to his as the Rafsanjanis'. Important is that the assembly's expert is the only body able to remove the supreme leader or replace him when he dies. This Assembly is also responsible for supersvising the activities of the organizations' under Supreme Leader.


After few mild criticism of Ahmadinejad, he has supported him as the elect-president saying fraud can not happen in Islamic Republic's political and electoral system!!!!!!! And even if there is some mistakes and cheatings those can not be in scale of 11 milion votes (vote gap between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi). What a logic!!! there is no fraud since the gap is big!!! So why not ask we mean there is a huge fraud, actually i say a huge coup.

As far as Iran's (and Islamic law if someone beleives in) constitution says the main precondition for someone for being religous supreme leader is being fair, just, etc....! Till now he has already lost his legitimacy for being the Supreme Leader!! There are rumors that the members of assebly of experts are already under many constriction not to let them discuss his legitimacy.


The most dangerous part of his speech was when he has clearly said the president should be elected by the ballots not on the streets!! And he asked the oppostion candidates not ask their followers to come and if they ask if bloodshed happens the candidates are responsible for it!! IT IS CLEARLY A CALL FOR THE PARAMILTARY BASIJ FORCES (PARAMILTARY IN CIVILIAN CLOTHES) AND THE REVOLOTUIONARY GUARDS TO SLAUGHTER THE PEOPLE IF THEY COME TO STREETS ASK FOR THEIR VOTES TO BE HEARD AND COUNTED. The constitution of Iran in part 27 very clearly states demostrations are free till the demonstrants are not armed and demonstration is not against the core of Islam!! These demonstration of the last week and also today all fulfill even this hard preconditions.

So he has also banned the people and candidates from their obvious rights!! There is enough reason for many of us not to even pay attention to any of his words from now on. Also our right to react is completely reserved.

Principally he has officially confirmed the allegation against him fo trying to remove the Republic word out the Islamic Republic of Iran. He and his supportes who have the Ahmadinejad as a puppet, have made it clear that they have made this coup to stop the wave of the people who voted just for a bit juster goverment, inorder to strength their falling system. With this action he has closed any possible door of reconciliation with the Iranian nation. The very responsibility of what's going to happen and what has happened till now (including many students and civilians murdered in the past week) is on the shoulders of the administration of Islamic Republic of Iran, specially Mr. Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khameneyi. We will count the number of the people who even get a small scratch on their skin, and we will make you pay for it.

Monday, June 15, 2009

Univeristy Professors resign

120 Professors and faculty members of the University of Tehran have resigned in objection to the pressure groups invasion of the dormitories of the University of Tehran.

There are gossips about the resignation of 150 Professors and faculty members of Sharif University of Technology in objection to brutal suppression of the students.

shooting killed 4 demonstrators

At the end of the peaceful demonstration of the Mousavi fans in Tehran, some pro-government fan militia (Basij) has opened fire on the leaving demonstrators. 5 people has been reported shot, 4 dead. Reports from an eye witness.

Mir Hossein Mousavi talking to his fans in Tehran. June 15'th. 16-18 O'clock (picture from Radio Farda)

live!!!

Mir Hossein Mousavi is talking live to the people in the demonstration in Tehran city center. Turn out is huge. At least hope is back. One should still wait for further development. Situation is still unstable.

Next post comes soon

BF

Developing News

The monstrous and very peaceful demonstration of Mousavi fans in Tehran in presence of reformist Ex-president Khatami has taken over the Tehran's city center. Anti Riot police frozen!!!

There are more demonstrations in other cities going simultaneously. There are reports that in other cities it's not as peaceful as Tehran, due to brutality of anti riot police forces and paramilitary.

The nationwide demonstration is organized mostly by the youth through the internet and web, although bandwidth of internet connection is reduced, and most of anti Ahmadinejad websites are filtered.

I will update as soon as i get new reliable news.

BF

Moto

There is darkness. I don't take a sword to fight it. I ignite a torch!


Cyrus II

news

According to peykeiran Website, 5 students of University of Tehran are killed today morning in the barbaric attack on the University Dormitories. I can not personally certify the report. In the report name of the five students who are murdered and afterward buried secretly without informing their families is announced. There are 2 female and 3 male victims named in the report. Name of the vicitms is listed below:

1. Fatemeh Barati. 2. Kasra Sharafi. 3. Mina Ehterami. 4. Kambiz Shoai. 5. Mohsen Imani.

We really hope that these are all gossip or even better lies.

But if this had really happened the whole world specially the academic community must condemn the tyranny and ask for justice against the suppressors.

Let's hope for the best!!!

BF

Monday 15.06.09, University Dormitories Attacked

Last night and today early morning the dormitories of University of Tehran have been attacked by paramilitary groups (lebas shakhsiha in persian) and probably with assistance of anti rebel police. They have attacked the students with knife, broken coke glass, and Baton. The inofficial reports claim that the students have been shot by gun. There are uncertified reports that five students have been killed, up to a couple of dozens badly injured and many many (couple of hundreds) arrested. There are reports that unversity dormitories are attacked in cities like Shiraz, Isfehan, Tabriz, ...etc.


link to pictures:

http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=2207

BF

Coup Story Telling, how did it happen?

I have written in the last post that there was not only an election fraud and results falsification but also a real classic political coup supported by military forces. The military force behind this illegal political rebel is probably some parts of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who have helped Ahmadinejad to win the first term of his presidency. This group have benefited from having one of their partners as the president a lot. The benefits were in form of winning many construction and development projects through government without giving the private sector any chance even to compete. Receiving extraordinary permissions for controlling important infrastructure without any supervision of other organizations and people, and finally helping the president in order to limit the clerical backbones of the Islamic Republic, and reducing their role in the political and financial control of the country. All this together with the huge oil income of the past years has made the president office as a must have accessory for right wings in order to complete their dominance. The only barrier till now were the remaining effects of the reformist politics of ex-president Mohammad Khatami and the remaining power in hand of the first generation of revolutionary administration, especially elder clerics. The first one can be and has been nullified by ending the possibility of political activity through filters that are foreseen in the constitution and changing the other civil laws of governance through the parliament. The second one has at least caused many clashes at the background during the past 4 years of the Ahmadinejad in office. The reason that Mir Hossein Mousavi declared his candidacy was to stop the new militarily backed group of the new generation of revolutionary forces from taking absolute power in hand by long term control of the last stand, which is the president office. Why and how did they start the election game against one other will be written in one of my next post.

Now after a little bit of the story background, i wish to refer you to what Mohsen Makhmalbaf has said about the course of events just after the election day, on the night of counting and declaration of results. Mohsen Makhmalbaf is a very famous Iranian film director living abroad. He has been appointed as Mr. Mousavi's appointed as press director abroad, after Mr. Mousavi's campaigns headquarters have been attacked by paramilitary forces after the voting day. The Interview with Makhmalbaf is translated from Persian to English. And his radio interview with radio in Persian language is also available. I refer you to the links on the web:

http://www.ufppc.org/content/view/8732/35/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPR2yeMrTmE

I have many reasons to believe what Makhmalbaf. He is a reliable independent artist.

Best,

BF

P.S. I apologize for possible spelling and grammatical mistakes. I am in hurry and short in time right now.

The Coup

Hi Everyone. Rigth now, it's very diffcult for me to talk or to write properly. The reason is that i can not concentrate on anything except what has been going on in Iran in the past few days since the high turn out of the people for the 10'th presidential election. It is the 4'th day that i am actually just reading the news from many many different news sources and news agencies and also reliable personal sources. I feel responsible for passing the information i obtain from different variety of sources on to the other people. My friends in Iran are getting brutally beaten or shooted in their rooms in the dormitories of Tehran University. Some people specially in most of the western media are talking about the possibility of voting fraud in presidential election. The words like "cheating" or "fraud"are mocking of all the facts on the ground. WHAT THAT HAPPENED THERE ON THE NIGHT WHEN THE POLL RESULTS WERE TO BE COUNTED AND DECLAIRED IS A "COUP". A coup of the people who hold the power against the vote of majority! Supporters of Ahmadinejad in military and paramilitary groups didn't accept his loss in the election and attacked the headquarters of the popular rival candidate "Mir Hossein Mousavi" and then got the Ahmjadinejad out of the voting boxes by hardly reading the vote of the people. These are very serious claims from my side. So i should bring some strong reasons and evidence to support my idea. The few next posts will explain and offer facts that support this idea.

best,

BF