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.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
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
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
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
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
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
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
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!
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!
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