eternitys_child
Proud Member
I found a more complete article about "Iranian Ayatollah Montazeri Issues Fatwa Against the Regime" and put it in the next post.
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eternitys_child
Proud Member
Here is the better written version of the information about the fatwa.
http://tehranbureau.com/grand-ayatollah-montazeris-fatwa/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s Fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s Fatwa: an Unfair Supreme Leader is Illegitimate
By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 12 July 2009
[TEHRAN BUREAU] In a very important development, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the most senior cleric living in Iran, and one of the top two* marja’ taghlid (source of emulation) in Shiite Islam, issued a series of Fatwas, calling the Supreme Leader illegitimate and saying that he was working with the government against religion. Montazeri has called on people to take action against this injustice, even if they have to pay a heavy price for it.
Ayatollah Motazeri, who has long been one of the most outspoken critics of Iran’s hard-liners, issued the Fatwas in response to a letter that Dr. Mohsen Kadivar, a progressive cleric and a former student of his, wrote asking for answers to several pointed questions. (Dr. Kadivar was jailed a few years ago for his outspoken criticism of the hard-liners and now lives in the United States.)
The letter congratulates the Grand Ayatollah on the occasion of last week’s anniversary of the birth of Imam Ali, the Shiites’ first Imam, and a cousin and a son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad. The letter says that the anniversary has fallen at a time when peaceful protests against rigged elections have been met by injustice by the government, which has resulted in tens of deaths, hundreds of injured, and thousands of arrests — all carried out in the name of Islam and Shiism by those who use Imam Ali’s name but take the path of his enemies instead.
The letters continues,
I learned from you that spreading what the Holy Quran, the Prophet, and his descendants [the Imams] have taught us is the best way of confronting injustice under any condition. Thus, now, in order to keep the weak light of hope in the pure hearts of the young generation to whom injustice is being done, who are being taught superstitions in the name of Shiism, and whose soul are injured and tired by all the lies, treachery, and treason [by the government], I have come to the home of hope for the Iranian nation, [where I know that your] efforts and valiant defense of the rights of the nations – particularly on the same anniversary in 1997 [when the Grand Ayatollah harshly criticized the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for his interference in the affairs of the state] and the subsequent five-year house arrest [of the Grand Ayatollah] will never be erased from the nation’s historical memory; [I have come] to ask you to respond to questions by your humble student in order to shed light in this dark place. These are the questions of our courageous and oppressed people from their religious leader [Grand Ayatollah Montazeri].
Dr. Kadivar then asks the questions:
Question 1: Taking up positions of power for serving the public — which according to the laws must be occupied by those who are fair, honest, competent, and require the vote of the majority of the people — by those who are either not qualified, or no longer satisfy the conditions and qualifications stipulated by the laws by exhibiting the characteristics that, with almost complete certainty, are against the required qualifications, requires what course of action [by the people]?
To this question, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri has responded:
Answer: If any of the qualifications mentioned in the question, which religiously and reasonably govern the conditions for occupying the official position for serving the public, is no longer met by the person who occupies the position [to serve the public], that person, automatically and without any need for dismissal, is sacked, which also means all the orders issued by him are no longer valid. But, if the conditions are such that they are not religiously and reasonably necessary for taking up the position, but have been mutually agreed upon by the people and the person [taking the position] who serves them and takes care of their affairs, and have been violated by that person, the people can dismiss him. After the fall [destruction] of justice, honesty, and loss of the vote [trust] of the majority that must be reiterated constantly, which are the conditions for serving [the public] and ruling, the criterion is no longer that the person is innocent unless proven otherwise when it comes to the public affairs that he was in charge of, rather the person must prove his innocence, lack of violation of the laws and the religion, and the efforts for protecting people’s right by giving the people a valid reason, in order to satisfy them. If there is still a difference [between the public and the person], the person must prove his claim [of innocence] to a free, fair, and neutral adjudicator who is independent of the government; otherwise, the adjudication will not be acceptable.
Question 2: What is the religious duty of the people with regard to the public servants who, despite the warning by the wise and good-intentioned people, insist on continuing to act against religion?
Answer: As I said, those who have lost, religiously and reasonably, the credibility for serving the public, are automatically dismissed, and the continuation of their work has no legitimacy. If they want to use force, or fool or cheat people in order to keep their power, people must express their opinion about the illegitimacy and lack of their approval of their performance, and seek their dismissal through the best and least harmful way. It is clear that this [dismissal of the officials] is a societal duty of everyone, and all the people, regardless of their social positions and according to their knowledge and capability, must participate in this endeavor, and cannot shirk their responsibility. The enlightened who have more knowledge about the religion and the laws, and are also more influential, have more responsibility [toward dismissal of the unqualified officials]. They must unify people and through formation of political parties and organizations, as well as public and private gatherings, inform the people and show them the way [to dismiss the officials]. In his will Imam Ali said [Nahjolbalaagheh, letter 47], “the governance and domination of the evil people [in a society] is the natural consequence of not preaching good deeds and avoiding sin, because they [the evil people] abuse the opportunities.
Question 3: Will committing the following great sins and insisting on doing so [by the officials] prove that there is no longer any fairness [in their behavior], and that they are unjust [toward people]?
1.Ordering the murder of innocent people;
2.preventing innocent people from gathering in public places and injuring them;
3.preventing people by force from doing their religious duty of preaching good deeds and avoiding sin through banning all the legitimate and peaceful ways of protesting;
4.denying the freedom and jailing of those who preach good deeds and avoiding sin, and pressuring them to “confess” to doing what they have not committed;
5.preventing a free flow of information and censorship of the news, which are the essential and introductory parts of preaching good deeds and avoiding sins to the Muslim masses;
6.libeling the protestors, who seek justice, by claiming that, “whoever that is opposed to the [government] officials is a traitor and spy for foreigners.”
7.lying, giving false testimony, and making false reports about people’s rights;
8.treason against the national trust;
9.ignoring people’s votes and neglecting the advice of the learned and informed people;
10.preventing people from participating in the national process of deciding their own fate;
11.making a bad name for Islam and the religion through presenting a very violent, irrational, aggressive, superstitious, and dictatorial image of Islam and Shiism in the world.
Answer: Committing any of the above sins and insisting on doing so are some of the clearest demonstrations of lack of fairness [by the officials], and obvious signs of injustice. Indeed, if such sins are not viewed by the people as signs of injustice, what sins can be considered as such? It is clear that any sin, particularly the above, that is committed in the name of the religion, law, and justice, will cause even more corruption and elimination of justice, which will have punishments both in this world and even more severe ones in the next world, because such sins, in addition to their own particular effects, also cause the destruction of the good images of religion, justice, and law.
If there are cases in which the government officials believe they are taking just and legitimate actions, but a majority of the people consider them as unjust, illegitimate, and corrupted, the views and judgments of fair and neutral adjudicators must be the criteria [for deciding who is right].
Question 4: Can resorting to “preserving the political system has the highest priority,” which only provides justification for violating the legitimate rights of the people and ignoring moral principles, be considered honest? Can the excuse of “it is expedient for the political system” be used to avoid carrying out justice, which has been a distinct characteristic of Shiism throughout history? If some officials confuse the expedience of the political system with their own, and insist on their mistake, what is the religious duty of the pious people [toward them]?
Answer: Preserving the political system is not by itself an issue, particularly when the system becomes the same as a person [who rules the system and the people]. When it is said that preserving the political system has the highest priority, we mean that system that is a tool for setting up a just society in which the religious and reasonable duties of the people can be carried out. Thus, resorting to “preserving the political system has the highest priority,” in order to justify what the officials do, and presenting to others what they do as just, are not allowed. If this is done due to being uninformed, then, it can be addressed using the principle of preaching good deeds and avoiding sin. On the other hand, it is clear that committing unjust acts and against Islam cannot preserve and reinforce an Islamic system, because the principle of needing an [Islamic] political system is based on the need for carrying out justice and preserving the rights of the people or, in one sentence, carrying the Islamic principles. So, how can one think that by resorting to force, injustice, and un-Islamic acts the Islamic system is preserved and reinforced?
A political system based on force, oppression, changing people’s votes, killing, closure [of organs of civil society], arresting [people] and using Stalinist and medieval torture, creating repression, censorship of newspapers, interruption of the means of mass communications, jailing the enlightened and the elite of society for false reasons, and forcing them to make false confessions in jail, is condemned and illegitimate. And, according to the teachings of the Prophet and his descendants confessions in jail have no religious or legal validity and cannot be the criterion for action [against the confessor].
The courageous people of Iran are also aware of such confessions — the examples of which can be found in the history of communist and fascist regimes — and are aware that such confessions and fake television interviews are extracted from their jailed children under duress and torture, in order to hide the oppression and injustice, and in order to present a distorted image of the peaceful and lawful protests of the people. The [government] officials who are responsible for such acts must be aware that such acts are sinful, and are punishable both religiously and by law. Iran belongs to the people, not to you and me, and they make the decisions, and the officials are their servants. People must be able to gather peacefully, and defend their rights both in writing and orally. When the Shah heard people’s revolutionary voice [in November 1978], it was too late. It is hoped that the officials will not allow the same situation to develop again, by being as flexible as possible about the people’s demands.
Question 5: Under what conditions does the Faghih [the Supreme Leader] lose his qualifications [for continuing as the Supreme Leader], and what are the duties of the maraaje’ taghlid [sources of emulation] and the people with regard to this issue?
Answer: Injustice is the intentional opposition to the teachings of religion, the foundations of reasonableness, and rationality, and the national accords and consensus that have become the laws of the land. The ruler who opposes these is no longer qualified to rule. Recognizing this is first and foremost the duty of the learned people who know the teachings and rulings of religion and are independent of the political system, as well as by intellectual and legal scholars who are completely familiar with the laws as well as the Islamic teachings and rulings, and are familiar with the solid evidence of the ruler being opposed to the teachings of the religions, reasonableness, and rationality, with the condition that they are independent of the political system. Next, it [recognizing the disqualification of the ruler] is done by the common people who are familiar with the Islamic rulings and the laws, and feel the opposition of the ruler in their own daily lives.
Thus, in summary, the fairness or injustice of the rulers is something whose effect in society is clear and not masked. Everyone is responsible for [opposition to] injustice and neglect of people’s rights [by the officials] according to their knowledge, and must also inform others about it, and by considering the existing conditions and according to the principle of preaching the good deed and avoiding sin, present a solution [to the problem that the society is grappling with]. It is impossible and not believable to think that a person is supportive of justice, but does not take a step in materializing it, or be afraid of doing so, or use lack of power as an excuse for inaction. Being afraid of God’s creation is being against God. The lives of our innocent Imams were dedicated to social justice. Had they spent their lives only for Islamic teachings regarding individuals [and not the society], they would not have been oppressed, jailed, under surveillance, and finally killed. God expects the learned people, especially those who are informed about the religion, not to be silent about oppression. Of course, taking action [against oppression] entails paying a heavy price, but will also be rewarded greatly [by God].
It is clear that Grand Ayatollah Montazeri considers the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as being unqualified and illegitimate, due to what he considers as oppression, use of force, silencing and jailing the opposition, and other acts by him. Given the authority and significance of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, and the immense respect that he enjoys among the population and in Shiite Islam, these Fatwas are bound to greatly influence the thinking of other ayatollahs.
Dr. Kadivar likens Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s Fatwas to the historical Fatwa of Akhnound Mollaa Mohammad Kazem Khorasani, an important religious figure of his era, during the Constitutional Revolution [1905-1908] against the dictatorship of Mohammad Ali Shah, and the Fatwa of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the Islamic Revolution against the dictatorship of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
http://tehranbureau.com/grand-ayatollah-montazeris-fatwa/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s Fatwa
Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s Fatwa: an Unfair Supreme Leader is Illegitimate
By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 12 July 2009
[TEHRAN BUREAU] In a very important development, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, the most senior cleric living in Iran, and one of the top two* marja’ taghlid (source of emulation) in Shiite Islam, issued a series of Fatwas, calling the Supreme Leader illegitimate and saying that he was working with the government against religion. Montazeri has called on people to take action against this injustice, even if they have to pay a heavy price for it.
Ayatollah Motazeri, who has long been one of the most outspoken critics of Iran’s hard-liners, issued the Fatwas in response to a letter that Dr. Mohsen Kadivar, a progressive cleric and a former student of his, wrote asking for answers to several pointed questions. (Dr. Kadivar was jailed a few years ago for his outspoken criticism of the hard-liners and now lives in the United States.)
The letter congratulates the Grand Ayatollah on the occasion of last week’s anniversary of the birth of Imam Ali, the Shiites’ first Imam, and a cousin and a son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammad. The letter says that the anniversary has fallen at a time when peaceful protests against rigged elections have been met by injustice by the government, which has resulted in tens of deaths, hundreds of injured, and thousands of arrests — all carried out in the name of Islam and Shiism by those who use Imam Ali’s name but take the path of his enemies instead.
The letters continues,
I learned from you that spreading what the Holy Quran, the Prophet, and his descendants [the Imams] have taught us is the best way of confronting injustice under any condition. Thus, now, in order to keep the weak light of hope in the pure hearts of the young generation to whom injustice is being done, who are being taught superstitions in the name of Shiism, and whose soul are injured and tired by all the lies, treachery, and treason [by the government], I have come to the home of hope for the Iranian nation, [where I know that your] efforts and valiant defense of the rights of the nations – particularly on the same anniversary in 1997 [when the Grand Ayatollah harshly criticized the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei for his interference in the affairs of the state] and the subsequent five-year house arrest [of the Grand Ayatollah] will never be erased from the nation’s historical memory; [I have come] to ask you to respond to questions by your humble student in order to shed light in this dark place. These are the questions of our courageous and oppressed people from their religious leader [Grand Ayatollah Montazeri].
Dr. Kadivar then asks the questions:
Question 1: Taking up positions of power for serving the public — which according to the laws must be occupied by those who are fair, honest, competent, and require the vote of the majority of the people — by those who are either not qualified, or no longer satisfy the conditions and qualifications stipulated by the laws by exhibiting the characteristics that, with almost complete certainty, are against the required qualifications, requires what course of action [by the people]?
To this question, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri has responded:
Answer: If any of the qualifications mentioned in the question, which religiously and reasonably govern the conditions for occupying the official position for serving the public, is no longer met by the person who occupies the position [to serve the public], that person, automatically and without any need for dismissal, is sacked, which also means all the orders issued by him are no longer valid. But, if the conditions are such that they are not religiously and reasonably necessary for taking up the position, but have been mutually agreed upon by the people and the person [taking the position] who serves them and takes care of their affairs, and have been violated by that person, the people can dismiss him. After the fall [destruction] of justice, honesty, and loss of the vote [trust] of the majority that must be reiterated constantly, which are the conditions for serving [the public] and ruling, the criterion is no longer that the person is innocent unless proven otherwise when it comes to the public affairs that he was in charge of, rather the person must prove his innocence, lack of violation of the laws and the religion, and the efforts for protecting people’s right by giving the people a valid reason, in order to satisfy them. If there is still a difference [between the public and the person], the person must prove his claim [of innocence] to a free, fair, and neutral adjudicator who is independent of the government; otherwise, the adjudication will not be acceptable.
Question 2: What is the religious duty of the people with regard to the public servants who, despite the warning by the wise and good-intentioned people, insist on continuing to act against religion?
Answer: As I said, those who have lost, religiously and reasonably, the credibility for serving the public, are automatically dismissed, and the continuation of their work has no legitimacy. If they want to use force, or fool or cheat people in order to keep their power, people must express their opinion about the illegitimacy and lack of their approval of their performance, and seek their dismissal through the best and least harmful way. It is clear that this [dismissal of the officials] is a societal duty of everyone, and all the people, regardless of their social positions and according to their knowledge and capability, must participate in this endeavor, and cannot shirk their responsibility. The enlightened who have more knowledge about the religion and the laws, and are also more influential, have more responsibility [toward dismissal of the unqualified officials]. They must unify people and through formation of political parties and organizations, as well as public and private gatherings, inform the people and show them the way [to dismiss the officials]. In his will Imam Ali said [Nahjolbalaagheh, letter 47], “the governance and domination of the evil people [in a society] is the natural consequence of not preaching good deeds and avoiding sin, because they [the evil people] abuse the opportunities.
Question 3: Will committing the following great sins and insisting on doing so [by the officials] prove that there is no longer any fairness [in their behavior], and that they are unjust [toward people]?
1.Ordering the murder of innocent people;
2.preventing innocent people from gathering in public places and injuring them;
3.preventing people by force from doing their religious duty of preaching good deeds and avoiding sin through banning all the legitimate and peaceful ways of protesting;
4.denying the freedom and jailing of those who preach good deeds and avoiding sin, and pressuring them to “confess” to doing what they have not committed;
5.preventing a free flow of information and censorship of the news, which are the essential and introductory parts of preaching good deeds and avoiding sins to the Muslim masses;
6.libeling the protestors, who seek justice, by claiming that, “whoever that is opposed to the [government] officials is a traitor and spy for foreigners.”
7.lying, giving false testimony, and making false reports about people’s rights;
8.treason against the national trust;
9.ignoring people’s votes and neglecting the advice of the learned and informed people;
10.preventing people from participating in the national process of deciding their own fate;
11.making a bad name for Islam and the religion through presenting a very violent, irrational, aggressive, superstitious, and dictatorial image of Islam and Shiism in the world.
Answer: Committing any of the above sins and insisting on doing so are some of the clearest demonstrations of lack of fairness [by the officials], and obvious signs of injustice. Indeed, if such sins are not viewed by the people as signs of injustice, what sins can be considered as such? It is clear that any sin, particularly the above, that is committed in the name of the religion, law, and justice, will cause even more corruption and elimination of justice, which will have punishments both in this world and even more severe ones in the next world, because such sins, in addition to their own particular effects, also cause the destruction of the good images of religion, justice, and law.
If there are cases in which the government officials believe they are taking just and legitimate actions, but a majority of the people consider them as unjust, illegitimate, and corrupted, the views and judgments of fair and neutral adjudicators must be the criteria [for deciding who is right].
Question 4: Can resorting to “preserving the political system has the highest priority,” which only provides justification for violating the legitimate rights of the people and ignoring moral principles, be considered honest? Can the excuse of “it is expedient for the political system” be used to avoid carrying out justice, which has been a distinct characteristic of Shiism throughout history? If some officials confuse the expedience of the political system with their own, and insist on their mistake, what is the religious duty of the pious people [toward them]?
Answer: Preserving the political system is not by itself an issue, particularly when the system becomes the same as a person [who rules the system and the people]. When it is said that preserving the political system has the highest priority, we mean that system that is a tool for setting up a just society in which the religious and reasonable duties of the people can be carried out. Thus, resorting to “preserving the political system has the highest priority,” in order to justify what the officials do, and presenting to others what they do as just, are not allowed. If this is done due to being uninformed, then, it can be addressed using the principle of preaching good deeds and avoiding sin. On the other hand, it is clear that committing unjust acts and against Islam cannot preserve and reinforce an Islamic system, because the principle of needing an [Islamic] political system is based on the need for carrying out justice and preserving the rights of the people or, in one sentence, carrying the Islamic principles. So, how can one think that by resorting to force, injustice, and un-Islamic acts the Islamic system is preserved and reinforced?
A political system based on force, oppression, changing people’s votes, killing, closure [of organs of civil society], arresting [people] and using Stalinist and medieval torture, creating repression, censorship of newspapers, interruption of the means of mass communications, jailing the enlightened and the elite of society for false reasons, and forcing them to make false confessions in jail, is condemned and illegitimate. And, according to the teachings of the Prophet and his descendants confessions in jail have no religious or legal validity and cannot be the criterion for action [against the confessor].
The courageous people of Iran are also aware of such confessions — the examples of which can be found in the history of communist and fascist regimes — and are aware that such confessions and fake television interviews are extracted from their jailed children under duress and torture, in order to hide the oppression and injustice, and in order to present a distorted image of the peaceful and lawful protests of the people. The [government] officials who are responsible for such acts must be aware that such acts are sinful, and are punishable both religiously and by law. Iran belongs to the people, not to you and me, and they make the decisions, and the officials are their servants. People must be able to gather peacefully, and defend their rights both in writing and orally. When the Shah heard people’s revolutionary voice [in November 1978], it was too late. It is hoped that the officials will not allow the same situation to develop again, by being as flexible as possible about the people’s demands.
Question 5: Under what conditions does the Faghih [the Supreme Leader] lose his qualifications [for continuing as the Supreme Leader], and what are the duties of the maraaje’ taghlid [sources of emulation] and the people with regard to this issue?
Answer: Injustice is the intentional opposition to the teachings of religion, the foundations of reasonableness, and rationality, and the national accords and consensus that have become the laws of the land. The ruler who opposes these is no longer qualified to rule. Recognizing this is first and foremost the duty of the learned people who know the teachings and rulings of religion and are independent of the political system, as well as by intellectual and legal scholars who are completely familiar with the laws as well as the Islamic teachings and rulings, and are familiar with the solid evidence of the ruler being opposed to the teachings of the religions, reasonableness, and rationality, with the condition that they are independent of the political system. Next, it [recognizing the disqualification of the ruler] is done by the common people who are familiar with the Islamic rulings and the laws, and feel the opposition of the ruler in their own daily lives.
Thus, in summary, the fairness or injustice of the rulers is something whose effect in society is clear and not masked. Everyone is responsible for [opposition to] injustice and neglect of people’s rights [by the officials] according to their knowledge, and must also inform others about it, and by considering the existing conditions and according to the principle of preaching the good deed and avoiding sin, present a solution [to the problem that the society is grappling with]. It is impossible and not believable to think that a person is supportive of justice, but does not take a step in materializing it, or be afraid of doing so, or use lack of power as an excuse for inaction. Being afraid of God’s creation is being against God. The lives of our innocent Imams were dedicated to social justice. Had they spent their lives only for Islamic teachings regarding individuals [and not the society], they would not have been oppressed, jailed, under surveillance, and finally killed. God expects the learned people, especially those who are informed about the religion, not to be silent about oppression. Of course, taking action [against oppression] entails paying a heavy price, but will also be rewarded greatly [by God].
It is clear that Grand Ayatollah Montazeri considers the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as being unqualified and illegitimate, due to what he considers as oppression, use of force, silencing and jailing the opposition, and other acts by him. Given the authority and significance of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, and the immense respect that he enjoys among the population and in Shiite Islam, these Fatwas are bound to greatly influence the thinking of other ayatollahs.
Dr. Kadivar likens Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s Fatwas to the historical Fatwa of Akhnound Mollaa Mohammad Kazem Khorasani, an important religious figure of his era, during the Constitutional Revolution [1905-1908] against the dictatorship of Mohammad Ali Shah, and the Fatwa of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini during the Islamic Revolution against the dictatorship of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.
eternitys_child
Proud Member
This is from Nico Pitney's blog on Huffington Post todayL:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/13/iran-uprising-blogging_n_230402.html
[Ed. note: Former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric in Iran who supports reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi, delivered the Friday sermon in Tehran today for the first time since June's presidential election. The sermon was heavily attended; many thousands of people are now demonstrating in the city, and reports indicate that riot police are out in large numbers, using tear gas and batons. Details on Rafsanjani's speech are below -- the time stamp is 6:00AM.]
11:31 AM ET -- A video archive for Iranians. There are two big problems for people in Iran trying to see some of the amazing footage coming out of their country. 1) Since Internet speed is low, it's much better to download a video rather than watching a streaming version; and 2) Many more would be able to watch if you could access the videos via mobile phone.
This site, developed by some smart and committed activists, is trying to help. All the videos archived there are already downloadable, and soon they'll be available for cell phones. If you know people in Iran, spread the word.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/13/iran-uprising-blogging_n_230402.html
[Ed. note: Former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a powerful cleric in Iran who supports reformist Mir Hossein Mousavi, delivered the Friday sermon in Tehran today for the first time since June's presidential election. The sermon was heavily attended; many thousands of people are now demonstrating in the city, and reports indicate that riot police are out in large numbers, using tear gas and batons. Details on Rafsanjani's speech are below -- the time stamp is 6:00AM.]
11:31 AM ET -- A video archive for Iranians. There are two big problems for people in Iran trying to see some of the amazing footage coming out of their country. 1) Since Internet speed is low, it's much better to download a video rather than watching a streaming version; and 2) Many more would be able to watch if you could access the videos via mobile phone.
This site, developed by some smart and committed activists, is trying to help. All the videos archived there are already downloadable, and soon they'll be available for cell phones. If you know people in Iran, spread the word.
eternitys_child
Proud Member
http://tehranbureau.com/rafsanjanis-sermon-split-leadership/
Rafsanjani’s Sermon, Split in the Leadership
By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 17 July 2009
[TEHRAN BUREAU] Today’s much anticipated Friday prayer ceremony was held at Tehran University. Crowds of people, some who could not get inside, jammed the streets outside and around the university. The leader of the prayer was former president and powerful politician Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. As promised, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, the two reformist candidates in the June 12, 2009 presidential election, also participated in the prayer, along with tens of thousands of people. Eye witnesses told the author that this was the largest Friday prayer since the first public Friday prayer was held 30 years ago under the leadership of the late Ayatollah Sayyed Mahmoud Taleghani, a progressive cleric who was immensely popular, and played a leading role in the 1979 Revolution. (Ayatollah Taleghani passed away in September 1979.)
Although Rafsanjani delivered his two sermons seemingly in the framework of unifying the nation, it was unmistakeably highly critical of the hard-liners. Even when he was talking about unity among people, he was implicitly critical of the hard-liners. Practically everything that he said was contrary to the official propaganda; he even peppered his sermons with examples of how Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali [Shiites’ first Imam and a highly revered figure] acted in times of crisis, to contrast them with how the hard-liners are handling things now.
He reminded the hard-liners of what the holy Quran said about Prophet Muhammad:
He [the Prophet] is one of you [the people]. He is so kind that if you feel any hardship, he suffers as well, and shares in your sadness and happiness. Another of his characteristics is that he is after protecting your interests and happiness, and has a heart full of kindness for the Muslim people.
This was seemingly a response to what the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his June 19 Friday prayer sermon, when he warned, “If you [the people] demonstrate and get killed, you are responsible for your blood being spilled.” In another part of his first sermon, Rafsanjani said,
The Prophet dealt with injustice and oppression against people, [he did] not [use] power against them. It was due to this [behavior] that people were loyal to him and helped him run society and stood against the enemies [with him]. The important work of the Prophet was creating unity and kindness among the people.
These were clear references to the harsh crackdown on those protesting the rigged election. He was pointing out that a political system that claims to be Islamic and a follower of the Prophet’s teachings, has not treated people with the same kindness that the Prophet did, and that if the government wants the loyalty of the people, it should treat them with kindness and respect.
When Rafsanjani spoke of the killing of Chinese Muslims by non-Muslims and the Chinese security forces, the crowd began chanting, “Death to China.” This was a clear rebuke to the official position of the Iranian government that the Chinese Muslims had been provoked by foreign agents (which is why the government has not condemned the crackdown on Chinese Muslims). Rafsanjani used the chanting to remind people what was going on:
For the reasons that you are well aware of, and due to the special circumstances in the streets around the University of Tehran, I ask you not to chant slogans.
This was a clear reference to the presence of thousands of security forces around the university.
He then began talking about the elections:
In the just concluded elections we began very well, with good competition [between the candidates]. The four candidates who had been vetted and approved by the Guardian Council competed, people were hopeful that the elections would be free, and the turnout was unprecedented. Under those conditions everything was ready for the creation of an incredible honor which would have belonged to the Iranian nation [due to the huge turnout]. We must thank them for participating freely in the elections. But, I wish those conditions [people’s hope and satisfaction with the election process before and after the vote] had continued to date, which would have made us the proudest in the world; but things did not happen the way we wanted them to.
He then asked, rhetorically,
What do we want? What does the Islamic Revolution want? You are hearing these from someone [Rafsanjani] who has helped the Revolution even before the time when the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] led the Revolution. I am talking about 60 years [of my 75 years of life]. We know what the Imam’s thinking was: He said what I want is what the people want, and we should do our utmost to attract people.
He then said that Ayatollah Khomeini was not opposed to competition between various political groups and parties, and that,
His thinking [not opposing the competition among groups] was the same as the Prophet’s belief that people should participate in the affairs of the state willfully and by their own decision, and it was the Imam’s great accomplishment that he could achieve this [convincing people that they should participate in the affairs of the state]. [Thus,] People became so well informed that the streets that are now full of followers of the Imam could overthrow the arrogant and proud Pahlavi [regime] that was being helped at that time by the reactionary forces both in the East and the West, and because of the high price of oil and the wealth that it had accumulated [it had thought that it could do anything].
Rafsanjani, therefore, reminded the hard-liners that, although they control the resources of the state, that cannot prevent their downfall if they continue down this path, just as even the Shah, who was supported by world’s powers, was overthrown by the people. He then declared that,
The religious basis of Imam’s [thinking] was the idea that an Islamic government cannot be founded without people’s participation, and if people are not satisfied [with the political establishment], the government will not be Islamic.
Hence, he directly challenged the legitimacy of the government.
Rafsanjani then reminded them what had happened right after the Revolution — and how Ayatollah Khomeini believed that all officials must be elected by the people:
In appointing [Mahdi] Bazargan as the first prime minister after the revolution, and in the appointment order that I [Rafsanjani] read [at that time], the Imam emphasized that the Revolutionary Council [that had been formed secretly on the order of Ayatollah Khomeini during the Revolution to lead the Revolution and lay the foundation for the post-revolutionary era] should serve only for a short time. The Constitution must be drafted and ratified quickly, and it [the Constitution] must specify that the basis for everything is people’s vote, from the Supreme Leader who is elected through the people’s vote for the members of the Assembly of Experts [that appoints the Leader], to the president, the Majles [parliament] deputies, city councils, and any other officials; they must all rely on people’s vote.
He then declared that without the republican side of the political establishment that gives the people the right to vote and elect officials, the political system will have no legitimacy:
The Islamic Republic is not just a formality and superficial [to which people responded by chanting slogans in support of Rafsanjani]; it is a reality that has its roots in the Prophet’s thinking. The Islamic and republican aspects must always be together. If any one of them is damaged, the Revolution will be dead. If the system is not Islamic, we will take the wrong path, but if the republicanism does not exist, the government will not be able to achieve any of its goals [and, hence, will have no legitimacy].
Rafsanjani then analyzed what had happened:
The roots of some of the problems go back to what happened right before the election. Doubts developed in some people’s mind, the seeds of which I believe were sowed due to some of the wrong things that the Voice and Visage [Iran’s national radio and television network, controlled by the hard-liners] did. I believe that a solution should be found for this problem [the bias that the national radio and television network demonstrates against the reformist candidates], which I believe is possible.
Rafsanjani was referring to the fact that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was given a free hand in making allegations and accusations against all of his opponents, and was even granted extra rebuttal time on national television on the eve of the election, which was even declared illegal by Ghorban Ali Dorri Najafabadi, the Chief Justice, who is normally an ally of the conservatives.
He then outlined his proposal for getting the country out of what he called a crisis. He made it clear that his proposal is the result of his consultation with the Assembly of Experts, as well as with the Expediency Council (a Constitutional body that arbitrates between the Guardian Council and the Majles, and acts as the consultation organ of the Supreme Leader) and, therefore, has the backing of two powerful organs. He declared that the Guardian Council did not use the five-day extension that the Supreme Leader had granted it [to investigate the fraud in the election] fruitfully. His proposal contained the following elements:
1.The government should act in a way that people’s trust in it, which has been destroyed, is restored [he did not, however, specify how].
2.Everyone and every organ, whether it is the political establishment, or the government, the Majles, the security forces, or the protesters, should act lawfully. Even those who are not happy with the present laws must try [peacefully] to modify the laws.
3.An environment must be created in which all sides can express their opinion peacefully and without fighting or fear [hence, supporting peaceful demonstrations]. The means of mass communication, especially the Voice and Visage, should act effectively for achieving this goal.
4.All the political prisoners must be released immediately. “We should not allow our enemies to laugh at us and plot against us, because we have imprisoned some people. We need to tolerate each other,” he said.
5.Those who have been hurt by recent events must be compensated. “We need to express our heart-felt and sincere sorrow for what has happened to them.”
6.Independent means of mass communication (the press and other means) must be allowed to operate legally and within the framework of law. Their rights must not be limited, and the political establishment must not ignore their lawful rights.
The fact that a powerful politician, such as Rafsanjani, refers to the present conditions as a “crisis” is very significant. The hard-liners deny that the country is in a crisis, and claim that all the protests and demonstrations are due to a few small groups linked with foreigners (meaning the United States, Israel, and Britain). In addition, Rafsanjani acknowledged publicly what has been known for some time, that many clerics and the olamaa (learned Islamic scholars, meaning the ayatollahs) are unhappy with the present conditions:The olamaa have always supported the people and the political system. Why are they hurt and disappointed now [by the present condition]? We must be able to rely on them in these [critical] times [by correcting the mistakes].
Rafsanjani’s sermons demonstrated the glaring fissures in the leadership of the Islamic Republic. The fact that, (a) he called the present conditions a crisis; (b) acknowledged that many clerics and ayatollahs are unhappy with what has happened, contrary to the claims by the hard-liners that the clergy are unified behind them; (c) stated that whatever he speaks of are the results of his consultations with two powerful organ of the Islamic Republic, namely, the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts; (d) he did not mention even once the Supreme Leader; (e) he acknowledged that people doubt the election, that people’s trust in the system had been destroyed, and he blamed the Voice and Visage of the Islamic Republic and the Guardian Council for it, and (f) always contrasted what the hard-liners do with what the Prophet and Imam Ali did, in order to demonstrate the falsehood of their claims that they are the true followers of the two revered Islamic figures, demonstrated that he has sided with the people in the crisis. That is bound to reinvigorate the democratic movement.
Also, by reminding the hard-liners that when people did not want Imam Ali to govern them after the Prophet, he stayed home for 19 years and did not intervene in politics, he implicitly told Ayatollah Khamenei (without naming him) that, “If people do not want you, leave them alone.” This is particularly important in the view of the fact that the hard-liners refer to Ayatollah Khamenei as “the era’s Ali,” meaning that he acts according to Imam Ali’s teachings and life.
Eyewitnesses told the author that people chanted repeatedly,
“Death to the dictator;”
“My dear martyred brother, I’ll take back your vote [a reference to those who been killed over the past several weeks];”
“Death to Russia; death to China [the two major powers that have seemingly supported Ahmadinejad];”
“So long as Ahmadinejad is not gone, every day will be like today [meaning demonstrations and protests];”
“Political prisoners must be released;”
“Our Sohrab is not dead, it is the government that is dead [a reference to Sohran Araabi, the young man who was killed during the first demonstrations, but his family was not told for 25 days by the government, pretending that he had been jailed];”
“If you are silent, Hashemi [Rafsanjani], you are treacherous,” and
“Resign, government of the coup.”
Security forces, the Basij militia, and plainclothes security agents used tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators. According to various reports, they physically attacked Mahdi Karroubi, while people were chanting in his support.
Thus, it appears that the struggle of the people may have entered a new phase.
Copyright © 2009 Tehran Bureau
Rafsanjani’s Sermon, Split in the Leadership
By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 17 July 2009
[TEHRAN BUREAU] Today’s much anticipated Friday prayer ceremony was held at Tehran University. Crowds of people, some who could not get inside, jammed the streets outside and around the university. The leader of the prayer was former president and powerful politician Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. As promised, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mahdi Karroubi, the two reformist candidates in the June 12, 2009 presidential election, also participated in the prayer, along with tens of thousands of people. Eye witnesses told the author that this was the largest Friday prayer since the first public Friday prayer was held 30 years ago under the leadership of the late Ayatollah Sayyed Mahmoud Taleghani, a progressive cleric who was immensely popular, and played a leading role in the 1979 Revolution. (Ayatollah Taleghani passed away in September 1979.)
Although Rafsanjani delivered his two sermons seemingly in the framework of unifying the nation, it was unmistakeably highly critical of the hard-liners. Even when he was talking about unity among people, he was implicitly critical of the hard-liners. Practically everything that he said was contrary to the official propaganda; he even peppered his sermons with examples of how Prophet Muhammad and Imam Ali [Shiites’ first Imam and a highly revered figure] acted in times of crisis, to contrast them with how the hard-liners are handling things now.
He reminded the hard-liners of what the holy Quran said about Prophet Muhammad:
He [the Prophet] is one of you [the people]. He is so kind that if you feel any hardship, he suffers as well, and shares in your sadness and happiness. Another of his characteristics is that he is after protecting your interests and happiness, and has a heart full of kindness for the Muslim people.
This was seemingly a response to what the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in his June 19 Friday prayer sermon, when he warned, “If you [the people] demonstrate and get killed, you are responsible for your blood being spilled.” In another part of his first sermon, Rafsanjani said,
The Prophet dealt with injustice and oppression against people, [he did] not [use] power against them. It was due to this [behavior] that people were loyal to him and helped him run society and stood against the enemies [with him]. The important work of the Prophet was creating unity and kindness among the people.
These were clear references to the harsh crackdown on those protesting the rigged election. He was pointing out that a political system that claims to be Islamic and a follower of the Prophet’s teachings, has not treated people with the same kindness that the Prophet did, and that if the government wants the loyalty of the people, it should treat them with kindness and respect.
When Rafsanjani spoke of the killing of Chinese Muslims by non-Muslims and the Chinese security forces, the crowd began chanting, “Death to China.” This was a clear rebuke to the official position of the Iranian government that the Chinese Muslims had been provoked by foreign agents (which is why the government has not condemned the crackdown on Chinese Muslims). Rafsanjani used the chanting to remind people what was going on:
For the reasons that you are well aware of, and due to the special circumstances in the streets around the University of Tehran, I ask you not to chant slogans.
This was a clear reference to the presence of thousands of security forces around the university.
He then began talking about the elections:
In the just concluded elections we began very well, with good competition [between the candidates]. The four candidates who had been vetted and approved by the Guardian Council competed, people were hopeful that the elections would be free, and the turnout was unprecedented. Under those conditions everything was ready for the creation of an incredible honor which would have belonged to the Iranian nation [due to the huge turnout]. We must thank them for participating freely in the elections. But, I wish those conditions [people’s hope and satisfaction with the election process before and after the vote] had continued to date, which would have made us the proudest in the world; but things did not happen the way we wanted them to.
He then asked, rhetorically,
What do we want? What does the Islamic Revolution want? You are hearing these from someone [Rafsanjani] who has helped the Revolution even before the time when the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] led the Revolution. I am talking about 60 years [of my 75 years of life]. We know what the Imam’s thinking was: He said what I want is what the people want, and we should do our utmost to attract people.
He then said that Ayatollah Khomeini was not opposed to competition between various political groups and parties, and that,
His thinking [not opposing the competition among groups] was the same as the Prophet’s belief that people should participate in the affairs of the state willfully and by their own decision, and it was the Imam’s great accomplishment that he could achieve this [convincing people that they should participate in the affairs of the state]. [Thus,] People became so well informed that the streets that are now full of followers of the Imam could overthrow the arrogant and proud Pahlavi [regime] that was being helped at that time by the reactionary forces both in the East and the West, and because of the high price of oil and the wealth that it had accumulated [it had thought that it could do anything].
Rafsanjani, therefore, reminded the hard-liners that, although they control the resources of the state, that cannot prevent their downfall if they continue down this path, just as even the Shah, who was supported by world’s powers, was overthrown by the people. He then declared that,
The religious basis of Imam’s [thinking] was the idea that an Islamic government cannot be founded without people’s participation, and if people are not satisfied [with the political establishment], the government will not be Islamic.
Hence, he directly challenged the legitimacy of the government.
Rafsanjani then reminded them what had happened right after the Revolution — and how Ayatollah Khomeini believed that all officials must be elected by the people:
In appointing [Mahdi] Bazargan as the first prime minister after the revolution, and in the appointment order that I [Rafsanjani] read [at that time], the Imam emphasized that the Revolutionary Council [that had been formed secretly on the order of Ayatollah Khomeini during the Revolution to lead the Revolution and lay the foundation for the post-revolutionary era] should serve only for a short time. The Constitution must be drafted and ratified quickly, and it [the Constitution] must specify that the basis for everything is people’s vote, from the Supreme Leader who is elected through the people’s vote for the members of the Assembly of Experts [that appoints the Leader], to the president, the Majles [parliament] deputies, city councils, and any other officials; they must all rely on people’s vote.
He then declared that without the republican side of the political establishment that gives the people the right to vote and elect officials, the political system will have no legitimacy:
The Islamic Republic is not just a formality and superficial [to which people responded by chanting slogans in support of Rafsanjani]; it is a reality that has its roots in the Prophet’s thinking. The Islamic and republican aspects must always be together. If any one of them is damaged, the Revolution will be dead. If the system is not Islamic, we will take the wrong path, but if the republicanism does not exist, the government will not be able to achieve any of its goals [and, hence, will have no legitimacy].
Rafsanjani then analyzed what had happened:
The roots of some of the problems go back to what happened right before the election. Doubts developed in some people’s mind, the seeds of which I believe were sowed due to some of the wrong things that the Voice and Visage [Iran’s national radio and television network, controlled by the hard-liners] did. I believe that a solution should be found for this problem [the bias that the national radio and television network demonstrates against the reformist candidates], which I believe is possible.
Rafsanjani was referring to the fact that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was given a free hand in making allegations and accusations against all of his opponents, and was even granted extra rebuttal time on national television on the eve of the election, which was even declared illegal by Ghorban Ali Dorri Najafabadi, the Chief Justice, who is normally an ally of the conservatives.
He then outlined his proposal for getting the country out of what he called a crisis. He made it clear that his proposal is the result of his consultation with the Assembly of Experts, as well as with the Expediency Council (a Constitutional body that arbitrates between the Guardian Council and the Majles, and acts as the consultation organ of the Supreme Leader) and, therefore, has the backing of two powerful organs. He declared that the Guardian Council did not use the five-day extension that the Supreme Leader had granted it [to investigate the fraud in the election] fruitfully. His proposal contained the following elements:
1.The government should act in a way that people’s trust in it, which has been destroyed, is restored [he did not, however, specify how].
2.Everyone and every organ, whether it is the political establishment, or the government, the Majles, the security forces, or the protesters, should act lawfully. Even those who are not happy with the present laws must try [peacefully] to modify the laws.
3.An environment must be created in which all sides can express their opinion peacefully and without fighting or fear [hence, supporting peaceful demonstrations]. The means of mass communication, especially the Voice and Visage, should act effectively for achieving this goal.
4.All the political prisoners must be released immediately. “We should not allow our enemies to laugh at us and plot against us, because we have imprisoned some people. We need to tolerate each other,” he said.
5.Those who have been hurt by recent events must be compensated. “We need to express our heart-felt and sincere sorrow for what has happened to them.”
6.Independent means of mass communication (the press and other means) must be allowed to operate legally and within the framework of law. Their rights must not be limited, and the political establishment must not ignore their lawful rights.
The fact that a powerful politician, such as Rafsanjani, refers to the present conditions as a “crisis” is very significant. The hard-liners deny that the country is in a crisis, and claim that all the protests and demonstrations are due to a few small groups linked with foreigners (meaning the United States, Israel, and Britain). In addition, Rafsanjani acknowledged publicly what has been known for some time, that many clerics and the olamaa (learned Islamic scholars, meaning the ayatollahs) are unhappy with the present conditions:The olamaa have always supported the people and the political system. Why are they hurt and disappointed now [by the present condition]? We must be able to rely on them in these [critical] times [by correcting the mistakes].
Rafsanjani’s sermons demonstrated the glaring fissures in the leadership of the Islamic Republic. The fact that, (a) he called the present conditions a crisis; (b) acknowledged that many clerics and ayatollahs are unhappy with what has happened, contrary to the claims by the hard-liners that the clergy are unified behind them; (c) stated that whatever he speaks of are the results of his consultations with two powerful organ of the Islamic Republic, namely, the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts; (d) he did not mention even once the Supreme Leader; (e) he acknowledged that people doubt the election, that people’s trust in the system had been destroyed, and he blamed the Voice and Visage of the Islamic Republic and the Guardian Council for it, and (f) always contrasted what the hard-liners do with what the Prophet and Imam Ali did, in order to demonstrate the falsehood of their claims that they are the true followers of the two revered Islamic figures, demonstrated that he has sided with the people in the crisis. That is bound to reinvigorate the democratic movement.
Also, by reminding the hard-liners that when people did not want Imam Ali to govern them after the Prophet, he stayed home for 19 years and did not intervene in politics, he implicitly told Ayatollah Khamenei (without naming him) that, “If people do not want you, leave them alone.” This is particularly important in the view of the fact that the hard-liners refer to Ayatollah Khamenei as “the era’s Ali,” meaning that he acts according to Imam Ali’s teachings and life.
Eyewitnesses told the author that people chanted repeatedly,
“Death to the dictator;”
“My dear martyred brother, I’ll take back your vote [a reference to those who been killed over the past several weeks];”
“Death to Russia; death to China [the two major powers that have seemingly supported Ahmadinejad];”
“So long as Ahmadinejad is not gone, every day will be like today [meaning demonstrations and protests];”
“Political prisoners must be released;”
“Our Sohrab is not dead, it is the government that is dead [a reference to Sohran Araabi, the young man who was killed during the first demonstrations, but his family was not told for 25 days by the government, pretending that he had been jailed];”
“If you are silent, Hashemi [Rafsanjani], you are treacherous,” and
“Resign, government of the coup.”
Security forces, the Basij militia, and plainclothes security agents used tear gas to try to disperse the demonstrators. According to various reports, they physically attacked Mahdi Karroubi, while people were chanting in his support.
Thus, it appears that the struggle of the people may have entered a new phase.
Copyright © 2009 Tehran Bureau
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Iran security forces retreat as huge numbers of mourners gather at cemetery
As many as tens of thousands of protesters meet at the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose shooting death was videotaped. Meanwhile, the first group of protesters arrested in the unrest heads to trial.
By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
8:03 AM PDT, July 30, 2009
Reporting from Tehran and Beirut -- Thousands and possibly tens of thousands of mourners, many of them black-clad young women carrying roses, overwhelmed security forces today at Tehran's largest cemetery to gather around the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman whose videotaped shooting at a June 20 demonstration stunned the world.
Amateur video apparently taken at Behesht Zahra cemetery and quickly uploaded to the Internet shows a sea of mourners moving through the cemetery chanting slogans.
Iran hard-liners warn Ahmadinejad he could be deposed
Iran opposition leader calls for more street protests
."Death to the dictator," chanted those in one long procession, kicking up a storm of dust as they walked. "Neda is not dead. This government is dead."
Afterward, the crowds began to gather in front of central Tehran's Grand Mossala mosque, defying authorities who had prohibited the use of the site. Protesters chanted slogans as they rode the subway to the venue, setting the stage for more clashes as dusk approached.
Uniformed security forces initially clashed violently today with some of the mourners, supporters and leaders of the opposition, who were there to protest and grieve for those killed in recent unrest. Unsuccessful presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi attempted to attend the graveside ceremony marking the religiously significant 40th day since the death of Agha-Soltan and others killed in the fighting.
"Oh, Hossein! Mir-Hossein," the mourners chanted in support of him.
According to one witness, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, Mousavi stepped out of his car only to be surrounded by police, who forced him back into his vehicle and out of the cemetery.
At first, mourners were confronted by security forces, who struck some with batons and made arrests in an attempt to bar them from gathering at Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery, the country's largest. The tree-lined streets leading to the graves of Agha-Soltan and others were blocked by riot police, the witness said.
The witness said protesters identified and violently confronted several plainclothes Basiji militiamen.
"Police, police, support us," the crowd chanted. "God is great!"
Among those arrested was award-winning director Jafar Panahi, whose movies "The Circle" and "Crimson Gold" have garnered international acclaim, along with his wife and daughter, a source close to the family told Agence France-Presse.
But as people poured out of the nearby subway station and taxis along the highway, security forces retreated. One witness said police released detainees and began cooperating with the mourners, directing them to Section 257 of the cemetery, where Agha-Soltan and others were buried.
The request for a permit to hold a ceremony in the city's Grand Mossala mosque later today was denied, but protesters have said they will try to come together near the site of the mosque anyway and march along nearby streets if they are prevented from entering the site.
Iranian officials say 30 people died in the weeks of unrest, but human-rights monitors and independent observers say the number killed in the protests and subsequent crackdown is at least twice that figure in the capital alone.
On Wednesday, the Paris-based monitoring group Reporters Without Borders urged authorities to explain the death of journalist Alireza Eftekhari, who died June 15 but whose body was handed over to relatives on July 13. A press release said Eftekhari died as a result of a severe beating.
Also Wednesday, the Tehran prosecutor's office announced the arrest of Saeed Shariati, a member of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front's central committee.
Meanwhile, authorities have announced that they will place the first group of protesters swept up in weeks of unrest on trial. According to a statement from by the prosecutor's office, the group of alleged rioters will be charged with offenses including having ties to terrorist organizations, invading and torching military bases, destroying public property, looting and preparing and dispatching news reports for "enemies" of the Islamic Republic.
"A group of self-sold individuals . . . began acting illegally and against the norms inside the country, behaving like thugs, paving the path for the notorious opportunism of the enemy that led to many material losses and the loss of life for our citizens," the statement said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Still under massive public and international pressure, authorities have acknowledged official wrongdoing as well. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week ordered the Kahrizak detention center south of Tehran closed.
Meanwhile Iran's police chief, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, admitted that some law enforcement officers "went to extremes" during protests after the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Nothing should cause police officers to break the law in any way," Ahmadi Moghaddam said, according to the website of state-owned Press TV.
Late Wednesday, two prominent jailed reformist politicians, Behzad Nabavi and Mostawfa Tajzadeh, were allowed to phone their families from prison for the first time since they were arrested June 13, a day after the election. And today authorities moved Said Hajjarian, a prominent reformist strategist who was critically wounded in a 2000 assassination attempt, from prison to a detention house with medical supervision, the Mehr news agency reported.
But such steps may not be enough to appease an emboldened opposition supported by a grassroots political movement unlike any the Islamic Republic has experienced. Former President Mohammad Khatami, speaking to a group of reformist lawmakers, called for an investigation into allegations of torture and murder.
"It is not enough to only close a substandard detention center," he said, according to Baran.org.ir, the website of his charitable foundation.
"Crimes have been committed. Lives have been lost and immoral treatments have been meted out to our dear youth, women and men," he said. "With the supreme leader's order of closure [of Kahrizak], a fresh opportunity has come up to launch an inquiry into the tragedy and punish the perpetrators."
Iran security forces retreat as huge numbers of mourners gather at cemetery
As many as tens of thousands of protesters meet at the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, whose shooting death was videotaped. Meanwhile, the first group of protesters arrested in the unrest heads to trial.
By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim
8:03 AM PDT, July 30, 2009
Reporting from Tehran and Beirut -- Thousands and possibly tens of thousands of mourners, many of them black-clad young women carrying roses, overwhelmed security forces today at Tehran's largest cemetery to gather around the grave of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman whose videotaped shooting at a June 20 demonstration stunned the world.
Amateur video apparently taken at Behesht Zahra cemetery and quickly uploaded to the Internet shows a sea of mourners moving through the cemetery chanting slogans.
Iran hard-liners warn Ahmadinejad he could be deposed
Iran opposition leader calls for more street protests
."Death to the dictator," chanted those in one long procession, kicking up a storm of dust as they walked. "Neda is not dead. This government is dead."
Afterward, the crowds began to gather in front of central Tehran's Grand Mossala mosque, defying authorities who had prohibited the use of the site. Protesters chanted slogans as they rode the subway to the venue, setting the stage for more clashes as dusk approached.
Uniformed security forces initially clashed violently today with some of the mourners, supporters and leaders of the opposition, who were there to protest and grieve for those killed in recent unrest. Unsuccessful presidential candidates Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi attempted to attend the graveside ceremony marking the religiously significant 40th day since the death of Agha-Soltan and others killed in the fighting.
"Oh, Hossein! Mir-Hossein," the mourners chanted in support of him.
According to one witness, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisal, Mousavi stepped out of his car only to be surrounded by police, who forced him back into his vehicle and out of the cemetery.
At first, mourners were confronted by security forces, who struck some with batons and made arrests in an attempt to bar them from gathering at Tehran's Behesht Zahra cemetery, the country's largest. The tree-lined streets leading to the graves of Agha-Soltan and others were blocked by riot police, the witness said.
The witness said protesters identified and violently confronted several plainclothes Basiji militiamen.
"Police, police, support us," the crowd chanted. "God is great!"
Among those arrested was award-winning director Jafar Panahi, whose movies "The Circle" and "Crimson Gold" have garnered international acclaim, along with his wife and daughter, a source close to the family told Agence France-Presse.
But as people poured out of the nearby subway station and taxis along the highway, security forces retreated. One witness said police released detainees and began cooperating with the mourners, directing them to Section 257 of the cemetery, where Agha-Soltan and others were buried.
The request for a permit to hold a ceremony in the city's Grand Mossala mosque later today was denied, but protesters have said they will try to come together near the site of the mosque anyway and march along nearby streets if they are prevented from entering the site.
Iranian officials say 30 people died in the weeks of unrest, but human-rights monitors and independent observers say the number killed in the protests and subsequent crackdown is at least twice that figure in the capital alone.
On Wednesday, the Paris-based monitoring group Reporters Without Borders urged authorities to explain the death of journalist Alireza Eftekhari, who died June 15 but whose body was handed over to relatives on July 13. A press release said Eftekhari died as a result of a severe beating.
Also Wednesday, the Tehran prosecutor's office announced the arrest of Saeed Shariati, a member of the reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front's central committee.
Meanwhile, authorities have announced that they will place the first group of protesters swept up in weeks of unrest on trial. According to a statement from by the prosecutor's office, the group of alleged rioters will be charged with offenses including having ties to terrorist organizations, invading and torching military bases, destroying public property, looting and preparing and dispatching news reports for "enemies" of the Islamic Republic.
"A group of self-sold individuals . . . began acting illegally and against the norms inside the country, behaving like thugs, paving the path for the notorious opportunism of the enemy that led to many material losses and the loss of life for our citizens," the statement said, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.
Still under massive public and international pressure, authorities have acknowledged official wrongdoing as well. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei this week ordered the Kahrizak detention center south of Tehran closed.
Meanwhile Iran's police chief, Ismail Ahmadi Moghaddam, admitted that some law enforcement officers "went to extremes" during protests after the disputed reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
"Nothing should cause police officers to break the law in any way," Ahmadi Moghaddam said, according to the website of state-owned Press TV.
Late Wednesday, two prominent jailed reformist politicians, Behzad Nabavi and Mostawfa Tajzadeh, were allowed to phone their families from prison for the first time since they were arrested June 13, a day after the election. And today authorities moved Said Hajjarian, a prominent reformist strategist who was critically wounded in a 2000 assassination attempt, from prison to a detention house with medical supervision, the Mehr news agency reported.
But such steps may not be enough to appease an emboldened opposition supported by a grassroots political movement unlike any the Islamic Republic has experienced. Former President Mohammad Khatami, speaking to a group of reformist lawmakers, called for an investigation into allegations of torture and murder.
"It is not enough to only close a substandard detention center," he said, according to Baran.org.ir, the website of his charitable foundation.
"Crimes have been committed. Lives have been lost and immoral treatments have been meted out to our dear youth, women and men," he said. "With the supreme leader's order of closure [of Kahrizak], a fresh opportunity has come up to launch an inquiry into the tragedy and punish the perpetrators."
eternitys_child
Proud Member
4.54pm: (UK Time)
Saeed estimates 50,000 demonstrators have gathered in Vali-e-Asr square, Motahari - Vali-e-Asr intersection and Vanak Square. Demonstrators are shouting "Death to the Dictator" and have set fire to trash bins to protect themselves from the cloud of tear gas now covering most of centeral Tehran. Riot police on motorbikes are attacking pedestrians.
Saeed estimates 50,000 demonstrators have gathered in Vali-e-Asr square, Motahari - Vali-e-Asr intersection and Vanak Square. Demonstrators are shouting "Death to the Dictator" and have set fire to trash bins to protect themselves from the cloud of tear gas now covering most of centeral Tehran. Riot police on motorbikes are attacking pedestrians.
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Good news! Insider info. Not in the papers yet. The judiciary has been replaced and the unit for investigating and prosecuting members of the political system has been reformed. Immunity is being begun to be stripped from those involved in harming protesters. 3 MPs (Amadi's/Khamenei's lackys) have been stripped of immunity. Prisons are being put on lockdown and assignees of the court going in. People who testified/want to testify about their rapes in the prisons are being assured immunity. 12 separate testimonies that Khamenei was aware of or ordered the abuse of protesters. Things are happening very fast. I am so glad for you MichaelsGuardianAngel. You will be safe soon.
http://twitter.com/MikVerbrugge
From Twitter - IMO this tweeter is very reliable:
6 minutes ago from web
@xoix Indeed, AN's speech writer is probably wishing he had your ninja suit right now!
7 minutes ago from web in reply to xoix
#iranelection Nemat Ahmadi interview about Shamloo's 15 points
http://bit.ly/22OdXE (fa) via @SohrabVoice
20 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection historic material Ruhollah Khomeini's Deadly Fatwa - Iran's 1988 Massacre http://tinyurl.com/knazkg (pdf) via @SohrabVoice
27 minutes ago from web
@avmavm AN directly contradicting SL's speech the day prior prompted many to switch sides there & then. Rpt leak probably part of this.
32 minutes ago from web in reply to avmavm
@khazelton this isn't real-time, I'm getting reports now bt it's middle of the night in Iran, Judiciary news surfacing r probably days old
37 minutes ago from web in reply to khazelton
#iranelection Judiciary Source:Judiciary initiating removal of diplomatic immunity of 3 MPs, associated with Ahmadinejad.
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection erratum I misread message reformists will meet families in the evening, when breaking fast, not in the morning.
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Mousavi Karubi Khatami & Victims families will gather at Amiralmomenin mosque in Tehran Sunday evening. (corrected)
about 1 hour ago from web
oh I read breakfast but it said at break fast : ramadan
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Judiciary Source indicates the same Judge (Hosseinian) is working on cases against Fars & IRIB
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection charges:Slander,public provocation,subversive newscast,violation of press laws.It'll be a public Jury court
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Tomorrow Judiciary holds public court session against Keyhan & its editor in SecCourt 1083
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Karubi will also meet S.Larijani tomorrow on Judiciary deal with victims
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Meeting is permittd as gathering of steering cmte of reformist front, security&safety guaranteed by Judiciary
about 1 hour ago from web
@Iranianrevolt I didn't mean to pressure you, I'll be glad to read it when it comes
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to Iranianrevolt
@Iranianrevolt and if you feel like writing about it, a post about 1367 would be very welcome too
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to Iranianrevolt
good 2 know, can't wait 2 read your blog abt what they sayRT @Iranianrevolt securirty panel rept consistent with what I heard from visitors
about 2 hours ago from web
@Shhh527 Just my guess : one of the telco guys talked - I have no other details on this.
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to Shhh527
#iranelection 2/2 Source: they were digging and hit walls by mistake before being confronted by an IRGC officer.
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection 1/2 Source: the Underground Detention facility was found by Telco workers digging to connect phone cables.
about 2 hours ago from web
more info on the locked down facility :
about 2 hours ago from web
Excellent video http://bit.ly/10MXq4 Lights out...SCREAM! #iranelection (via @onlymehdi @Iran_ALLDAY)
about 2 hours ago from web
It could be the subtlety was lost in translation RT @johnkt09 They mistake IRI for Iran, as usual. #iranelection
about 3 hours ago from web
@Grushenka2 http://twitter.com/MikVerbr...
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to Grushenka2
#iranelection Azam Taleghani to Majlis :Hezbollah & Hojjatieh" lk at AN as cmdr of Mahdi's army & want 2 plunder our wealth & destroy us"
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Source describes the facility at Shriati&Mirdamad looked like Sub-Garage. Had blue door
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Judiciary police locks down underground illegal detention&torture facility at Shriati&Mirdamad St. in Tehran.
about 3 hours ago from web
No! Intel Ministry, siding w/ coalition sorry if unclear RT @grnleavs #iranelection ...IRGC ... siding with the coalition | Astonishing.
about 3 hours ago from web
@AsdollahMirza wishfully : before AN gets on a plane to NYC!
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to AsdollahMirza
#iranelection leaked report indirectly shows that even tho IRGC tried to take over Intel ministry admin, it's siding with the coalition
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection The State Security Panel is a joint of military, ministry of intelligence & state security police.
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection report concludes "panel recommends to follow R's suggestions, bring trust&calm back among population at any cost"
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection 3/3 "Downfall of such event can't be forecast, things may escalate to civil war & breakup of Iran."
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection 2/3 "If popular anger erupts, we have no means for containment. An eminent collapse will be the result."
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection 1/3 report reads "the acceleration & escallation of public anger caused by injustice is at boiling point."
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection security commission report 2 SL&Expediency:current state of affairs devastating&potentially uncntrolable evnts in nxt 2 months
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection State Security Panel:Iran on edge of popular explosion,which cant b containd by force.Immediate defusing only way of survival.
about 4 hours ago from web
@sp4rrowh4wk I mostly relay info and can't take credit, but thanks.
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to sp4rrowh4wk
#iranelection More than 4500 people were executed and buried there in 1367. Families keep going there and plant flowers. It's a garden now.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection In addition to those in lot 302's anon. graves, have a thought for those under the Garden of Khavaran http://bit.ly/5EOsm (fa)
about 4 hours ago from web
@nicholbrummer in this case it looks like 12 truths =/= proof...
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to nicholbrummer
@seaofliberty thanks!
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to seaofliberty
@sp4rrowh4wk If mmory serves well: SL did say he'd crush dissent, but it was Khatami who said mohareb in his sermon.
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to sp4rrowh4wk
#iranelection Source says rumored testimonies are most likely true, but were probably 1 on 1 conversations : unprovable
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL per constitution has no immunity and is fully liable in court. If Judiciary hs evidence against him as rumr suggests:done.
about 4 hours ago from web
it was Khatami (FP Imam) RT @sp4rrowh4wk i recall SL referring 2 protests/protesters as mohareb & calling 4 decisive crushing #IranElection
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection However I'm told rumor source is reliable.That's only 2 of about 12 confessions blaming SL for being behind all of this.
about 5 hours ago from web
MikVerbrugge#iranelection I highlighted the rumor part because they were reportd to me as such, which is unusual.
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection RUMOR:Judiciary offcial confessing:"I informed SL abt rape,he said 'well they shld now know that fighting is painful'."
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection RUMOR:Basij Cmdrs "SL personaly ordrd harsh&decisive crushing of protests,said they are Mohareb.He ordrd us to attack Unis
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection S.Larijani orders all files since pre-election days to be reviewed & investigated nationwide.
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection that means it has highest priority & is headed by Judge of Judges, being S.Larijani.
about 5 hours ago from web
4/4 he signs off:You are to direct all results & share information with me personally
about 5 hours ago from web
3/4 total investigation of all violations pre- during & post election,unrelenting prosecution of violators & their superiors nationwide
about 5 hours ago from web
2/4 & appli of constitutional laws,prosecution of all and anyone invlvd at any level w violations in kahrizak,their superiors&top in charge
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection 1/4 Sadeq's order:Unprejudiced,total investigation,identification of all involved,especially top responsible,total enforcemt &
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Joint Majlis&Judiciary Investigation Panel ok'd by S.Larijani,Ejei & Chief Judge giving it virtually total powers
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Sadeq Larijani authorizes post election investigation panel,appoints ProsGen & DirectorGen of Juciary
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Gamblers, time to bet on 10th gov life expectancy... Majlis public deliberations start tomorrow. Did I hear stillborn?
about 6 hours ago from web
The new judiciary isn't fooling around! "- hello I'm..." - Get to work!"
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Special Homicide Judge to open potentially hundreds of new files on post election crimes.
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Forensic Dept ordered to give a copy of all files related to anon. graves to Majlis Spec. Committee
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Forensic Dept ordered to hand over all files related to anon. graves to prosecutor&Hd ofJudiciary
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Judiciary Source: If necessary, Jud. will order exhumation of anon. graves to identify bodies buried there.
about 6 hours ago from web
@Eowyn9 good thing is :even if Khatamist, belonging to SL's brother means it won't be censored, explains "AN didnt see reports he censored?"
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Eowyn9
#iranelection parleman Hassan Khomeini didn't appear during AN&co's visit of Khomeini's shrine http://bit.ly/AGCaV (AN not getting a break!)
about 6 hours ago from web
@Shhh527
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Shhh527
#iranelection via #nir : New prosecutor offers complete protection&security of Karubi&victims if he hands over evidence.Karubi agreed.
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection via #nir : Ayat. S.Larijani to appoint 2 Judiciary officers 2 Majlis Spec. Investigation Comitee 2 add executive force 2 cmte
about 6 hours ago from web
@Shhh527 It means they are appointed on merit instead of out of allegiance.
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Shhh527
@Eowyn9 Hayat-e No belongs to SL's brother but leans towards Khatami influence I forgot to correct earlier. #iranelection
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Eowyn9
#iranelection S.Larijani rplaced most Sr positions incl. Hd of Research&Education of Judges. Brand new technocratic Judiciary.
about 7 hours ago from web
#iranelection Hojatoleslam Ahmad Vaezi Jozei appointed Head of Judges Disciplinary Court
about 7 hours ago from web
#iranelection Hojatoleslam Ahmad Shifei appointed as new Spec. Prosecutor of Judges Disciplinary Court
about 7 hours ago from web
@eternitys_child Indeed!
about 7 hours ago from web in reply to eternitys_child
Heh. RT @Shhh527 OMG - someone with QUALIFICATIONS other than murder, rape, thuggery?
about 7 hours ago from web
#iranelection New tehran prosecutor Dolabati,ex-Hd Judiciary of Khuzestan. Experienced technocrat, no political career.
about 7 hours ago from web
@Dinesco @xoix his name is Dolabati, Jafari's his 1st name... breathe deep #iranelection
about 7 hours ago from web
@_truthiness @g38 @sp4rrowh4wk #iranelection parleman: Mortazavi fired. Jafari Dolatabadi replaces him. http://bit.ly/8ojFG
about 7 hours ago from web in reply to _truthiness
-------------------------
Additional info. Very sad about the torture so I put last, but am posting so you know the context. If you read the material on this site you will know what has been going on in the backgound. You will also have an idea of who will all be prosecuted.
http://mikverbrugge.tumblr.com/
http://twitter.com/MikVerbrugge
From Twitter - IMO this tweeter is very reliable:
6 minutes ago from web
@xoix Indeed, AN's speech writer is probably wishing he had your ninja suit right now!
7 minutes ago from web in reply to xoix
#iranelection Nemat Ahmadi interview about Shamloo's 15 points
http://bit.ly/22OdXE (fa) via @SohrabVoice
20 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection historic material Ruhollah Khomeini's Deadly Fatwa - Iran's 1988 Massacre http://tinyurl.com/knazkg (pdf) via @SohrabVoice
27 minutes ago from web
@avmavm AN directly contradicting SL's speech the day prior prompted many to switch sides there & then. Rpt leak probably part of this.
32 minutes ago from web in reply to avmavm
@khazelton this isn't real-time, I'm getting reports now bt it's middle of the night in Iran, Judiciary news surfacing r probably days old
37 minutes ago from web in reply to khazelton
#iranelection Judiciary Source:Judiciary initiating removal of diplomatic immunity of 3 MPs, associated with Ahmadinejad.
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection erratum I misread message reformists will meet families in the evening, when breaking fast, not in the morning.
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Mousavi Karubi Khatami & Victims families will gather at Amiralmomenin mosque in Tehran Sunday evening. (corrected)
about 1 hour ago from web
oh I read breakfast but it said at break fast : ramadan
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Judiciary Source indicates the same Judge (Hosseinian) is working on cases against Fars & IRIB
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection charges:Slander,public provocation,subversive newscast,violation of press laws.It'll be a public Jury court
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Tomorrow Judiciary holds public court session against Keyhan & its editor in SecCourt 1083
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Karubi will also meet S.Larijani tomorrow on Judiciary deal with victims
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Meeting is permittd as gathering of steering cmte of reformist front, security&safety guaranteed by Judiciary
about 1 hour ago from web
@Iranianrevolt I didn't mean to pressure you, I'll be glad to read it when it comes
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to Iranianrevolt
@Iranianrevolt and if you feel like writing about it, a post about 1367 would be very welcome too
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to Iranianrevolt
good 2 know, can't wait 2 read your blog abt what they sayRT @Iranianrevolt securirty panel rept consistent with what I heard from visitors
about 2 hours ago from web
@Shhh527 Just my guess : one of the telco guys talked - I have no other details on this.
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to Shhh527
#iranelection 2/2 Source: they were digging and hit walls by mistake before being confronted by an IRGC officer.
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection 1/2 Source: the Underground Detention facility was found by Telco workers digging to connect phone cables.
about 2 hours ago from web
more info on the locked down facility :
about 2 hours ago from web
Excellent video http://bit.ly/10MXq4 Lights out...SCREAM! #iranelection (via @onlymehdi @Iran_ALLDAY)
about 2 hours ago from web
It could be the subtlety was lost in translation RT @johnkt09 They mistake IRI for Iran, as usual. #iranelection
about 3 hours ago from web
@Grushenka2 http://twitter.com/MikVerbr...
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to Grushenka2
#iranelection Azam Taleghani to Majlis :Hezbollah & Hojjatieh" lk at AN as cmdr of Mahdi's army & want 2 plunder our wealth & destroy us"
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Source describes the facility at Shriati&Mirdamad looked like Sub-Garage. Had blue door
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Judiciary police locks down underground illegal detention&torture facility at Shriati&Mirdamad St. in Tehran.
about 3 hours ago from web
No! Intel Ministry, siding w/ coalition sorry if unclear RT @grnleavs #iranelection ...IRGC ... siding with the coalition | Astonishing.
about 3 hours ago from web
@AsdollahMirza wishfully : before AN gets on a plane to NYC!
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to AsdollahMirza
#iranelection leaked report indirectly shows that even tho IRGC tried to take over Intel ministry admin, it's siding with the coalition
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection The State Security Panel is a joint of military, ministry of intelligence & state security police.
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection report concludes "panel recommends to follow R's suggestions, bring trust&calm back among population at any cost"
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection 3/3 "Downfall of such event can't be forecast, things may escalate to civil war & breakup of Iran."
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection 2/3 "If popular anger erupts, we have no means for containment. An eminent collapse will be the result."
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection 1/3 report reads "the acceleration & escallation of public anger caused by injustice is at boiling point."
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection security commission report 2 SL&Expediency:current state of affairs devastating&potentially uncntrolable evnts in nxt 2 months
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection State Security Panel:Iran on edge of popular explosion,which cant b containd by force.Immediate defusing only way of survival.
about 4 hours ago from web
@sp4rrowh4wk I mostly relay info and can't take credit, but thanks.
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to sp4rrowh4wk
#iranelection More than 4500 people were executed and buried there in 1367. Families keep going there and plant flowers. It's a garden now.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection In addition to those in lot 302's anon. graves, have a thought for those under the Garden of Khavaran http://bit.ly/5EOsm (fa)
about 4 hours ago from web
@nicholbrummer in this case it looks like 12 truths =/= proof...
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to nicholbrummer
@seaofliberty thanks!
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to seaofliberty
@sp4rrowh4wk If mmory serves well: SL did say he'd crush dissent, but it was Khatami who said mohareb in his sermon.
about 4 hours ago from web in reply to sp4rrowh4wk
#iranelection Source says rumored testimonies are most likely true, but were probably 1 on 1 conversations : unprovable
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL per constitution has no immunity and is fully liable in court. If Judiciary hs evidence against him as rumr suggests:done.
about 4 hours ago from web
it was Khatami (FP Imam) RT @sp4rrowh4wk i recall SL referring 2 protests/protesters as mohareb & calling 4 decisive crushing #IranElection
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection However I'm told rumor source is reliable.That's only 2 of about 12 confessions blaming SL for being behind all of this.
about 5 hours ago from web
MikVerbrugge#iranelection I highlighted the rumor part because they were reportd to me as such, which is unusual.
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection RUMOR:Judiciary offcial confessing:"I informed SL abt rape,he said 'well they shld now know that fighting is painful'."
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection RUMOR:Basij Cmdrs "SL personaly ordrd harsh&decisive crushing of protests,said they are Mohareb.He ordrd us to attack Unis
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection S.Larijani orders all files since pre-election days to be reviewed & investigated nationwide.
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection that means it has highest priority & is headed by Judge of Judges, being S.Larijani.
about 5 hours ago from web
4/4 he signs off:You are to direct all results & share information with me personally
about 5 hours ago from web
3/4 total investigation of all violations pre- during & post election,unrelenting prosecution of violators & their superiors nationwide
about 5 hours ago from web
2/4 & appli of constitutional laws,prosecution of all and anyone invlvd at any level w violations in kahrizak,their superiors&top in charge
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection 1/4 Sadeq's order:Unprejudiced,total investigation,identification of all involved,especially top responsible,total enforcemt &
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Joint Majlis&Judiciary Investigation Panel ok'd by S.Larijani,Ejei & Chief Judge giving it virtually total powers
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Sadeq Larijani authorizes post election investigation panel,appoints ProsGen & DirectorGen of Juciary
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Gamblers, time to bet on 10th gov life expectancy... Majlis public deliberations start tomorrow. Did I hear stillborn?
about 6 hours ago from web
The new judiciary isn't fooling around! "- hello I'm..." - Get to work!"
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Special Homicide Judge to open potentially hundreds of new files on post election crimes.
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Forensic Dept ordered to give a copy of all files related to anon. graves to Majlis Spec. Committee
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Forensic Dept ordered to hand over all files related to anon. graves to prosecutor&Hd ofJudiciary
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Judiciary Source: If necessary, Jud. will order exhumation of anon. graves to identify bodies buried there.
about 6 hours ago from web
@Eowyn9 good thing is :even if Khatamist, belonging to SL's brother means it won't be censored, explains "AN didnt see reports he censored?"
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Eowyn9
#iranelection parleman Hassan Khomeini didn't appear during AN&co's visit of Khomeini's shrine http://bit.ly/AGCaV (AN not getting a break!)
about 6 hours ago from web
@Shhh527
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Shhh527
#iranelection via #nir : New prosecutor offers complete protection&security of Karubi&victims if he hands over evidence.Karubi agreed.
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection via #nir : Ayat. S.Larijani to appoint 2 Judiciary officers 2 Majlis Spec. Investigation Comitee 2 add executive force 2 cmte
about 6 hours ago from web
@Shhh527 It means they are appointed on merit instead of out of allegiance.
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Shhh527
@Eowyn9 Hayat-e No belongs to SL's brother but leans towards Khatami influence I forgot to correct earlier. #iranelection
about 6 hours ago from web in reply to Eowyn9
#iranelection S.Larijani rplaced most Sr positions incl. Hd of Research&Education of Judges. Brand new technocratic Judiciary.
about 7 hours ago from web
#iranelection Hojatoleslam Ahmad Vaezi Jozei appointed Head of Judges Disciplinary Court
about 7 hours ago from web
#iranelection Hojatoleslam Ahmad Shifei appointed as new Spec. Prosecutor of Judges Disciplinary Court
about 7 hours ago from web
@eternitys_child Indeed!
about 7 hours ago from web in reply to eternitys_child
Heh.
RT @Shhh527 OMG - someone with QUALIFICATIONS other than murder, rape, thuggery?about 7 hours ago from web
#iranelection New tehran prosecutor Dolabati,ex-Hd Judiciary of Khuzestan. Experienced technocrat, no political career.
about 7 hours ago from web
@Dinesco @xoix his name is Dolabati, Jafari's his 1st name... breathe deep
#iranelectionabout 7 hours ago from web
@_truthiness @g38 @sp4rrowh4wk #iranelection parleman: Mortazavi fired. Jafari Dolatabadi replaces him. http://bit.ly/8ojFG
about 7 hours ago from web in reply to _truthiness
-------------------------
Additional info. Very sad about the torture so I put last, but am posting so you know the context. If you read the material on this site you will know what has been going on in the backgound. You will also have an idea of who will all be prosecuted.
http://mikverbrugge.tumblr.com/
eternitys_child
Proud Member
http://twitter.com/MikVerbrugge
multiple accounts tell us word of mouth efficiently spreads everything we tweet (rumor & fact alike) @freesyrus
half a minute ago from web
It looks like they're aiming for NthKorean or Myanmar style dictatorship - they don't care abt ppl or int'l opinion @AsdollahMirza
6 minutes ago from web
SL is going overboard. NatSecPanel opinion must hv scared him to death
16 minutes ago from web
@Shmangy NIR commander - obviously unnamed
17 minutes ago from web in reply to Shmangy
#iranelection Expediency council files complaints against Fars News & Vatan Emrooz http://bit.ly/uXJls IRNA
17 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Aftr treatment,he continued his protest which led to him being beaten up again & dragged out of Sepah Hospital.
20 minutes ago from web
#iranelection His head ws broken,his glasses smashed in his face &beaten all ovr.He fainted,so agents brought him 2 hospital 4 treatment.
21 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Src:Alireza Beheshti got in to verbal fight w a Security Agent of Sepah,who strtd beating him severely.
22 minutes ago from web
#iranelection cartoon http://bit.ly/fyBvd
33 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Journalists who signed lttr 2 Prosecutor summoned, asked to retract&promise not to report "against Nat'l Security"
37 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Beheshti Memorial Foundation offices sealed & closed by Gov. http://bit.ly/BElYL parleman
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Src:Zarghami head of IRIB affrimed by Ldr,will remain in his position.Will b out in a few days.Nothing will change there.
about 1 hour ago from web
RT @AsdollahMirza Wouldn't have thought SL'd do us the favor to disqualify himself by stupid moves like the recent ones.
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection We knew it but now we heard it from SL himself.Ali has completely lost it.
about 2 hours ago from web
Safi-Golpaygani had written a letter criticizing cabinet
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL to Safi-Golpaygani"In Velayat-e Faqih, only SL rules,President&Mins r just his tools of Governance&employees"
about 2 hours ago from web
@IsleyConst Last I heard a Khobregan majority is with SL...
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to IsleyConst
#iranelection Marja r waiting on arrival of Ayat. Sistani. @chwn
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Ayat. Nouri-Hamedani retracts his congrats 2 AN.
about 2 hours ago from web
SL threatening Marjas is *completely* nuts...
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Qom Src:SL sent serious warning 2 all Marja not 2 get invlvd in "Matters of State" or face consequences.
about 2 hours ago from web
RT @AsdollahMirza Mousavi FB: Statement No. 12 (FA) with short English summary http://bit.ly/2ANXMC #iranelection
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection new cmdr of Rasulollah (NorthTehran) confirms Basij mobilization&determination 2 crush any attempt by "protesters&subversives"
about 3 hours ago from web
no I didn't get new reports on the fatwa today @chwn
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Mousavi warns of Dark days ahead,new wave of suppression.
about 3 hours ago from web
@anemone2708 as I just tweeted different groups are organizing a common front, we can only wait&see where this goes
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to anemone2708
I don't see how things can be resolved now... alienating the ppl even more won't solve anything for coup, they're just irresponsible @Eowyn9
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection M just released his statement #12
about 3 hours ago from web
@anemone2708 All I can say is I hope the scare tactics will fail
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to anemone2708
bad that they're ignoring NatSec warnings of collapse & making crazy moves to "win" @Eowyn9
about 3 hours ago from web
their common sense is long gone, they're ignoring reports that ppl r at boiling point...anything goes @AsdollahMirza @oxfordgirl
about 3 hours ago from web
@Mwolda the commander who has been supervising NIR all along
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to Mwolda
#iranelection the logic behind this:SL declard investigations TopSecret, Reformists are "breaking law/endangering NatSec" by divulging info.
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL got intel by new IntelMinister "widespread protest is ovr.Now only some left ovrs&best time to attack."
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL has also been getting intel that "Green is dead"
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL hs bn given "evidence" by IRGC Intel on "plot" against him by Rafsanjani,Khatami,Karubi&Mousavi.
about 4 hours ago from web
I won't make any predictions but things look extremely bad @Joos4 @KOUTCHOULOU
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection #nir Commandr declared all out war on Khamenei & Coup today.Fight is going violent.No more diplomacy.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:If arrests&threats don't work,they'll cancel Qods day.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Resistance alliance in formation. Planning raids & attacks on sensitive facilities & Gov.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL has ordrd them arrested.Don't know if formal warrants hv bn issued but that's only a formality.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL office distributing CDs to Uni Profs w confessions&documentary abt Velvet Revo,citing R,Khatami,Kar&M as conspirators
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Coup strtd purge of Non-Conformants in ministries.Many either fired or arrested.Incl. ppl who were leaking to us
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Iranian Republicans,Nationalists,Royalists(hand full),Leftist groups talking abt armed revolution now.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:First arrest is Kar,then Khatami & a while after M,which will conincide with Martial Law declaration.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL wants Green destroyed. NatSec warning of M,Khat,Kar arrest before Qods day.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL hs announced state of emergency,using NatSec powers 2 crush oponents.Khamenei is behind all of this.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection .AN trying 2 declare sep19th holiday so ppl leave Tehran for long weekend
about 4 hours ago from web
multiple accounts tell us word of mouth efficiently spreads everything we tweet (rumor & fact alike) @freesyrus
half a minute ago from web
It looks like they're aiming for NthKorean or Myanmar style dictatorship - they don't care abt ppl or int'l opinion @AsdollahMirza
6 minutes ago from web
SL is going overboard. NatSecPanel opinion must hv scared him to death
16 minutes ago from web
@Shmangy NIR commander - obviously unnamed
17 minutes ago from web in reply to Shmangy
#iranelection Expediency council files complaints against Fars News & Vatan Emrooz http://bit.ly/uXJls IRNA
17 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Aftr treatment,he continued his protest which led to him being beaten up again & dragged out of Sepah Hospital.
20 minutes ago from web
#iranelection His head ws broken,his glasses smashed in his face &beaten all ovr.He fainted,so agents brought him 2 hospital 4 treatment.
21 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Src:Alireza Beheshti got in to verbal fight w a Security Agent of Sepah,who strtd beating him severely.
22 minutes ago from web
#iranelection cartoon http://bit.ly/fyBvd
33 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Journalists who signed lttr 2 Prosecutor summoned, asked to retract&promise not to report "against Nat'l Security"
37 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Beheshti Memorial Foundation offices sealed & closed by Gov. http://bit.ly/BElYL parleman
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Src:Zarghami head of IRIB affrimed by Ldr,will remain in his position.Will b out in a few days.Nothing will change there.
about 1 hour ago from web
RT @AsdollahMirza Wouldn't have thought SL'd do us the favor to disqualify himself by stupid moves like the recent ones.
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection We knew it but now we heard it from SL himself.Ali has completely lost it.
about 2 hours ago from web
Safi-Golpaygani had written a letter criticizing cabinet
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL to Safi-Golpaygani"In Velayat-e Faqih, only SL rules,President&Mins r just his tools of Governance&employees"
about 2 hours ago from web
@IsleyConst Last I heard a Khobregan majority is with SL...
about 2 hours ago from web in reply to IsleyConst
#iranelection Marja r waiting on arrival of Ayat. Sistani. @chwn
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Ayat. Nouri-Hamedani retracts his congrats 2 AN.
about 2 hours ago from web
SL threatening Marjas is *completely* nuts...
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Qom Src:SL sent serious warning 2 all Marja not 2 get invlvd in "Matters of State" or face consequences.
about 2 hours ago from web
RT @AsdollahMirza Mousavi FB: Statement No. 12 (FA) with short English summary http://bit.ly/2ANXMC #iranelection
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection new cmdr of Rasulollah (NorthTehran) confirms Basij mobilization&determination 2 crush any attempt by "protesters&subversives"
about 3 hours ago from web
no I didn't get new reports on the fatwa today @chwn
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Mousavi warns of Dark days ahead,new wave of suppression.
about 3 hours ago from web
@anemone2708 as I just tweeted different groups are organizing a common front, we can only wait&see where this goes
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to anemone2708
I don't see how things can be resolved now... alienating the ppl even more won't solve anything for coup, they're just irresponsible @Eowyn9
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection M just released his statement #12
about 3 hours ago from web
@anemone2708 All I can say is I hope the scare tactics will fail
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to anemone2708
bad that they're ignoring NatSec warnings of collapse & making crazy moves to "win" @Eowyn9
about 3 hours ago from web
their common sense is long gone, they're ignoring reports that ppl r at boiling point...anything goes @AsdollahMirza @oxfordgirl
about 3 hours ago from web
@Mwolda the commander who has been supervising NIR all along
about 3 hours ago from web in reply to Mwolda
#iranelection the logic behind this:SL declard investigations TopSecret, Reformists are "breaking law/endangering NatSec" by divulging info.
about 3 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL got intel by new IntelMinister "widespread protest is ovr.Now only some left ovrs&best time to attack."
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL has also been getting intel that "Green is dead"
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL hs bn given "evidence" by IRGC Intel on "plot" against him by Rafsanjani,Khatami,Karubi&Mousavi.
about 4 hours ago from web
I won't make any predictions but things look extremely bad @Joos4 @KOUTCHOULOU
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection #nir Commandr declared all out war on Khamenei & Coup today.Fight is going violent.No more diplomacy.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:If arrests&threats don't work,they'll cancel Qods day.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Resistance alliance in formation. Planning raids & attacks on sensitive facilities & Gov.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL has ordrd them arrested.Don't know if formal warrants hv bn issued but that's only a formality.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL office distributing CDs to Uni Profs w confessions&documentary abt Velvet Revo,citing R,Khatami,Kar&M as conspirators
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Coup strtd purge of Non-Conformants in ministries.Many either fired or arrested.Incl. ppl who were leaking to us
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Iranian Republicans,Nationalists,Royalists(hand full),Leftist groups talking abt armed revolution now.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:First arrest is Kar,then Khatami & a while after M,which will conincide with Martial Law declaration.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL wants Green destroyed. NatSec warning of M,Khat,Kar arrest before Qods day.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:SL hs announced state of emergency,using NatSec powers 2 crush oponents.Khamenei is behind all of this.
about 4 hours ago from web
#iranelection .AN trying 2 declare sep19th holiday so ppl leave Tehran for long weekend
about 4 hours ago from web
eternitys_child
Proud Member
More important info:
Iranelection University dorms being closed & evacuated ahead of Qods day
28 minutes ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iran #gr88 #iranelection
37 minutes ago from web
Pls RT farsi version. V needs to know coup tactics to prepare for Qods day
40 minutes ago from web
#iranelection (tweet in farsi = on Sharivar 24 disturbances on com networks will be created) PLS spread farsi tweet
42 minutes ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iranelection
44 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Leak:Coup planning 2 cut off/distort comm/internet starting 48 hrs b4 Qods day 2 prevent Green coordination
about 1 hour ago from web
Iranelection University dorms being closed & evacuated ahead of Qods day
28 minutes ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iran #gr88 #iranelection
37 minutes ago from web
Pls RT farsi version. V needs to know coup tactics to prepare for Qods day
40 minutes ago from web
#iranelection (tweet in farsi = on Sharivar 24 disturbances on com networks will be created) PLS spread farsi tweet
42 minutes ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iranelection
44 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Leak:Coup planning 2 cut off/distort comm/internet starting 48 hrs b4 Qods day 2 prevent Green coordination
about 1 hour ago from web
eternitys_child
Proud Member
http://homylafayette.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Dissent at home: Many within our family disagree with Khamenei, says his nephew
Mahin Gorji of Radio Farda spoke to Mahmoud Tehrani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's nephew, who resides in Paris. Tehrani is the son of Khamenei's sister. Radio Farda is the Persian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in Prague and financed by the US Congress.
Mahmoud Tehrani:
Unfortunately, many Iranians believed until recently that this regime could be reformed... and that this could be done through words and policies. But this election and Ahmadinejad's rise to power made it clear that these people cannot be reformed through civil and lawful words, or through politics. Positions have thus been somewhat radicalized and opposition has become more forceful. These gentlemen (NB aghayoun or gentlemen is widely used in Iran to refer to regime insiders) would not confront the conservative wing [in this manner] several years ago. But after the elections, when it became apparent that they're not even prepared to give the post of president to anyone else and that they're willing to employ force to hold on to the presidency, positions were somewhat radicalized.
I even have news from within our family... many within the family disagreed with Ali Khamenei -- his words or the policies of the Islamic Republic -- but out of consideration [for him] they kept silent until the elections.
Radio Farda:
After the election, many people like Mehdi Karroubi strived to restore the rights of the citizens, whom they believed had been wronged. Why, in the face of such peaceful actions, are they treating people like Mr. [Alireza] Beheshti (NB head of the committee investigating the deaths and abuse of protesters, arrested yesterday) or Mr. [Morteza] Alviri (NB head of the committee looking into election fraud, arrested yesterday), or even Mr. Karroubi [whose office was shut down yesterday], in this manner?
Mahmoud Tehrani:
The Islamic Republic has always employed violent words and deeds against the people and any opposition. They started killing from the day they came to power. They see anyone who does not repeat what they say or disagrees with them -- be they clerics or western-suited -- as mohareb or against God. They consider themselves to be God and that's how it's been from the start. Violence, for this portion of the Islamic Republic, has become... not a habit, but a religious duty.
Radio Farda:
Who's paying the price for this? Political parties, the people, or ultimately the regime itself?
Mahmoud Tehrani:
Any change has a price. It seems that everyone is paying a price now.
Radio Farda:
In the past, Ayatollah Khamenei had the last word in resolving political disputes. Has Ayatollah Khamenei been able to handle things successfully until now?
Mahmoud Tehrani:
I think that my uncle, Ali Khamenei, is a tool for Ahmadinejad, Mesbah Yazdi, and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). If he's not an accomplice in their crimes, he's at least their tool. He can't do anything. If he takes one step back, his leadership will be destroyed and his side will fall apart. I don't even think that he has had much power for years. It is not impossible that all these operations are being led by the IRGC and Ali Khamenei has to go along to hold on to his position. He won't do or say anything. We haven't heard anything in particular from Ali Khamenei since June 14. He's just repeated Ahmadinejad's words.
Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Dissent at home: Many within our family disagree with Khamenei, says his nephew
Mahin Gorji of Radio Farda spoke to Mahmoud Tehrani, Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei's nephew, who resides in Paris. Tehrani is the son of Khamenei's sister. Radio Farda is the Persian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, based in Prague and financed by the US Congress.
Mahmoud Tehrani:
Unfortunately, many Iranians believed until recently that this regime could be reformed... and that this could be done through words and policies. But this election and Ahmadinejad's rise to power made it clear that these people cannot be reformed through civil and lawful words, or through politics. Positions have thus been somewhat radicalized and opposition has become more forceful. These gentlemen (NB aghayoun or gentlemen is widely used in Iran to refer to regime insiders) would not confront the conservative wing [in this manner] several years ago. But after the elections, when it became apparent that they're not even prepared to give the post of president to anyone else and that they're willing to employ force to hold on to the presidency, positions were somewhat radicalized.
I even have news from within our family... many within the family disagreed with Ali Khamenei -- his words or the policies of the Islamic Republic -- but out of consideration [for him] they kept silent until the elections.
Radio Farda:
After the election, many people like Mehdi Karroubi strived to restore the rights of the citizens, whom they believed had been wronged. Why, in the face of such peaceful actions, are they treating people like Mr. [Alireza] Beheshti (NB head of the committee investigating the deaths and abuse of protesters, arrested yesterday) or Mr. [Morteza] Alviri (NB head of the committee looking into election fraud, arrested yesterday), or even Mr. Karroubi [whose office was shut down yesterday], in this manner?
Mahmoud Tehrani:
The Islamic Republic has always employed violent words and deeds against the people and any opposition. They started killing from the day they came to power. They see anyone who does not repeat what they say or disagrees with them -- be they clerics or western-suited -- as mohareb or against God. They consider themselves to be God and that's how it's been from the start. Violence, for this portion of the Islamic Republic, has become... not a habit, but a religious duty.
Radio Farda:
Who's paying the price for this? Political parties, the people, or ultimately the regime itself?
Mahmoud Tehrani:
Any change has a price. It seems that everyone is paying a price now.
Radio Farda:
In the past, Ayatollah Khamenei had the last word in resolving political disputes. Has Ayatollah Khamenei been able to handle things successfully until now?
Mahmoud Tehrani:
I think that my uncle, Ali Khamenei, is a tool for Ahmadinejad, Mesbah Yazdi, and the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC). If he's not an accomplice in their crimes, he's at least their tool. He can't do anything. If he takes one step back, his leadership will be destroyed and his side will fall apart. I don't even think that he has had much power for years. It is not impossible that all these operations are being led by the IRGC and Ali Khamenei has to go along to hold on to his position. He won't do or say anything. We haven't heard anything in particular from Ali Khamenei since June 14. He's just repeated Ahmadinejad's words.
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Thursday Updates
http://twitter.com/MikVerbrugge
خط های تلفن همراه چه ثابت چه اعتباری از امشب با مشکل مواجه خواهد شد و گفته شده فردا موسوی بازداشت خواهد شد
3 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Urgent-Src:Mousavi's arrest warrant issd.Arrest may take place tomorrow.Communication black out will follow.
4 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Src:Karrubi's arrest warrant issued.Arrest is imminent.
6 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Arrest warrant against Karrubi is applied undr "Social Order & Security" laws.
6 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Pres's legal dept. argues Karubi provokes unrest&antiGov demonstrations,distorts truth to weaken regime.
7 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Charge against Karrubi is "provocation of masses to participate on Qods Day"
8 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Src:AN brought charges against Karrubi at Judiciary asking for an arrest warrant.
9 minutes ago from web
getting alarming reports about Karroubi
10 minutes ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iranelection important,V must know
about 1 hour ago from web
SLarijani has to work on this basis otherwise,he himself would be violating laws.
about 2 hours ago from web
In accordance w IRI laws,issue of Elex fraud is closed by final findings of Guardian Council.
about 2 hours ago from web
He said Judiciary will not tolerate such violations of law & will establish its independence & enforce the law.
about 2 hours ago from web
His declaration was not proGov. He hinted at Elex protesters&officials who "moved outside of laws"
about 2 hours ago from web
here's what I'm told about S.Larijani's perceived switch :
about 2 hours ago from web
#Iranelection #NIR cell leader:We r ready 4 martyrdom&hv askd those we wrongd 4 forgiveness&blessing.Don't moan us.Celebrate.4 Iran
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Kahrizak cmdr (freed 3 hrs aftr 1st arrest by ordr of AN) arrested again ystrdy by S.Larijani's order
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection neoresistance via @lilioo Mashaei's delirium: Profusions of Mashaei !? (scary) http://bit.ly/g1CYZ
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection He'll -ask all 2 forgive&forget,give new Gov a chance -talk of SoftWar,enemies -promise justice served&all violators punished
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection leak: SL's FP notes: if they're real, FP will be a non-event and rehash of previous declarations
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection This has apparently been happening since yesterday in almost all north Tehran neighborhoods
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection report of repelled Basij attack on protests,fighting back&prevented arrests ystrday in Median Shahid
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL complains of severe headache attacks,receives heavy pain killers,shows signs of possible Schizo/Paranoia/Bipolarity
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:Khamenei's camp worried: he seems 2 be losing touch w reality,is no longer in control of thoughts&deeds
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection 150 Managers & Executives purged fr Oil Ministry http://bit.ly/2M8lxe parleman
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Zarghami's affirmation as IRIB Hd by SL confirmed http://bit.ly/13w1qH parleman
about 6 hours ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iran #gr88
#iranelection
about 15 hours ago from web
I won't risk a prediction "what next" is really up the air... @eternitys_child
about 20 hours ago from web
I expect extended coverage for the next few days... unfortunately will deflect western media from purge going on @eternitys_child @Mwolda
about 20 hours ago from web
they chose a "news cycle" perfect time to reveal this, only hours before the anniversary, w/scrutiny on Iran&nuclear fear @eternitys_child
about 21 hours ago from web
@homylafayette posted a more detailed account of piece on the IRGC's alleged implication in 9/11 http://tinyurl.com/m4e4on #iranelection
about 21 hours ago from web
via @iranlaya @homylafayette's detailed report on yesterday's arrests and closures http://tinyurl.com/m4e4on #iranelection
about 21 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Highway Qods day invite http://bit.ly/S6RAs (youtube)
about 22 hours ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iranelection
about 23 hours ago from web
#AllahuAkbar
about 23 hours ago from web
http://twitter.com/MikVerbrugge
خط های تلفن همراه چه ثابت چه اعتباری از امشب با مشکل مواجه خواهد شد و گفته شده فردا موسوی بازداشت خواهد شد
3 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Urgent-Src:Mousavi's arrest warrant issd.Arrest may take place tomorrow.Communication black out will follow.
4 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Src:Karrubi's arrest warrant issued.Arrest is imminent.
6 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Arrest warrant against Karrubi is applied undr "Social Order & Security" laws.
6 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Pres's legal dept. argues Karubi provokes unrest&antiGov demonstrations,distorts truth to weaken regime.
7 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Charge against Karrubi is "provocation of masses to participate on Qods Day"
8 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Src:AN brought charges against Karrubi at Judiciary asking for an arrest warrant.
9 minutes ago from web
getting alarming reports about Karroubi
10 minutes ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iranelection important,V must know
about 1 hour ago from web
SLarijani has to work on this basis otherwise,he himself would be violating laws.
about 2 hours ago from web
In accordance w IRI laws,issue of Elex fraud is closed by final findings of Guardian Council.
about 2 hours ago from web
He said Judiciary will not tolerate such violations of law & will establish its independence & enforce the law.
about 2 hours ago from web
His declaration was not proGov. He hinted at Elex protesters&officials who "moved outside of laws"
about 2 hours ago from web
here's what I'm told about S.Larijani's perceived switch :
about 2 hours ago from web
#Iranelection #NIR cell leader:We r ready 4 martyrdom&hv askd those we wrongd 4 forgiveness&blessing.Don't moan us.Celebrate.4 Iran
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection Kahrizak cmdr (freed 3 hrs aftr 1st arrest by ordr of AN) arrested again ystrdy by S.Larijani's order
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection neoresistance via @lilioo Mashaei's delirium: Profusions of Mashaei !? (scary) http://bit.ly/g1CYZ
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection He'll -ask all 2 forgive&forget,give new Gov a chance -talk of SoftWar,enemies -promise justice served&all violators punished
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection leak: SL's FP notes: if they're real, FP will be a non-event and rehash of previous declarations
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection This has apparently been happening since yesterday in almost all north Tehran neighborhoods
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection report of repelled Basij attack on protests,fighting back&prevented arrests ystrday in Median Shahid
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL complains of severe headache attacks,receives heavy pain killers,shows signs of possible Schizo/Paranoia/Bipolarity
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Src:Khamenei's camp worried: he seems 2 be losing touch w reality,is no longer in control of thoughts&deeds
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection 150 Managers & Executives purged fr Oil Ministry http://bit.ly/2M8lxe parleman
about 6 hours ago from web
#iranelection Zarghami's affirmation as IRIB Hd by SL confirmed http://bit.ly/13w1qH parleman
about 6 hours ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iran #gr88
#iranelection
about 15 hours ago from web
I won't risk a prediction "what next" is really up the air... @eternitys_child
about 20 hours ago from web
I expect extended coverage for the next few days... unfortunately will deflect western media from purge going on @eternitys_child @Mwolda
about 20 hours ago from web
they chose a "news cycle" perfect time to reveal this, only hours before the anniversary, w/scrutiny on Iran&nuclear fear @eternitys_child
about 21 hours ago from web
@homylafayette posted a more detailed account of piece on the IRGC's alleged implication in 9/11 http://tinyurl.com/m4e4on #iranelection
about 21 hours ago from web
via @iranlaya @homylafayette's detailed report on yesterday's arrests and closures http://tinyurl.com/m4e4on #iranelection
about 21 hours ago from web
#iranelection Tehran Highway Qods day invite http://bit.ly/S6RAs (youtube)
about 22 hours ago from web
از روز سه شنبه 24 شهریور اختلالات شدیدی در اینترنت و شبکه تلفن همراه بوجود خواهد آمد #iranelection
about 23 hours ago from web
#AllahuAkbar
about 23 hours ago from web
eternitys_child
Proud Member
More.....
what I tweeted in farsi means "mobile networks r being distorted now & mousavi is said to be arrested tomorrow"
3 minutes ago from web
خط های تلفن همراه چه ثابت چه اعتباری از امشب با مشکل مواجه خواهد شد و گفته شده فردا موسوی بازداشت خواهد شد
9 minutes ago from web
W/ the law Karubi is charged under,u can apply for such as "National Security matter" then hv it sorted out by overloaded courts...
13 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Confirmed:Reformist "Confession" CDs arrived at Basij (Mosque) outlets http://bit.ly/1aQjbK 'fa)
19 minutes ago from web
#iranelection it is an unwritten law tht no Ayatollah can be jailed. (Khomeini convinced grand ayats to promote him b4 savak cd get him)
20 minutes ago from web
#iranelection picture http://bit.ly/pakl0 Iranian daily:Offics of A...(Ayatollah) Karoubi sealed.AYATOLLAH?Promotd by Marja?
22 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Sazegara,Nourzadeh,Makhmalbaf confirm hving rcvd "precise" info on arrst plan 4 ref hds (which we leaked earlier)
24 minutes ago from web
what I tweeted in farsi means "mobile networks r being distorted now & mousavi is said to be arrested tomorrow"
3 minutes ago from web
خط های تلفن همراه چه ثابت چه اعتباری از امشب با مشکل مواجه خواهد شد و گفته شده فردا موسوی بازداشت خواهد شد
9 minutes ago from web
W/ the law Karubi is charged under,u can apply for such as "National Security matter" then hv it sorted out by overloaded courts...
13 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Confirmed:Reformist "Confession" CDs arrived at Basij (Mosque) outlets http://bit.ly/1aQjbK 'fa)
19 minutes ago from web
#iranelection it is an unwritten law tht no Ayatollah can be jailed. (Khomeini convinced grand ayats to promote him b4 savak cd get him)
20 minutes ago from web
#iranelection picture http://bit.ly/pakl0 Iranian daily:Offics of A...(Ayatollah) Karoubi sealed.AYATOLLAH?Promotd by Marja?
22 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Sazegara,Nourzadeh,Makhmalbaf confirm hving rcvd "precise" info on arrst plan 4 ref hds (which we leaked earlier)
24 minutes ago from web
eternitys_child
Proud Member
More...
#Iranelection Sura on flyer says:"& they (evil ones) will be given 4 months to walk earth before they are destroyed."
less than 20 seconds ago from web
#Iranelection Total revolt is announced till reign of infidels is crushed.
6 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection prepare 2 pour in to streets upon imminent arrst of any of our ldrs.Everyday fr Enghelab(revolution) to Azadi(freedom) squares
6 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection Flyer title:Green Movmt Warning to Coup. Then a Sure of Quran, which says "the infidel oppressors will be destroyed"
7 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection http://bit.ly/jPiNa flyer indicates that M & Kar will b arrested soon & thus total revolt till victory.
3 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Green Flyer on Arrest on M/Kar & total revolt declaration http://bit.ly/jPiNa
6 minutes ago from web
Sazman Fadaian Khalgh Iran http://bit.ly/7Y95O @Eowyn9
43 minutes ago from web
also, this particular source has been on point on Judiciary leaks over an over - hope this helps @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
this doesn't mean it will be 100% accurate but "source" label means there are good chances it's true @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
other labels are "rumor" we heard something, "source rumor" someone we trust heard something and "nir" info from network itself @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
everything I tweet from network is curated/labeled, warrant reports were labeled as "source" it means someone my network trusts @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
جنبش سبز، جمهوری خواهی و چشم اندازها http://bit.ly/4F4DRy
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Coalition declaration of Republicans,Leftists,Green & more. http://bit.ly/4F4DRy (fa)
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Fadaiyan declare their support of M's 9 point platform http://bit.ly/2GN76 (fa)
about 2 hours ago from web
#Iranelection Sura on flyer says:"& they (evil ones) will be given 4 months to walk earth before they are destroyed."
less than 20 seconds ago from web
#Iranelection Total revolt is announced till reign of infidels is crushed.
6 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection prepare 2 pour in to streets upon imminent arrst of any of our ldrs.Everyday fr Enghelab(revolution) to Azadi(freedom) squares
6 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection Flyer title:Green Movmt Warning to Coup. Then a Sure of Quran, which says "the infidel oppressors will be destroyed"
7 minutes ago from web
#Iranelection http://bit.ly/jPiNa flyer indicates that M & Kar will b arrested soon & thus total revolt till victory.
3 minutes ago from web
#iranelection Green Flyer on Arrest on M/Kar & total revolt declaration http://bit.ly/jPiNa
6 minutes ago from web
Sazman Fadaian Khalgh Iran http://bit.ly/7Y95O @Eowyn9
43 minutes ago from web
also, this particular source has been on point on Judiciary leaks over an over - hope this helps @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
this doesn't mean it will be 100% accurate but "source" label means there are good chances it's true @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
other labels are "rumor" we heard something, "source rumor" someone we trust heard something and "nir" info from network itself @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
everything I tweet from network is curated/labeled, warrant reports were labeled as "source" it means someone my network trusts @royasmusic
about 1 hour ago from web
جنبش سبز، جمهوری خواهی و چشم اندازها http://bit.ly/4F4DRy
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Coalition declaration of Republicans,Leftists,Green & more. http://bit.ly/4F4DRy (fa)
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection Fadaiyan declare their support of M's 9 point platform http://bit.ly/2GN76 (fa)
about 2 hours ago from web
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Updates: RT Mikverbrugge
Src:Kar ended by saying 2 A.Larijani,I hope u don't sell ur religion like your brother & left.
43 minutes ago from web
Src:Kar spent most of time telling A.Larijani abt wht he knows,crimes,Hojjatieh Coup&brough huge allegations upon Judiciary
43 minutes ago from web
I was busy putting up the translation, I'll restart what source said about Kar/Lar meeting - rouydad doesn't say exactly the same thing
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection http://bit.ly/bbet1 rouydad already confirms Larijani/Karubi meeting
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection http://bit.ly/dJKtv translation of Rafsanjani's Qods declaration
about 1 hour ago from web
Src:Kar said:I'd rather die thn be silent while ones who fough Khomeini all their lives take control & broke dialogue with SL
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Src:A.Larijani delivered a msg fr SL 2 Kar to "be quiet till things r back 2 normal&all will b lookd in2"
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection R's message essentially means "Pour into the streets. Don't give up, if you cave in, you'll lose."
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection R's message ends: "I tell you, night is always darkest before sunrise" http://bit.ly/f9aKq ISNA
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection R. announces Qods day as day against tyranny & oppression http://bit.ly/f9aKq ISNA
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL website quotes Al-Arabiya on R's threat 2 resign, says it's false... http://bit.ly/sFVvT khamenei.ir
about 3 hours ago from web
my guess is they'd park them somewhere tightly controlled to make them promote Qods msg w/o seeing any green @tehranweekly @lissnup
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection rumor that Foreign press may be allowed to cover Qods day.
about 5 hours ago from web
Src:Kar ended by saying 2 A.Larijani,I hope u don't sell ur religion like your brother & left.
43 minutes ago from web
Src:Kar spent most of time telling A.Larijani abt wht he knows,crimes,Hojjatieh Coup&brough huge allegations upon Judiciary
43 minutes ago from web
I was busy putting up the translation, I'll restart what source said about Kar/Lar meeting - rouydad doesn't say exactly the same thing
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection http://bit.ly/bbet1 rouydad already confirms Larijani/Karubi meeting
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection http://bit.ly/dJKtv translation of Rafsanjani's Qods declaration
about 1 hour ago from web
Src:Kar said:I'd rather die thn be silent while ones who fough Khomeini all their lives take control & broke dialogue with SL
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection Src:A.Larijani delivered a msg fr SL 2 Kar to "be quiet till things r back 2 normal&all will b lookd in2"
about 1 hour ago from web
#iranelection R's message essentially means "Pour into the streets. Don't give up, if you cave in, you'll lose."
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection R's message ends: "I tell you, night is always darkest before sunrise" http://bit.ly/f9aKq ISNA
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection R. announces Qods day as day against tyranny & oppression http://bit.ly/f9aKq ISNA
about 2 hours ago from web
#iranelection SL website quotes Al-Arabiya on R's threat 2 resign, says it's false... http://bit.ly/sFVvT khamenei.ir
about 3 hours ago from web
my guess is they'd park them somewhere tightly controlled to make them promote Qods msg w/o seeing any green @tehranweekly @lissnup
about 5 hours ago from web
#iranelection rumor that Foreign press may be allowed to cover Qods day.
about 5 hours ago from web
Last edited:
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Via EnduringAmerica Karroubi, Mousavi, and Khatami will participate in Qods Day demonstration:
For the Green movement, yesterday brought alignment of the pieces. Mehdi Karroubi, to say the least, is already in play; the question now, after all the Government threats against him, is how high a profile he takes on Friday. Tuesday morning brought the entry of Mir Hossein Mousavi with the announcement that he would participate in the Qods Day demonstration and encourage followers to do so; Mohammad Khatami repeated the process in the afternoon.
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/09/16/irans-chess-match-setting-up-the-pieces-for-friday/
---------
There was going to be an internet and communication blackout in Iran 48 hours before Quods Day. If you can still get on-line now pass the word about TOR. The greenmachine software although well intentioned is dangerous. TOR is the safest. Instructions/info/links about TOR in tweets below.
RT @Iran_Techie
Tor bridges posted anywhere public become useless the moment they are seen. #Iranelection #Iran #gr88 #tech [via @ TheVeni1]
about 4 hours ago from iZombie
RT @UliBeudgen: TOR is safe & posted 17 languages Click on flags upper right corner: https://www.torproject.org/ #Iranelection #tech
about 5 hours ago from iZombie
Please, if you are going to try and help people in Iran, to safely surf the internet, tell them about TOR #iranelection #iran #sog #tech
about 5 hours ago from iZombie
#iranelection Detailed instructions for tor: English: http://torir.org/ Farsi: http://torir.org/index.html.fa فارس&#
about 6 hours ago from iZombie
#iranelection How to protect your computer from hackers, spyware and viruses http://bit.ly/10RmBo #tech
about 6 hours ago from iZombie
#iranelection http://bit.ly/16Fd6u free encryption/anti-keylogging software package for Windows LapTops & PCs #tech
about 6 hours ago from iZombie
--------
Also it was rumored that Hashemi Rafsanjani would be shut out from from Qods Day prayers so President Ahmadinejad could introduce his hard-line supporter, Ahmad Khatami. This has since been announced/confirmed so the following reminder is being circulated:
RT MikVerbrugge #iranelection remember Rahnavar said that if Rafsanjani doesn't lead prayer, stop at Enghelab, don't go to Uni
I am adding this because some sites for information have been adding to work around the government shutdowns of sites. The enduring america site is a good source for up to date summaries of what is going on:
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/09/16/the-latest-from-iran-16-september-smoke-before-battle/
In their latest update they write this
1800 GMT: Easy Does It. In a measured, even careful, interview with Tabnak, Hashemi Rafsanjani has downplayed his absence from leading Friday Prayers on Qods Day for the first time in a quarter-century: “It is not necessary after 30 years that I should lead the prayers:”
1555 GMT: Why are tents being erected around the main campus of Tehran University, where this Friday’s prayers will be held?
1545 GMT: Make of this what you will: the Iranian Government has declared national holidays on Saturday and Monday, the day before and after the celebration of the end of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr.
1310 GMT: Cyber-charge. Talk about a story turning in a few hours. The opposition’s aggressive fightback on the Web continues: Mowj-e-Sabz has launched an English-language website.
1215 GMT: Cyber-bounce. Indeed, after our worry this morning (0950 GMT) about a drop in information via the Web, there is a bit of a resurgence. Mehdi Karroubi seems to have a new website for his statements and news. Is this an alternative for the Etemade Melli site, which is still down?
News is also being posted on tagheer.ir.
1200 GMT: If the Iranian regime is trying to block news in and out of Iran, the effort is incomplete. Fereshteh Ghazi has interviewed Ayatollah Mousavi-Tabrizi, who highlights the clerical resistance: “The authorities know [their] pressures have no effect on my position and action or those of Qom scholars.” He adds, in relation to the arrest of his children and the family members of other clerics on Monday, “My sons and the sons of Mr. Nazemzadeh and Mr. Ahmadi aren’t clerics, so why are they tried in clerics’ court?”(summary in English via Ghazi’s Twitter account)
Twitter traffic from inside Iran is also picking up.
For the Green movement, yesterday brought alignment of the pieces. Mehdi Karroubi, to say the least, is already in play; the question now, after all the Government threats against him, is how high a profile he takes on Friday. Tuesday morning brought the entry of Mir Hossein Mousavi with the announcement that he would participate in the Qods Day demonstration and encourage followers to do so; Mohammad Khatami repeated the process in the afternoon.
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/09/16/irans-chess-match-setting-up-the-pieces-for-friday/
---------
There was going to be an internet and communication blackout in Iran 48 hours before Quods Day. If you can still get on-line now pass the word about TOR. The greenmachine software although well intentioned is dangerous. TOR is the safest. Instructions/info/links about TOR in tweets below.
RT @Iran_Techie
Tor bridges posted anywhere public become useless the moment they are seen. #Iranelection #Iran #gr88 #tech [via @ TheVeni1]
about 4 hours ago from iZombie
RT @UliBeudgen: TOR is safe & posted 17 languages Click on flags upper right corner: https://www.torproject.org/ #Iranelection #tech
about 5 hours ago from iZombie
Please, if you are going to try and help people in Iran, to safely surf the internet, tell them about TOR #iranelection #iran #sog #tech
about 5 hours ago from iZombie
#iranelection Detailed instructions for tor: English: http://torir.org/ Farsi: http://torir.org/index.html.fa فارس&#
about 6 hours ago from iZombie
#iranelection How to protect your computer from hackers, spyware and viruses http://bit.ly/10RmBo #tech
about 6 hours ago from iZombie
#iranelection http://bit.ly/16Fd6u free encryption/anti-keylogging software package for Windows LapTops & PCs #tech
about 6 hours ago from iZombie
--------
Also it was rumored that Hashemi Rafsanjani would be shut out from from Qods Day prayers so President Ahmadinejad could introduce his hard-line supporter, Ahmad Khatami. This has since been announced/confirmed so the following reminder is being circulated:
RT MikVerbrugge #iranelection remember Rahnavar said that if Rafsanjani doesn't lead prayer, stop at Enghelab, don't go to Uni
I am adding this because some sites for information have been adding to work around the government shutdowns of sites. The enduring america site is a good source for up to date summaries of what is going on:
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/09/16/the-latest-from-iran-16-september-smoke-before-battle/
In their latest update they write this
1800 GMT: Easy Does It. In a measured, even careful, interview with Tabnak, Hashemi Rafsanjani has downplayed his absence from leading Friday Prayers on Qods Day for the first time in a quarter-century: “It is not necessary after 30 years that I should lead the prayers:”
1555 GMT: Why are tents being erected around the main campus of Tehran University, where this Friday’s prayers will be held?
1545 GMT: Make of this what you will: the Iranian Government has declared national holidays on Saturday and Monday, the day before and after the celebration of the end of Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr.
1310 GMT: Cyber-charge. Talk about a story turning in a few hours. The opposition’s aggressive fightback on the Web continues: Mowj-e-Sabz has launched an English-language website.
1215 GMT: Cyber-bounce. Indeed, after our worry this morning (0950 GMT) about a drop in information via the Web, there is a bit of a resurgence. Mehdi Karroubi seems to have a new website for his statements and news. Is this an alternative for the Etemade Melli site, which is still down?
News is also being posted on tagheer.ir.
1200 GMT: If the Iranian regime is trying to block news in and out of Iran, the effort is incomplete. Fereshteh Ghazi has interviewed Ayatollah Mousavi-Tabrizi, who highlights the clerical resistance: “The authorities know [their] pressures have no effect on my position and action or those of Qom scholars.” He adds, in relation to the arrest of his children and the family members of other clerics on Monday, “My sons and the sons of Mr. Nazemzadeh and Mr. Ahmadi aren’t clerics, so why are they tried in clerics’ court?”(summary in English via Ghazi’s Twitter account)
Twitter traffic from inside Iran is also picking up.
Last edited:
eternitys_child
Proud Member
http://twitter.com/Mikverbrugge
RT @atlatl2 & @khorshid3 The march goes on. ANY OTHER NEWS WILL BE FALSE. #Iranelection
10 minutes ago from web
#iranelection http://www.signforchange.info/
RT @atlatl2 & @khorshid3 The march goes on. ANY OTHER NEWS WILL BE FALSE. #Iranelection
10 minutes ago from web
#iranelection http://www.signforchange.info/
Last edited:
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Last post before Qods:
The fake president is preparing a fake show of fake supporters to impress the foreign journalists from enemy countries!! #iranelection
27 minutes ago from web
RT @LionCome: RT RT AH doesn't have support in THN so he hs 2 bus Basij fr other cities 2 make it look lk his supporters #iranelection #gr88
29 minutes ago from web
@mohandesalireza "V"
34 minutes ago from web in reply to mohandesalireza
@TNTIran I know, me too ...it's real edge of seat stuff!
34 minutes ago from web
RT @persianbanooFr Mous F-B: Gov is going 2 control foreign media's access. Important to get news out for world 2 see Greens #iranelection
36 minutes ago from web
@redcrossmom I am thinking it could be to create a space for the forces to be a 'pretend' public in support of reg.
39 minutes ago from web in reply to redcrossmom
RT : From Mousavi's FB: 3/3-"...May it be in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Jerusalem or in Iran. " @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
40 minutes ago from web
RT From Mousavi's FB: 2/3-"Our slogan for tomorrow: Put down you gun; As I hate bloodshed...(contd)" #iranelection @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
41 minutes ago from web
@Mwolda Mousavi's FB: 1/3-"Our symbol for 2morrow: Green colour and if possible large Green cloths...(contd)" #iranelection @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
42 minutes ago from web in reply to Mwolda
RT @Mwolda Mousavi's FB: 3/3-"... about Qods Day could be prevented." #iranelection
43 minutes ago from web
@Mwolda I'm quotng strt out of Mousavi's FB: 2-"journalist b sent 2 the international news agencies as soon as possible so..." #iranelection
44 minutes ago from web in reply to Mwolda
@Mwolda I'm quoting straight out of MousaviFB: 1-"It is nec that the news and pictures of Green movement taken by citizen." #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to Mwolda
RT @Kh: Mousavi FB latest: Mousavi says dont fall 4 it,cn citizen journalists pls take pics/vids & send 2 international media #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
RT @persianbanoo: Mousavi warrned of false news before Q-D. Grn sites most reliable. Nothing is cancelled #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
Maybe the fake support pantomime will be going on inside the green partitions? #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
Mousavi FB : Reg planning to use forces - chanting in support of reg - to show foreign journalists. #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
Mousavi FB: WARNING To International Journalists and Citizens. http://www.twitlonger.com/s... #iranelection @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
about 1 hour ago from web
http://www.twitlonger.com/s...
about 1 hour ago from web
Warning to International Journalists and Citizen Journalists reporting the Green movement events: According to the (cont) http://tl.gd/heat
about 1 hour ago from Twitlonger
@perry1949 Inside the canvas is where the foreign journalists will be, as well!
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to perry1949
@TNTIran Yes, & tomorrow will be tense...then, as u say, it will ease a bit, hopefully.
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to TNTIran
RT @jomhirani: Bcuz of foreign media IRG is trying hardest 2 hide SoG. Imp. to send in as much video & footage. NO FACES PLS. #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
RT @khorshid3: Rally tomrw with Jewish, Bahai, Christian, Its not about religion, we R all Iranian its abt #Iran & democracy #Iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
The fake president is preparing a fake show of fake supporters to impress the foreign journalists from enemy countries!! #iranelection
27 minutes ago from web
RT @LionCome: RT RT AH doesn't have support in THN so he hs 2 bus Basij fr other cities 2 make it look lk his supporters #iranelection #gr88
29 minutes ago from web
@mohandesalireza "V"
34 minutes ago from web in reply to mohandesalireza
@TNTIran I know, me too ...it's real edge of seat stuff!
34 minutes ago from web
RT @persianbanooFr Mous F-B: Gov is going 2 control foreign media's access. Important to get news out for world 2 see Greens #iranelection
36 minutes ago from web
@redcrossmom I am thinking it could be to create a space for the forces to be a 'pretend' public in support of reg.
39 minutes ago from web in reply to redcrossmom
RT : From Mousavi's FB: 3/3-"...May it be in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Jerusalem or in Iran. " @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
40 minutes ago from web
RT From Mousavi's FB: 2/3-"Our slogan for tomorrow: Put down you gun; As I hate bloodshed...(contd)" #iranelection @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
41 minutes ago from web
@Mwolda Mousavi's FB: 1/3-"Our symbol for 2morrow: Green colour and if possible large Green cloths...(contd)" #iranelection @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
42 minutes ago from web in reply to Mwolda
RT @Mwolda Mousavi's FB: 3/3-"... about Qods Day could be prevented." #iranelection
43 minutes ago from web
@Mwolda I'm quotng strt out of Mousavi's FB: 2-"journalist b sent 2 the international news agencies as soon as possible so..." #iranelection
44 minutes ago from web in reply to Mwolda
@Mwolda I'm quoting straight out of MousaviFB: 1-"It is nec that the news and pictures of Green movement taken by citizen." #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to Mwolda
RT @Kh: Mousavi FB latest: Mousavi says dont fall 4 it,cn citizen journalists pls take pics/vids & send 2 international media #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
RT @persianbanoo: Mousavi warrned of false news before Q-D. Grn sites most reliable. Nothing is cancelled #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
Maybe the fake support pantomime will be going on inside the green partitions? #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
Mousavi FB : Reg planning to use forces - chanting in support of reg - to show foreign journalists. #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
Mousavi FB: WARNING To International Journalists and Citizens. http://www.twitlonger.com/s... #iranelection @CNN @BBC #MEDIA
about 1 hour ago from web
http://www.twitlonger.com/s...
about 1 hour ago from web
Warning to International Journalists and Citizen Journalists reporting the Green movement events: According to the (cont) http://tl.gd/heat
about 1 hour ago from Twitlonger
@perry1949 Inside the canvas is where the foreign journalists will be, as well!
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to perry1949
@TNTIran Yes, & tomorrow will be tense...then, as u say, it will ease a bit, hopefully.
about 1 hour ago from web in reply to TNTIran
RT @jomhirani: Bcuz of foreign media IRG is trying hardest 2 hide SoG. Imp. to send in as much video & footage. NO FACES PLS. #iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
RT @khorshid3: Rally tomrw with Jewish, Bahai, Christian, Its not about religion, we R all Iranian its abt #Iran & democracy #Iranelection
about 1 hour ago from web
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Sorry... one more from Mousavi's facebook page:
URGENT: Karrubi to be in 7Tir Sq. tommorow 11 a.m. (+3:30 GMT) فوری فوری: مهدی کروبی فردا ساعت 11 صبح میدان 7 تیر رسانه شمائید #iranElection
about 3 hours ago from Echofon
URGENT: Karrubi to be in 7Tir Sq. tommorow 11 a.m. (+3:30 GMT) فوری فوری: مهدی کروبی فردا ساعت 11 صبح میدان 7 تیر رسانه شمائید #iranElection
about 3 hours ago from Echofon
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Good job Iranians! You were awesome today. I hope you all know that.
I don't know how to share the photos and video's from facebook and twitter on here.
Karoubi, Mousavi, (former pres) Khatami, Rafsanjani all joined marchers and are safe because people protected them. I will find pictures later and post after they show up on other sites than facebook. They are starting to show up in world media. It is said there were more people out than after the election and they are going back out again tonight.
Here is one photo anyway:
I don't know how to share the photos and video's from facebook and twitter on here.
Karoubi, Mousavi, (former pres) Khatami, Rafsanjani all joined marchers and are safe because people protected them. I will find pictures later and post after they show up on other sites than facebook. They are starting to show up in world media. It is said there were more people out than after the election and they are going back out again tonight.
Here is one photo anyway:
Last edited:
eternitys_child
Proud Member
This article is a good summary:
http://tehranbureau.com/dday-greens/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-Day for the Greens
By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 19 Sept 2009
[TEHRAN BUREAU] Comment Quds Day was crucial to both the Green Movement and the hardliners. The Green Movement wanted to demonstrate that it was a genuine democratic movement; and though under relentless assault by the hardliners for the past three months, still vibrant and energetic. It also wanted to show that the movement is deeply rooted in society and encompasses people from all walks of life. It wanted to demonstrate that it is not, as some have claimed, a narrow movement limited to the upper and upper middle classes in large Iranian cities.
The hardliners wanted to demonstrate to the world, and more importantly to the Iranian people, that the country has overcome the deep crisis that gripped Iran in the immediate aftermath of the rigged June 12 presidential election, and that the country is back to a normal state of affairs.
Although the hardliners expelled foreign reporters en mass from Iran only a few days after the election, they granted a large number of visas to reporters to return to Iran to report on the Quds Day demonstrations, and to see for themselves that the country was back to normal.
Throughout the entire week leading to Quds Day, beginning with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Friday prayer sermons in Tehran on September 11, the hardliners did their best to scare and discourage the supporters of the Green Movement from taking to the streets to showcase their strength. Ayatollah Khamenei had declared that, “Quds Day belongs to Quds [Jerusalem]; no other slogans must be used” in the demonstrations, hence signaling the hardline faction’s intention to confront the supporters of this democratic grassroots movement.
The high command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) also issued a statement threatening “rioters” and “agents of foreign governments” from “abusing” Quds Day.
Rumors were disseminated throughout the country that the arrests of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and former president Mohammad Khatami, the leaders of the Green Movement, were imminent. There were even rumors that the Quds Day demonstrations would be cancelled. As the author reported previously, the cancellation had even been recommended by the Ministry of Intelligence.
The children, grandchildren, and relatives of several outspoken critics of the hardliners, including those of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, and even the brother-in-law of Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president in the Khatami administration and still in jail after three months, were arrested.
The government gave Thursday (September 17), the day before the Quds Day, as well as today (Saturday September 19) off to its employees. Given that tomorrow is Eid el-Fitr, the day that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, is also a national holiday, the government gave, in effect, its employees a four-day vacation, with the hope that they would go out of town and not participate in the demonstrations.
In the words of Hojjatoleslam Rasoul Montajabnia (deputy leader of the National Trust Party, Karroubi’s political organization), the hardliners, who seem afraid even of their own shadows, replaced former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who had been the Friday prayer leader of Quds Day for the last 27 years, with Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami (no relation to the former president), a fiery hardliner and ardent supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They also announced that Ahmadinejad himself would be giving a speech before the prayer.
In the end, nothing that the hardliners did yielded the desired result. Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Green Movement demonstrated, not just in Tehran, but in many other cities around the country, including Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Kermanshah, Rasht, Bushehr, Ahwaz, Kerman, Yazd, and even Qom. There were seas of green everywhere.
In Tehran, supporters of the Green Movement began gathering at the Seventh of Tir Square (a major intersection), and then moved toward the campus of Tehran University, where the Friday Prayer and Ahmadinejad’s speech were to be held.
Karroubi joined the demonstrators and walked with them all the way to the vicinity of Tehran University.
To prevent the Green Movement’s supporters from penetrating Tehran University, public buses had been used to block all the streets around the campus. Security forces, the Basij militia, and plainclothes agents used tear gas and pepper spray in order to disperse the demonstrators. Meanwhile, access to Yahoo and Google e-mails was greatly restricted, as was access to the internet in general.
Khatami joined the demonstrators close to Palestine Square, a short distance from the campus of the University of Tehran. He was then attacked by a mob led by Abolfazl Shariatmadari, son of Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of Kayhan, the mouthpiece of the hardliners and security forces. One of the assailant was carrying a knife. Khatami sustained minor injuries, but was rescued by the people. He was then whisked away to safety.
Seventh of Tir Square, Karim Khan Zand and Keshavarz Boulevards, Hejaab Street, Fatemi Street (north of Keshavarz Boulevard), and even Motahhari Street (farther north) were completely filled by supporters of the Green Movement. A large crowd also gathered in Azadi (freedom) Square, and walked toward Enghelab (revolution) Square, a short distance from the campus of Tehran University.
The two most important features of the demonstrations, listed below, should not be taken lightly:
First, the fact that there were protests everywhere in Iran demonstrated that the Green Movement is indeed broad and encompassing. The movement has grown in such a way that it has been able to attract a broad spectrum of dissidents, from the most conservative to the most radical. That has become possible partly because of the goals of the Movement, as set forth by Mir Hossein Mousavi in his 11th statement issued two weeks ago: the goals of the Movement must be balanced — not overly radical to deter the more conservative elements, and not too watered-down to disappoint the more liberal elements. In addition, the goals must be such that they can create the broadest and most inclusive consensus.
Second, despite the fact that thousands of people were arrested after the election, hundreds tortured (some to death), raped and sodomized; the most important reformist strategists and leaders rounded up and locked up; Stalinist show trials staged, and “confessions” extracted under immense physical and psychological pressure, people were not afraid to once again come out to the streets, demonstrate and demand their rights.
Another strength of the Green Movement is that, even if Mousavi, Karroubi, Khatami or any other leader were arrested, it would be able to continue to thrive. That is because the organization of the Green Movement is horizontal, not vertical. This means that any supporter of the Movement can act as the local leader. Though the leadership of Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami has been significant, it is not vital to the continuation of the Movement.
Moreover, the arrests of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Khatami will surely make people more determined to continue their struggle. This was acknowledged even by Mojtaba Zolnour, deputy to Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative to the IRGC. He said that their arrest “will make them martyrs.”
The slogans chanted by the demonstrators yesterday also indicated that the nature of the demands of the people had changed dramatically. Whereas the slogan in the demonstrations in the immediate aftermath of the election was, “Where is my vote?”, the slogans chanted yesterday were far more radical. Examples include:
- Quds Day, the day of screams for freedom
- Palestine, we are just like you [as oppressed]
- Not Gaza, not Lebanon, I’ll only die for Iran
- Death to Russia, Death to China [instead of usual suspects USA and Israel]
- Torture, rape, no longer have effect
- Real Basijis [were] Hemmat and Bakeri [two commanders killed in the Iran-Iraq
war, whose families support the Green Movement]
- Your criminals [the reformist strategists who have been jailed] are our heroes
- Rape is bad, whether in Kahrizakz, or in Palestine
[At least four people died under torture and many others were raped and brutalized]
And, in attacking Ahmadinejad, the demonstrators chanted:
- Shut up liar, get lost liar
- Where is your 63% [of the vote], liar?
- Ahmadi[nejad], Ahmadi[nejad], this is the last message [to you]: Iran’s Green Movement is ready for rebellion
And against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:
- Khamenei’s a murderer, his Leadership is no longer valid
Chanting against Ahmadinejad during his speech was so loud that the Voice and Visage of the Islamic Republic [or Seda o Sima, the national radio and television network controlled by the hardliners] had to end live broadcast of the speech, another unprecedented move.
Meanwhile the arrest of the children, grandchildren, relatives, and close aides of senior leaders of the Green Movement and the reformists has continued unabated. Mohammad Mehdi, Mohammad Sadegh, and Mohammad Ali Montazeri, children of Ahmad Montazeri, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s son, have been arrested. In addition, Hamed, Naser, and Hajar Montazeri, three other grandchildren of the Grand Ayatollah, have also been arrested. Moreover, Sara Elahinia, Hamed Montazeri’s wife; and Sara Azizi, Naser Montazeri’s wife, have also been arrested. The children of Mr. Nazemzadeh and Mr. Ahmadi, two close aids of the Grand Ayatollah, have also been arrested.
Several children of Ayatollah Sayyed Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, head of the Association of the Teachers and Scholars of Qom’s Theological Schools, a leftist clerical group, have also been arrested. Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi has been an outspoken critic of the hardliners.
La’yaa Doust-Mohammadi and Mohammad Hossein Rabbani, two grandchildren of Ayatollah Mohammad Mehdi Rabbani Amlashi, one of the original figures in the 1979 Revolution and an aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, have also been arrested. [Ayatollah Rabbani passed away in July 1985].
The following have also been arrested: Mehdi Naeimipour, son of Mohammad Naeimipour, editor of the banned newspaper, Yaas-e No [New Jasmine]; Mehdi Shirzad, son of Dr. Ahmad Shirzad, a professor of physics; and Mehdi Mirdamadi, son of Dr. Mohsen Mirdamadi, secretary-general of Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), Iran’s largest political party, and leading reformist group. The elder Naeimipour and Shirzad are both members of the central committee of the IIPF. Mehdi Mousavi Nejad, a brother-in-law of Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president during the Khatami administration and jailed since the election, has also been arrested.
The goal of the arrest of the relatives, children, and grandchildren of the jailed reformist leaders and outspoken ayatollahs is to pressure those who are in jail to “confess,” and to silence those who are not. In one case, a reformist leader was told that “we have found so much evidence against your son that his punishment is death.”
The hardliners have cornered themselves. If three months ago, the more moderate elements, such as Rafsanjani, could have mediated between the political establishment and the people, it is now becoming too late for that. The hardliners are rapidly burning all the bridges behind them. They resemble Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the last year of his reign.
If the Shah had agreed to the demand of the people in 1977, had democratized his regime, and had transformed it into a truly Constitutional monarchy, he could have saved his throne. But, by the time he agreed to the people’s demands in the fall of 1978, it was too late. The revolutionary forces had become radicalized, and were not willing to settle for anything less than the complete overthrow of the Shah’s regime. The same point of no return is now rapidly approaching.
In his historical letter to Ayatollah Khamenei a few days before the June 12 election, Rafsanjani warned the Ayatollah that,
It should be noted that it is possible that government agents are aware of my view that the continuation of the present state of affairs [a government run by Mr. Ahmadinejad] is not in the interest of the political system and the country, and you yourself know this view of mine very well as I have told you my reasons for it, but I have never talked to the media about it; it is the government that has blown this out of proportion with the goal [attacking Mr. Ahmadinejad’s competitors] that became clear during the debate [with Mr. Mousavi].
Despite this, even if I patiently continue my policy [of not pursuing the matter and remaining silent], part of the population and political parties and groups will undoubtedly not accept this situation, and the volcanoes that are fed by people’s anger will form in the society, many examples of which can be seen in the elections demonstrations in streets and universities.
Therefore, it is essential in the remaining time [until voting on June 12] that Your Excellency’s and people’s desire for having free elections with maximum participation by the people be materialized that can rescue the country from danger, and create national unity and public trust [in the Islamic Republic system] …
Rafsanajani’s prediction is proving to be prophetic.
Copyright © 2009 Tehran Bureau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_meg5DkifnE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsJ9CXcAFLo&feature=player_embedded
The second video is when they shouted down Ahmadinajad during his speech and they had to stop the broadcast of it.
http://tehranbureau.com/dday-greens/
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D-Day for the Greens
By MUHAMMAD SAHIMI in Los Angeles | 19 Sept 2009
[TEHRAN BUREAU] Comment Quds Day was crucial to both the Green Movement and the hardliners. The Green Movement wanted to demonstrate that it was a genuine democratic movement; and though under relentless assault by the hardliners for the past three months, still vibrant and energetic. It also wanted to show that the movement is deeply rooted in society and encompasses people from all walks of life. It wanted to demonstrate that it is not, as some have claimed, a narrow movement limited to the upper and upper middle classes in large Iranian cities.
The hardliners wanted to demonstrate to the world, and more importantly to the Iranian people, that the country has overcome the deep crisis that gripped Iran in the immediate aftermath of the rigged June 12 presidential election, and that the country is back to a normal state of affairs.
Although the hardliners expelled foreign reporters en mass from Iran only a few days after the election, they granted a large number of visas to reporters to return to Iran to report on the Quds Day demonstrations, and to see for themselves that the country was back to normal.
Throughout the entire week leading to Quds Day, beginning with Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Friday prayer sermons in Tehran on September 11, the hardliners did their best to scare and discourage the supporters of the Green Movement from taking to the streets to showcase their strength. Ayatollah Khamenei had declared that, “Quds Day belongs to Quds [Jerusalem]; no other slogans must be used” in the demonstrations, hence signaling the hardline faction’s intention to confront the supporters of this democratic grassroots movement.
The high command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) also issued a statement threatening “rioters” and “agents of foreign governments” from “abusing” Quds Day.
Rumors were disseminated throughout the country that the arrests of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and former president Mohammad Khatami, the leaders of the Green Movement, were imminent. There were even rumors that the Quds Day demonstrations would be cancelled. As the author reported previously, the cancellation had even been recommended by the Ministry of Intelligence.
The children, grandchildren, and relatives of several outspoken critics of the hardliners, including those of Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri, Ayatollah Seyyed Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, and even the brother-in-law of Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president in the Khatami administration and still in jail after three months, were arrested.
The government gave Thursday (September 17), the day before the Quds Day, as well as today (Saturday September 19) off to its employees. Given that tomorrow is Eid el-Fitr, the day that marks the end of the fasting month of Ramadan, is also a national holiday, the government gave, in effect, its employees a four-day vacation, with the hope that they would go out of town and not participate in the demonstrations.
In the words of Hojjatoleslam Rasoul Montajabnia (deputy leader of the National Trust Party, Karroubi’s political organization), the hardliners, who seem afraid even of their own shadows, replaced former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani who had been the Friday prayer leader of Quds Day for the last 27 years, with Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami (no relation to the former president), a fiery hardliner and ardent supporter of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. They also announced that Ahmadinejad himself would be giving a speech before the prayer.
In the end, nothing that the hardliners did yielded the desired result. Hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Green Movement demonstrated, not just in Tehran, but in many other cities around the country, including Tabriz, Isfahan, Shiraz, Mashhad, Kermanshah, Rasht, Bushehr, Ahwaz, Kerman, Yazd, and even Qom. There were seas of green everywhere.
In Tehran, supporters of the Green Movement began gathering at the Seventh of Tir Square (a major intersection), and then moved toward the campus of Tehran University, where the Friday Prayer and Ahmadinejad’s speech were to be held.
Karroubi joined the demonstrators and walked with them all the way to the vicinity of Tehran University.
To prevent the Green Movement’s supporters from penetrating Tehran University, public buses had been used to block all the streets around the campus. Security forces, the Basij militia, and plainclothes agents used tear gas and pepper spray in order to disperse the demonstrators. Meanwhile, access to Yahoo and Google e-mails was greatly restricted, as was access to the internet in general.
Khatami joined the demonstrators close to Palestine Square, a short distance from the campus of the University of Tehran. He was then attacked by a mob led by Abolfazl Shariatmadari, son of Hossein Shariatmadari, the managing editor of Kayhan, the mouthpiece of the hardliners and security forces. One of the assailant was carrying a knife. Khatami sustained minor injuries, but was rescued by the people. He was then whisked away to safety.
Seventh of Tir Square, Karim Khan Zand and Keshavarz Boulevards, Hejaab Street, Fatemi Street (north of Keshavarz Boulevard), and even Motahhari Street (farther north) were completely filled by supporters of the Green Movement. A large crowd also gathered in Azadi (freedom) Square, and walked toward Enghelab (revolution) Square, a short distance from the campus of Tehran University.
The two most important features of the demonstrations, listed below, should not be taken lightly:
First, the fact that there were protests everywhere in Iran demonstrated that the Green Movement is indeed broad and encompassing. The movement has grown in such a way that it has been able to attract a broad spectrum of dissidents, from the most conservative to the most radical. That has become possible partly because of the goals of the Movement, as set forth by Mir Hossein Mousavi in his 11th statement issued two weeks ago: the goals of the Movement must be balanced — not overly radical to deter the more conservative elements, and not too watered-down to disappoint the more liberal elements. In addition, the goals must be such that they can create the broadest and most inclusive consensus.
Second, despite the fact that thousands of people were arrested after the election, hundreds tortured (some to death), raped and sodomized; the most important reformist strategists and leaders rounded up and locked up; Stalinist show trials staged, and “confessions” extracted under immense physical and psychological pressure, people were not afraid to once again come out to the streets, demonstrate and demand their rights.
Another strength of the Green Movement is that, even if Mousavi, Karroubi, Khatami or any other leader were arrested, it would be able to continue to thrive. That is because the organization of the Green Movement is horizontal, not vertical. This means that any supporter of the Movement can act as the local leader. Though the leadership of Mousavi, Karroubi and Khatami has been significant, it is not vital to the continuation of the Movement.
Moreover, the arrests of Mousavi, Karroubi, and Khatami will surely make people more determined to continue their struggle. This was acknowledged even by Mojtaba Zolnour, deputy to Ayatollah Khamenei’s representative to the IRGC. He said that their arrest “will make them martyrs.”
The slogans chanted by the demonstrators yesterday also indicated that the nature of the demands of the people had changed dramatically. Whereas the slogan in the demonstrations in the immediate aftermath of the election was, “Where is my vote?”, the slogans chanted yesterday were far more radical. Examples include:
- Quds Day, the day of screams for freedom
- Palestine, we are just like you [as oppressed]
- Not Gaza, not Lebanon, I’ll only die for Iran
- Death to Russia, Death to China [instead of usual suspects USA and Israel]
- Torture, rape, no longer have effect
- Real Basijis [were] Hemmat and Bakeri [two commanders killed in the Iran-Iraq
war, whose families support the Green Movement]
- Your criminals [the reformist strategists who have been jailed] are our heroes
- Rape is bad, whether in Kahrizakz, or in Palestine
[At least four people died under torture and many others were raped and brutalized]
And, in attacking Ahmadinejad, the demonstrators chanted:
- Shut up liar, get lost liar
- Where is your 63% [of the vote], liar?
- Ahmadi[nejad], Ahmadi[nejad], this is the last message [to you]: Iran’s Green Movement is ready for rebellion
And against Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei:
- Khamenei’s a murderer, his Leadership is no longer valid
Chanting against Ahmadinejad during his speech was so loud that the Voice and Visage of the Islamic Republic [or Seda o Sima, the national radio and television network controlled by the hardliners] had to end live broadcast of the speech, another unprecedented move.
Meanwhile the arrest of the children, grandchildren, relatives, and close aides of senior leaders of the Green Movement and the reformists has continued unabated. Mohammad Mehdi, Mohammad Sadegh, and Mohammad Ali Montazeri, children of Ahmad Montazeri, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri’s son, have been arrested. In addition, Hamed, Naser, and Hajar Montazeri, three other grandchildren of the Grand Ayatollah, have also been arrested. Moreover, Sara Elahinia, Hamed Montazeri’s wife; and Sara Azizi, Naser Montazeri’s wife, have also been arrested. The children of Mr. Nazemzadeh and Mr. Ahmadi, two close aids of the Grand Ayatollah, have also been arrested.
Several children of Ayatollah Sayyed Hossein Mousavi Tabrizi, head of the Association of the Teachers and Scholars of Qom’s Theological Schools, a leftist clerical group, have also been arrested. Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi has been an outspoken critic of the hardliners.
La’yaa Doust-Mohammadi and Mohammad Hossein Rabbani, two grandchildren of Ayatollah Mohammad Mehdi Rabbani Amlashi, one of the original figures in the 1979 Revolution and an aide to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, have also been arrested. [Ayatollah Rabbani passed away in July 1985].
The following have also been arrested: Mehdi Naeimipour, son of Mohammad Naeimipour, editor of the banned newspaper, Yaas-e No [New Jasmine]; Mehdi Shirzad, son of Dr. Ahmad Shirzad, a professor of physics; and Mehdi Mirdamadi, son of Dr. Mohsen Mirdamadi, secretary-general of Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), Iran’s largest political party, and leading reformist group. The elder Naeimipour and Shirzad are both members of the central committee of the IIPF. Mehdi Mousavi Nejad, a brother-in-law of Mohammad Ali Abtahi, vice president during the Khatami administration and jailed since the election, has also been arrested.
The goal of the arrest of the relatives, children, and grandchildren of the jailed reformist leaders and outspoken ayatollahs is to pressure those who are in jail to “confess,” and to silence those who are not. In one case, a reformist leader was told that “we have found so much evidence against your son that his punishment is death.”
The hardliners have cornered themselves. If three months ago, the more moderate elements, such as Rafsanjani, could have mediated between the political establishment and the people, it is now becoming too late for that. The hardliners are rapidly burning all the bridges behind them. They resemble Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi in the last year of his reign.
If the Shah had agreed to the demand of the people in 1977, had democratized his regime, and had transformed it into a truly Constitutional monarchy, he could have saved his throne. But, by the time he agreed to the people’s demands in the fall of 1978, it was too late. The revolutionary forces had become radicalized, and were not willing to settle for anything less than the complete overthrow of the Shah’s regime. The same point of no return is now rapidly approaching.
In his historical letter to Ayatollah Khamenei a few days before the June 12 election, Rafsanjani warned the Ayatollah that,
It should be noted that it is possible that government agents are aware of my view that the continuation of the present state of affairs [a government run by Mr. Ahmadinejad] is not in the interest of the political system and the country, and you yourself know this view of mine very well as I have told you my reasons for it, but I have never talked to the media about it; it is the government that has blown this out of proportion with the goal [attacking Mr. Ahmadinejad’s competitors] that became clear during the debate [with Mr. Mousavi].
Despite this, even if I patiently continue my policy [of not pursuing the matter and remaining silent], part of the population and political parties and groups will undoubtedly not accept this situation, and the volcanoes that are fed by people’s anger will form in the society, many examples of which can be seen in the elections demonstrations in streets and universities.
Therefore, it is essential in the remaining time [until voting on June 12] that Your Excellency’s and people’s desire for having free elections with maximum participation by the people be materialized that can rescue the country from danger, and create national unity and public trust [in the Islamic Republic system] …
Rafsanajani’s prediction is proving to be prophetic.
Copyright © 2009 Tehran Bureau
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_meg5DkifnE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsJ9CXcAFLo&feature=player_embedded
The second video is when they shouted down Ahmadinajad during his speech and they had to stop the broadcast of it.
Last edited:
eternitys_child
Proud Member
A very eventful day. There are massive protests planned to greet Ahmadinajad in NY but even more important is this insider information via MikVerbrugge on twiiter:
http://mikverbrugge.tumblr.com/
22SEPTEMBER09 Comments
Rough translation of Rafsanjani's address to Experts
Rough translation of Rafsanjani’s address at Experts meeting:
R: “the ones who really care” for regime&Iran* r writing a declaration tht will show the way out this crisis as we speak.”
R warns offcials&protesters tht all hv 2 move w/in law, respect each othr&shdn’t believe they’ll get away w/breaking laws.
R: “We must&will confront media slander&responsible 4 illegal confessions.Won’t allow media to report lies&break laws. Gov&officials shd respect&engage protesters w/in laws instead of persecution.It wont be tolerated anymore. Ultimate defense against threats of enemies is security,safety&good diplomacy. We must reestablish peace of mind&freedom of thoughts&expression.Honesty,fairness/openness&friendship r needed 4 unity. Lies, deceptions, false accusation hv no place. The defense&rights of citizens r essential &hv 2 be guaranteed&respected. “
R warns tht Marjas opinion,warnings&worries hv 2 b heard,same as intellectuals&elites. He warns that the situation has 2 change.
R:”God willing we (regime) will not have any more problems with the Marja. I hope tht the problems between Marja & Regime will be solved & never repeated again. In 30 yrs of IRI,we hv never seen elites,educated&Marja being so critical&unhappy w regime.They r our backbone. we must return to our ideals,respect&reason.Wht our society needs most is unity&freedom,rule of law&confidence in regime. We hv to stop this “hazy” (lawless/chaotic) situation.We hv 2 get rid of causes of such ills.”
R:”in terms of foreign policy,it’s not enough to go day by day.We nd effective&honest diplomacy&only ask 4wht is our right & not ask 4 things tht r not right or our right.**
Uncontrolled imports hv endangered our economy gravely&w/50% less Oil income,it’ll cause grave pain&damage.It hs 2 stop. Gov must adhere to laws,allow ppl’s worries & issues to be voiced in openness & constructively.”
*“The ones who really care, the old&known loyal to regime” explicitly excludes SL and all newcomers to political scene
**probably references AN’s Holocaust/Israel issue, Qods/NKorea VC ops.
Translator remark: R mentions elements of “leadership” speeches but doesn’t say Supreme Leader,Grand Leader of Revolution. He simply says leadership w/o any respectful titles or attributes to the person of SL.That is highly&, likely, voluntarily disrespectful.
Translator snap analysis : In a nutshell, R says to ppl: Forget abt experts,I’ll be putting out a declaration&hv all heavyweights incl marja sign it. Don’t evn think abt challenging it or not adhering.We r here & we r taking ovr from here. Not as experts.But as true loyal Iranians.
Translator: Only question:Is he doing it out of despair or w/assets in hand?
Posted: 3:10 PM Comments
Qom source report, September 22, 2009
Qom src: A.Larijani went to Qom with a msg from SL to Marja. Qom src didn’t disclose SL msg but says A.Larijani met with Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi,who explained Marja position. Marja position is : SL has lost any islamic & constitutional legitimacy and authority& Marja want Experts to unseat him. Marjas don’t trust or have faith in SLs sincerity or even sanity anymore.
contact added : But unseating of SL is just not in the cards. Experts were handpicked by SL & most of them are blindly loyal to him.
Posted: 2:58 PM Comments
source reports : September 22, 2009
source close to SL:
SL is worried. He saw Reports on Qd & videos of demonstrations have shaken him. Coup Lords hd guaranteed SL tht all was over&they had country undr cntrl. It clearly wasn’t fact. SL hs seen reports by credible srcs w/in intel community tht over400 wr killed in post elex nationwide. Same reports indicate most casualties were illegally arrested,held in Basij complexes, tortured, raped&killed. Reports also indicate atrocities were committed on orders of coup lords to create fear among ppl.
SL has ordered to find source of “Mojtaba rumor” & get rid of it. He’s extremely nervous. SL called Rafsanjani,NateqNouri,H.Khomeini on Friday&told them he’s ready for nat’l reconciliation plan (a plan I relayed was in he works months ago) SL asked R to make sure all invited would attend, but didn’t warn AN&Jafari about it. R agreed to talk to those invited to get them to attend. Khatami categorically turned invitation down.During sermon,IRGC&AN were extremely angry&unconfortable w traditionalists lineup. SL’s strategy is to distance himself fr IRGC/Gov atrocities & now feels threatened by his own coup lords. Howevr, Rafsanjani, NateqNouri &HKhomeini left sermon immediately,avoiding for SL’s audience. R was furious&felt mislead by SL, whose sermon was less conciliatory than what was asked for. In fear of IRGC retaliation, SL feels uncomfortable giving in to all of R’s demands.SL is losing control. Nonetheless,AN&Jafari are furious about SL’s categoric declaration that most confessions are void.
source close to R:
R is tired,angry&frustrated.No matter which rope he throws,SL is not taking it to save himself or nation. Pressure is mounting on R.He’s restless but doesn’t talk much to anyone. He looks worried.
(both reports were from a few hours before R’s address to Experts & nation)
21 September 09 Comments
source : on the truce
This was reported by an inside source, September 21, 2009
Rafsanjani incorporated Reformist agendas such as Re-establishment of Khatami’s standing & dignity, avoidance of further public attacks against him & other reformists. Return to mutual respect & curbing coup-like behavior of Sepah.In exchange, Experts meeting will be rather tame, but will be hearing some Reformists. It’ll produce “suggestions” as path forward & a few reminders of values & importance of constitutional law & vote of people expressing their wishes. A major part of the truce is Traditionalists regaining power.
If all goes well, AN’ll embarrass Iran in NYC,which would help even more in swaying SL towards a gradual path to dismantling AN cabinet.
However, it seems the sermon didn’t address all points agreed upon, snubing Rafsanjani & Nateq-Nouri. Rafsanjani seems very upset, especially as pressure of Marja starts weighing on him,which could present him with a day of “either with Marja or regime” reckoning.
Nateq-Nouri & Rafsanjani are trying to curb crisis, and are very concerned with a popular movement detached from reformists or Mousavi/Karubi.It seems that masses r simply against regime.
There are shockwaves & shivers going thru ranks of Principlists, 3 major factions of which are on the verge of breaking up. It looks like Principlists don’t really feel like keeping AN’s faction within their ranks.
Many traditional conservatives,progressive conservatives & some opportunist hardliners don’t believe Khamenei can do anything to regain ppl’s trust. This fuels internal fights.
Nothing can be predicted from here on.
Posted: 12:26 AM Comments
Insider Opinion : Back to square one.
conversation with an insider, September 20th 2009
What is your opinion on what happened at today’s sermon?
At today’s sermon there was Rafsanjani, Nateq-Nouri, S.Larijani, H.Khomeini & Dori Najafabadi on one side, Ahmadinejad, A.Khatami, Janati flanked by Shahroudi on the other side. Ejei was sitting next to Rafsanjani. Today’s show of force of Traditionalistss ws remarkable, and Coup’s side wasn’t impressive. Rafsanjani got his way. All confessions about him & his family & friends are now void & illegal, which clears the way to go for the throats of a few coup leaders. At the same time, it also voided all evidence against Mousavi, Khatami, Karroubi with regards to velvet revolution allegations. But it also renders Karroubi’s accusations void. It looks like the Leader knows his days are numbered & is back to negociating and compromises.
(see my previous twitblogs/tumblr blogs for details on earlier negociations) But isn’t it too late ?
I’m not sure who would want that. There’s going to be a lot of talks in the next few days. In light of Banisadr’s very frank message regarding Sazegara, who he deals with and what position he is seeking, all non-coup factions have to really think hard. Rafsanjani’s way might be more in the interest of the nation however, all [in the coalition] will need to reassess and wait to get details of the new shift, before they can decide whether they go with it, and they probably won’t give in without getting their issues inbedded in a deal & get some concessions. So far it looks like it would mean Rafsanjani & Nateq-Nouri keeping on doing what they do to undermine & limit Ahmadinejad, while Mousavi is allowed to slowly & orderly move his opposition, tamed & totally loyal to the regime, and make it viable for next Majlis election. Back to Square one…
My question is: What does Khamenei have to offer to the Marjas, after pushing them around for months and the Fitr disaster showing they are all against him?
http://mikverbrugge.tumblr.com/
22SEPTEMBER09 Comments
Rough translation of Rafsanjani's address to Experts
Rough translation of Rafsanjani’s address at Experts meeting:
R: “the ones who really care” for regime&Iran* r writing a declaration tht will show the way out this crisis as we speak.”
R warns offcials&protesters tht all hv 2 move w/in law, respect each othr&shdn’t believe they’ll get away w/breaking laws.
R: “We must&will confront media slander&responsible 4 illegal confessions.Won’t allow media to report lies&break laws. Gov&officials shd respect&engage protesters w/in laws instead of persecution.It wont be tolerated anymore. Ultimate defense against threats of enemies is security,safety&good diplomacy. We must reestablish peace of mind&freedom of thoughts&expression.Honesty,fairness/openness&friendship r needed 4 unity. Lies, deceptions, false accusation hv no place. The defense&rights of citizens r essential &hv 2 be guaranteed&respected. “
R warns tht Marjas opinion,warnings&worries hv 2 b heard,same as intellectuals&elites. He warns that the situation has 2 change.
R:”God willing we (regime) will not have any more problems with the Marja. I hope tht the problems between Marja & Regime will be solved & never repeated again. In 30 yrs of IRI,we hv never seen elites,educated&Marja being so critical&unhappy w regime.They r our backbone. we must return to our ideals,respect&reason.Wht our society needs most is unity&freedom,rule of law&confidence in regime. We hv to stop this “hazy” (lawless/chaotic) situation.We hv 2 get rid of causes of such ills.”
R:”in terms of foreign policy,it’s not enough to go day by day.We nd effective&honest diplomacy&only ask 4wht is our right & not ask 4 things tht r not right or our right.**
Uncontrolled imports hv endangered our economy gravely&w/50% less Oil income,it’ll cause grave pain&damage.It hs 2 stop. Gov must adhere to laws,allow ppl’s worries & issues to be voiced in openness & constructively.”
*“The ones who really care, the old&known loyal to regime” explicitly excludes SL and all newcomers to political scene
**probably references AN’s Holocaust/Israel issue, Qods/NKorea VC ops.
Translator remark: R mentions elements of “leadership” speeches but doesn’t say Supreme Leader,Grand Leader of Revolution. He simply says leadership w/o any respectful titles or attributes to the person of SL.That is highly&, likely, voluntarily disrespectful.
Translator snap analysis : In a nutshell, R says to ppl: Forget abt experts,I’ll be putting out a declaration&hv all heavyweights incl marja sign it. Don’t evn think abt challenging it or not adhering.We r here & we r taking ovr from here. Not as experts.But as true loyal Iranians.
Translator: Only question:Is he doing it out of despair or w/assets in hand?
Posted: 3:10 PM Comments
Qom source report, September 22, 2009
Qom src: A.Larijani went to Qom with a msg from SL to Marja. Qom src didn’t disclose SL msg but says A.Larijani met with Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi,who explained Marja position. Marja position is : SL has lost any islamic & constitutional legitimacy and authority& Marja want Experts to unseat him. Marjas don’t trust or have faith in SLs sincerity or even sanity anymore.
contact added : But unseating of SL is just not in the cards. Experts were handpicked by SL & most of them are blindly loyal to him.
Posted: 2:58 PM Comments
source reports : September 22, 2009
source close to SL:
SL is worried. He saw Reports on Qd & videos of demonstrations have shaken him. Coup Lords hd guaranteed SL tht all was over&they had country undr cntrl. It clearly wasn’t fact. SL hs seen reports by credible srcs w/in intel community tht over400 wr killed in post elex nationwide. Same reports indicate most casualties were illegally arrested,held in Basij complexes, tortured, raped&killed. Reports also indicate atrocities were committed on orders of coup lords to create fear among ppl.
SL has ordered to find source of “Mojtaba rumor” & get rid of it. He’s extremely nervous. SL called Rafsanjani,NateqNouri,H.Khomeini on Friday&told them he’s ready for nat’l reconciliation plan (a plan I relayed was in he works months ago) SL asked R to make sure all invited would attend, but didn’t warn AN&Jafari about it. R agreed to talk to those invited to get them to attend. Khatami categorically turned invitation down.During sermon,IRGC&AN were extremely angry&unconfortable w traditionalists lineup. SL’s strategy is to distance himself fr IRGC/Gov atrocities & now feels threatened by his own coup lords. Howevr, Rafsanjani, NateqNouri &HKhomeini left sermon immediately,avoiding for SL’s audience. R was furious&felt mislead by SL, whose sermon was less conciliatory than what was asked for. In fear of IRGC retaliation, SL feels uncomfortable giving in to all of R’s demands.SL is losing control. Nonetheless,AN&Jafari are furious about SL’s categoric declaration that most confessions are void.
source close to R:
R is tired,angry&frustrated.No matter which rope he throws,SL is not taking it to save himself or nation. Pressure is mounting on R.He’s restless but doesn’t talk much to anyone. He looks worried.
(both reports were from a few hours before R’s address to Experts & nation)
21 September 09 Comments
source : on the truce
This was reported by an inside source, September 21, 2009
Rafsanjani incorporated Reformist agendas such as Re-establishment of Khatami’s standing & dignity, avoidance of further public attacks against him & other reformists. Return to mutual respect & curbing coup-like behavior of Sepah.In exchange, Experts meeting will be rather tame, but will be hearing some Reformists. It’ll produce “suggestions” as path forward & a few reminders of values & importance of constitutional law & vote of people expressing their wishes. A major part of the truce is Traditionalists regaining power.
If all goes well, AN’ll embarrass Iran in NYC,which would help even more in swaying SL towards a gradual path to dismantling AN cabinet.
However, it seems the sermon didn’t address all points agreed upon, snubing Rafsanjani & Nateq-Nouri. Rafsanjani seems very upset, especially as pressure of Marja starts weighing on him,which could present him with a day of “either with Marja or regime” reckoning.
Nateq-Nouri & Rafsanjani are trying to curb crisis, and are very concerned with a popular movement detached from reformists or Mousavi/Karubi.It seems that masses r simply against regime.
There are shockwaves & shivers going thru ranks of Principlists, 3 major factions of which are on the verge of breaking up. It looks like Principlists don’t really feel like keeping AN’s faction within their ranks.
Many traditional conservatives,progressive conservatives & some opportunist hardliners don’t believe Khamenei can do anything to regain ppl’s trust. This fuels internal fights.
Nothing can be predicted from here on.
Posted: 12:26 AM Comments
Insider Opinion : Back to square one.
conversation with an insider, September 20th 2009
What is your opinion on what happened at today’s sermon?
At today’s sermon there was Rafsanjani, Nateq-Nouri, S.Larijani, H.Khomeini & Dori Najafabadi on one side, Ahmadinejad, A.Khatami, Janati flanked by Shahroudi on the other side. Ejei was sitting next to Rafsanjani. Today’s show of force of Traditionalistss ws remarkable, and Coup’s side wasn’t impressive. Rafsanjani got his way. All confessions about him & his family & friends are now void & illegal, which clears the way to go for the throats of a few coup leaders. At the same time, it also voided all evidence against Mousavi, Khatami, Karroubi with regards to velvet revolution allegations. But it also renders Karroubi’s accusations void. It looks like the Leader knows his days are numbered & is back to negociating and compromises.
(see my previous twitblogs/tumblr blogs for details on earlier negociations) But isn’t it too late ?
I’m not sure who would want that. There’s going to be a lot of talks in the next few days. In light of Banisadr’s very frank message regarding Sazegara, who he deals with and what position he is seeking, all non-coup factions have to really think hard. Rafsanjani’s way might be more in the interest of the nation however, all [in the coalition] will need to reassess and wait to get details of the new shift, before they can decide whether they go with it, and they probably won’t give in without getting their issues inbedded in a deal & get some concessions. So far it looks like it would mean Rafsanjani & Nateq-Nouri keeping on doing what they do to undermine & limit Ahmadinejad, while Mousavi is allowed to slowly & orderly move his opposition, tamed & totally loyal to the regime, and make it viable for next Majlis election. Back to Square one…
My question is: What does Khamenei have to offer to the Marjas, after pushing them around for months and the Fitr disaster showing they are all against him?
eternitys_child
Proud Member
A little more on what is happening:
Via twitter
RT @MikVerbrugge
AN is going to remember his trip to the US what a day!
16 minutes ago from web #iranelection Taeb was omitted in NSC report leakd via Principlist memo earlier. New rprt exposes him&moves closer to Mojtaba (thus, SL)
25 minutes ago from web #IranElection Remember what Src fr NatSecPanel said? "All roads lead to SLs camp&end at Mojtaba's desk" busted!
28 minutes ago from web #iranelection Taeb ws also in charge of 18Tir university crackdowns& go-btween for Mojtaba&Mortazavi.
34 minutes ago from web #iranelection Mojtaba then gave Taeb a job at Sepah Intel.Also, remember report that he was directly responsible for Taraneh's death?
42 minutes ago from web #iranelection more info on Taeb: he ws positioned in IntelMin by Mojtaba. But then president Rafsanjani fired him. (cont)
about 1 hour ago from web #iranelection human rights rpt IDsTaeb (close ally of Mojtaba,top mmbr of SLs camp) as direct oppressor http://bit.ly/IrHLg
about 1 hour ago from web #iranelection IMPORTANT #hr Rprt:Taeb had key role in post elex suppressions,directly invlvd in crimes http://bit.ly/IrHLg
about 1 hour ago from web
Via twitter
RT @MikVerbrugge
AN is going to remember his trip to the US
what a day!16 minutes ago from web #iranelection Taeb was omitted in NSC report leakd via Principlist memo earlier. New rprt exposes him&moves closer to Mojtaba (thus, SL)
25 minutes ago from web #IranElection Remember what Src fr NatSecPanel said? "All roads lead to SLs camp&end at Mojtaba's desk" busted!
28 minutes ago from web #iranelection Taeb ws also in charge of 18Tir university crackdowns& go-btween for Mojtaba&Mortazavi.
34 minutes ago from web #iranelection Mojtaba then gave Taeb a job at Sepah Intel.Also, remember report that he was directly responsible for Taraneh's death?
42 minutes ago from web #iranelection more info on Taeb: he ws positioned in IntelMin by Mojtaba. But then president Rafsanjani fired him. (cont)
about 1 hour ago from web #iranelection human rights rpt IDsTaeb (close ally of Mojtaba,top mmbr of SLs camp) as direct oppressor http://bit.ly/IrHLg
about 1 hour ago from web #iranelection IMPORTANT #hr Rprt:Taeb had key role in post elex suppressions,directly invlvd in crimes http://bit.ly/IrHLg
about 1 hour ago from web
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Big ralleys is New York yesterday and today in support of the people in Iran & protesting Ahmadinejad's appearance at UN. Although 'Iran News' is cllaiming that Ahmadi spoke to a full hall the truth is that 149 of 192 delegations weren't there to listen to AN's "speech" as they walked out on him. Full summary.
http://homylafayette.blogspot.com/
In addition, back in Iran some important happenings as well. An exchange of letters between Mousavi and Montazeri:
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/09/24/iran-english-text-of-letters-between-mousavi-and-montazeri-13-and-22-september/
Sep
24
2009
Iran: English Text of Letters between Mousavi and Montazeri (13 and 22 September)
Posted by: Mike Dunn in Middle East & Iran
Thanks to Pedestrian, who has posted at www.sidewalklyrics.com:
Mousavi Letter to Montazeri
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
To the honourable Marja, the grand Ayatollah Montazeri,
Greetings,
Following the events of the past few months, I released the following attached statement. We have always felt a need to work and cooperate with with the honourable marjas and devoted clerics and this encouraged me to send a copy to you, in order to ask for your guidance.
The first goal of this statement is [to send out the message] that if people feel anger and discontent, they should not direct these negative feelings that fill their hearts, toward religion. This [keeping people from such feelings] is the responsibility of all of those who have been deeply influenced by Islam and especially the clerical elite. They must not allow different social groups, especially the youth who compose the majority of our population, be fooled by the shallow, incorrect and selective interpretations of religion and to distance themselves from Islam based on sudden bursts of emotion.
State media persistently tries to portray us as the source behind the recent unrest. This is while the behaviour of officials, not only in the election, but from years before, has created a mountain of straw that was set ablaze by the recent blunders. The wind of arrogance that was blown through this mountain created bigger and bigger fires each and every day. I personally take the side of a people whose rights have been trampled by Illegal, unIslamic and unjustified actions. By referring to undisputed documents, I am certain that without a doubt, there has been systematic fraud in the recent election. At the same time, it would not have been difficult to stay silent for another 20 years if I didn’t feel an imminent threat to the system in the wave of anger of the people.
However, if one [leader] keeps silent and yields, people will not refrain from their movement as they have never refrained in the past. Instead, after a brief period of confusion the movement would start anew. Their movement will have started again, this time blind with no one from devotees of the establishment to rely upon. Then maybe others who have their eyes set upon our nation would have stepped in to take advantage of this movement with their own intentions and to feed their own greed.
Another goal of this statement, along with my other statements and activities, is to keep the people’s movement in the framework of the establishment so that it wouldn’t go astray down the dangerous path of bringing down the structure [of the establishment.] If this danger is turned into reality, it could easily make another Afghanistan or Iraq out of Iran. We cannot forget our duty to stop such dangers from occurring just to make some ignorant people happy. Similarly, we can not invite people to keep calm if we can not prove to them that we stand and speak up for their well deserved rights on their behalf.
In his treatise titled Olfat, the late Molla Mohsen Feyz Kashani writes that the final aim of most sharia laws are to create friendship and belonging in society. The result of this friendship and belonging is what modern sciences call social networks – a means to restrain ruling systems and to keep them from repeating mistakes, and a method to create a society infused with life and a platform to gently hold on to ignited emotions and talents and to keep them from going down the hills of destruction. In this statement, a strengthening of these networks has been suggested. According to the words of Feyz, this network could be perceived as the exemplar of Islam, although those who are grossly unfair portray it as an exemplar of the CIA.
And finally, in this statement, suggestions on how to solve this current crisis are made which I hope will be given attention.
With regards,
Mir Hossein Mousavi
September 13th, 2009
——————————
Response of the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri:
In the name of God, the Merciful and the Compassionate,
Dear Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi,
May God support your success,
First, please accept my greetings. I received your letter dated 12/09/2009 [sic] and reviewed the attachments. You are a man of great character and your commitment to the ethical and religious values and goals of the revolution are obvious to all. The tremendous services of your government during the imposed war, and your constant support of the departed Imam Khomeini (May the love and mercy of God be upon him) are clear to everyone. During the recent presidential election and the subsequent confrontations and atrocities, you became the focus of numerous classes of people and gifted individuals. This was, in fact, a test imposed on you by the great God and by our vigilant people. You have indeed passed it. So far, and to the best of your capacity, you have defended the desecrated rights of those people [whose high turnout and participation in the election] was a great source of pride for our country. As such, you deserve acknowledgement and gratitude.
The initiatives you suggest in the attachment will work to activate and strengthen social networks and organizations. These ideas are prudent and rational, in context with the current conditions of the country, and in accordance with the commands of the holy Quran that tell us: [1]
“O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear God; that ye may prosper.”
If the authorities put aside their ignorance and consider [your recommendations] in an unbiased manner, put them to use and put a stop to this environment of policing and detainments, [your ideas] can offer a beneficial and effective path out of the current crisis – a crisis dominating the Islamic republic through their selfishness, pride, mismanagement and ambition. [Your recommendations] could be the stepping stone for a positive move towards reform within the establishment and towards protecting the system from separation, disintegration and division.
Of course you are aware that in choosing the aforementioned solutions to defend the people’s rights and to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic, you can expect an arduous task of reform that will be resisted through countless threats and pressures from those who have created the current crisis. Please be confident that through unity, patience and endurance, God has promised to reveal the way to guide people to victory[2]. In addition, [according to the holy Quran in support of humans who struggle down this [God would send his] angels who annunciate messages of security, and strip the heart off all grief and fear. [3]
Unfortunately, many politicians, political activists and journalists were detained after the election. Against Islam and the rule of law they were pressured into false and deceitful confessions, some of which were televised via national media. It is certain and evident that a person’s implication of others under such conditions is without merit and recognition. Moreover, further confirmation exists in the holy stories[4] of the prophet and the Imams that even self-directed confessions extracted under any kind of pressure or torture (including but not limited to threats, intimidation, infliction of physical pain, confinement, and so on), are without merit.
A claim of jurisprudence that denies these lessons is a false one and opinions that negate these lessons clearly deviate [from the true foundations of Islam]. The Quranic verse and imperative [self-implication of a rational person is permitted][5] confirms that only if revealed without pressure or force, is a confession valid.
In addition, article 38 of the constitution reads: “Any form of torture to force confessions, or to obtain information is forbidden. A person should not be obligated to swear, confess or bear witness as such any action of that sort is without worth and legal value. Any defiance of what has been mentioned in this article will be punishable by law.” Based on the general application of this article and its implications, any [form] of torture to collect information or to force confessions requires punishments and confessions, and admittances extracted in such manner is without legal value and merit.
It is obvious that long-term imprisonment in solitary confinement, an act that places the accused under severe pressure to confess, is a clear example of torture. The confession of the accused – even if it’s self-implication – is neither valid nor recognized when it is a product of exerted pressure and torture, especially in its recent fearsome form and its horrifying consequences. In this situation, repeated confessions (even if announced many times in roundtable discussions and interviews) would be as worthless as the initial confession.
Moreover, it is written in Article 39 of the Constitution that “all affronts to the dignity and repute of persons arrested, detained, imprisoned, or banished in accordance with the law, whatever form they may take, are forbidden and liable to punishment.”
So, what has happened [to this country] now that prominent figures who have provided years of great civil service are desecrated and not only has nobody been punished, but the perpetrators have even been endorsed and encouraged? Moreover, the “confessions” have been recognized as credible?
What has complicated the problem and invalidated the “confessions” even further is that in the current judicial system of the country, the plaintiffs [and the prosecutors], against the politically accused defendants who are in opposition to the current government, are themselves among the interrogators of the forced confessions and come from legal institutions tied to the government. Nowhere in the world, would any sound reasoning put even the smallest amount of legal credibility and legitimacy to such confessions, and to the consequent trails; because in these trails plaintiff and the judge are one and the same, clearly against the fundamental of having a jury based on Article 168 of the constitution. Unfortunately, this article too, like many other articles has been ignored and not acted upon.
Recent course of action taken by the government, and the show trails are not only against the law and betterment of the country but also in contradiction to basic benefits of the authorities to stay in power. Instead of clamping down on people and creating the recent atrocities, if authorities had been more politically wise and listened to warnings of prominent politicians, religious leaders and had chosen an impartial committee accepted by both all sides of the conflict, then we would have never fallen into the current crisis of illegitimacy.
A government that has many classes of people unsatisfied and its intellectuals under distress is not a government going to survive. Shah’s regime could have kept its governance and would have still lasted if governance was possible by scaring, and oppressing and filling the prisons from freedom-seeker, gifted figures, and different political activists.
By committing to such atrocities, a system under the rule of Islam that takes pride in being Shiite creates pessimism toward Islam and announces the inability of Islam to bring about justice in a society not only on global scale but also in our own nation, among our own masses and youth. Unfortunately, decision makers at the top have turned a blind eye to these clear truths, and are content to the eulogies of their poets, and flattering of their fawners. I beseech the great God for your well-being and success on this treacherous path.
May the Grace and mercy of God be upon you,
Holy City of Qum,
Hossein-Ali Montazeri
22 September 2009
http://homylafayette.blogspot.com/
In addition, back in Iran some important happenings as well. An exchange of letters between Mousavi and Montazeri:
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/09/24/iran-english-text-of-letters-between-mousavi-and-montazeri-13-and-22-september/
Sep
24
2009
Iran: English Text of Letters between Mousavi and Montazeri (13 and 22 September)
Posted by: Mike Dunn in Middle East & Iran
Thanks to Pedestrian, who has posted at www.sidewalklyrics.com:
Mousavi Letter to Montazeri
In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
To the honourable Marja, the grand Ayatollah Montazeri,
Greetings,
Following the events of the past few months, I released the following attached statement. We have always felt a need to work and cooperate with with the honourable marjas and devoted clerics and this encouraged me to send a copy to you, in order to ask for your guidance.
The first goal of this statement is [to send out the message] that if people feel anger and discontent, they should not direct these negative feelings that fill their hearts, toward religion. This [keeping people from such feelings] is the responsibility of all of those who have been deeply influenced by Islam and especially the clerical elite. They must not allow different social groups, especially the youth who compose the majority of our population, be fooled by the shallow, incorrect and selective interpretations of religion and to distance themselves from Islam based on sudden bursts of emotion.
State media persistently tries to portray us as the source behind the recent unrest. This is while the behaviour of officials, not only in the election, but from years before, has created a mountain of straw that was set ablaze by the recent blunders. The wind of arrogance that was blown through this mountain created bigger and bigger fires each and every day. I personally take the side of a people whose rights have been trampled by Illegal, unIslamic and unjustified actions. By referring to undisputed documents, I am certain that without a doubt, there has been systematic fraud in the recent election. At the same time, it would not have been difficult to stay silent for another 20 years if I didn’t feel an imminent threat to the system in the wave of anger of the people.
However, if one [leader] keeps silent and yields, people will not refrain from their movement as they have never refrained in the past. Instead, after a brief period of confusion the movement would start anew. Their movement will have started again, this time blind with no one from devotees of the establishment to rely upon. Then maybe others who have their eyes set upon our nation would have stepped in to take advantage of this movement with their own intentions and to feed their own greed.
Another goal of this statement, along with my other statements and activities, is to keep the people’s movement in the framework of the establishment so that it wouldn’t go astray down the dangerous path of bringing down the structure [of the establishment.] If this danger is turned into reality, it could easily make another Afghanistan or Iraq out of Iran. We cannot forget our duty to stop such dangers from occurring just to make some ignorant people happy. Similarly, we can not invite people to keep calm if we can not prove to them that we stand and speak up for their well deserved rights on their behalf.
In his treatise titled Olfat, the late Molla Mohsen Feyz Kashani writes that the final aim of most sharia laws are to create friendship and belonging in society. The result of this friendship and belonging is what modern sciences call social networks – a means to restrain ruling systems and to keep them from repeating mistakes, and a method to create a society infused with life and a platform to gently hold on to ignited emotions and talents and to keep them from going down the hills of destruction. In this statement, a strengthening of these networks has been suggested. According to the words of Feyz, this network could be perceived as the exemplar of Islam, although those who are grossly unfair portray it as an exemplar of the CIA.
And finally, in this statement, suggestions on how to solve this current crisis are made which I hope will be given attention.
With regards,
Mir Hossein Mousavi
September 13th, 2009
——————————
Response of the Grand Ayatollah Montazeri:
In the name of God, the Merciful and the Compassionate,
Dear Mr. Mir Hossein Mousavi,
May God support your success,
First, please accept my greetings. I received your letter dated 12/09/2009 [sic] and reviewed the attachments. You are a man of great character and your commitment to the ethical and religious values and goals of the revolution are obvious to all. The tremendous services of your government during the imposed war, and your constant support of the departed Imam Khomeini (May the love and mercy of God be upon him) are clear to everyone. During the recent presidential election and the subsequent confrontations and atrocities, you became the focus of numerous classes of people and gifted individuals. This was, in fact, a test imposed on you by the great God and by our vigilant people. You have indeed passed it. So far, and to the best of your capacity, you have defended the desecrated rights of those people [whose high turnout and participation in the election] was a great source of pride for our country. As such, you deserve acknowledgement and gratitude.
The initiatives you suggest in the attachment will work to activate and strengthen social networks and organizations. These ideas are prudent and rational, in context with the current conditions of the country, and in accordance with the commands of the holy Quran that tell us: [1]
“O ye who believe! Persevere in patience and constancy; vie in such perseverance; strengthen each other; and fear God; that ye may prosper.”
If the authorities put aside their ignorance and consider [your recommendations] in an unbiased manner, put them to use and put a stop to this environment of policing and detainments, [your ideas] can offer a beneficial and effective path out of the current crisis – a crisis dominating the Islamic republic through their selfishness, pride, mismanagement and ambition. [Your recommendations] could be the stepping stone for a positive move towards reform within the establishment and towards protecting the system from separation, disintegration and division.
Of course you are aware that in choosing the aforementioned solutions to defend the people’s rights and to ensure the survival of the Islamic Republic, you can expect an arduous task of reform that will be resisted through countless threats and pressures from those who have created the current crisis. Please be confident that through unity, patience and endurance, God has promised to reveal the way to guide people to victory[2]. In addition, [according to the holy Quran in support of humans who struggle down this [God would send his] angels who annunciate messages of security, and strip the heart off all grief and fear. [3]
Unfortunately, many politicians, political activists and journalists were detained after the election. Against Islam and the rule of law they were pressured into false and deceitful confessions, some of which were televised via national media. It is certain and evident that a person’s implication of others under such conditions is without merit and recognition. Moreover, further confirmation exists in the holy stories[4] of the prophet and the Imams that even self-directed confessions extracted under any kind of pressure or torture (including but not limited to threats, intimidation, infliction of physical pain, confinement, and so on), are without merit.
A claim of jurisprudence that denies these lessons is a false one and opinions that negate these lessons clearly deviate [from the true foundations of Islam]. The Quranic verse and imperative [self-implication of a rational person is permitted][5] confirms that only if revealed without pressure or force, is a confession valid.
In addition, article 38 of the constitution reads: “Any form of torture to force confessions, or to obtain information is forbidden. A person should not be obligated to swear, confess or bear witness as such any action of that sort is without worth and legal value. Any defiance of what has been mentioned in this article will be punishable by law.” Based on the general application of this article and its implications, any [form] of torture to collect information or to force confessions requires punishments and confessions, and admittances extracted in such manner is without legal value and merit.
It is obvious that long-term imprisonment in solitary confinement, an act that places the accused under severe pressure to confess, is a clear example of torture. The confession of the accused – even if it’s self-implication – is neither valid nor recognized when it is a product of exerted pressure and torture, especially in its recent fearsome form and its horrifying consequences. In this situation, repeated confessions (even if announced many times in roundtable discussions and interviews) would be as worthless as the initial confession.
Moreover, it is written in Article 39 of the Constitution that “all affronts to the dignity and repute of persons arrested, detained, imprisoned, or banished in accordance with the law, whatever form they may take, are forbidden and liable to punishment.”
So, what has happened [to this country] now that prominent figures who have provided years of great civil service are desecrated and not only has nobody been punished, but the perpetrators have even been endorsed and encouraged? Moreover, the “confessions” have been recognized as credible?
What has complicated the problem and invalidated the “confessions” even further is that in the current judicial system of the country, the plaintiffs [and the prosecutors], against the politically accused defendants who are in opposition to the current government, are themselves among the interrogators of the forced confessions and come from legal institutions tied to the government. Nowhere in the world, would any sound reasoning put even the smallest amount of legal credibility and legitimacy to such confessions, and to the consequent trails; because in these trails plaintiff and the judge are one and the same, clearly against the fundamental of having a jury based on Article 168 of the constitution. Unfortunately, this article too, like many other articles has been ignored and not acted upon.
Recent course of action taken by the government, and the show trails are not only against the law and betterment of the country but also in contradiction to basic benefits of the authorities to stay in power. Instead of clamping down on people and creating the recent atrocities, if authorities had been more politically wise and listened to warnings of prominent politicians, religious leaders and had chosen an impartial committee accepted by both all sides of the conflict, then we would have never fallen into the current crisis of illegitimacy.
A government that has many classes of people unsatisfied and its intellectuals under distress is not a government going to survive. Shah’s regime could have kept its governance and would have still lasted if governance was possible by scaring, and oppressing and filling the prisons from freedom-seeker, gifted figures, and different political activists.
By committing to such atrocities, a system under the rule of Islam that takes pride in being Shiite creates pessimism toward Islam and announces the inability of Islam to bring about justice in a society not only on global scale but also in our own nation, among our own masses and youth. Unfortunately, decision makers at the top have turned a blind eye to these clear truths, and are content to the eulogies of their poets, and flattering of their fawners. I beseech the great God for your well-being and success on this treacherous path.
May the Grace and mercy of God be upon you,
Holy City of Qum,
Hossein-Ali Montazeri
22 September 2009
eternitys_child
Proud Member
Khamenei said to be in coma. Not confirmed but likely true.
http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2009/10/13/khamenei-said-to-be-in-coma/
October 13th, 2009 6:55 am
Khamenei Said to be in Coma
This story has been floating around the net for the past day or so, but this report comes from a person who is in a position to know such things. As I know very well (having been gulled into wrongly announcing Khamenei’s death a while back), it is easy to be misled, and Khamenei has had previous medical emergencies in the past, and recovered, but the source is excellent. Nonetheless, it’s always smart to apply the Reagan Caution: Trust, but verify. I’m doing my best.
Here is what he/she says:
Yesterday afternoon at 2.15PM local time, Khamenei collapsed and
was taken to his special clinic. Nobody – except his son and the
doctors – has since been allowed to get near him.
His official, but secret, status is: “in the hands of the gods”.
Reportedly this collapse is natural. Many would like him to move to his
afterlife but reportedly the collapse was not ‘externally induced’
[no poisioning]. The few insiders who know about the collapse see
this development “as a gift from the gods”.
His condition had already seriously deteriorated over the last
months, aggravated by his nervous condition due to [1] his
inability to solve the problems created by his manipulation of the
election results and the refusal of [a large part of] the
population to accept this, plus [2] his loss of religious authority
by means of the repeated condemnations of events by senior clerics
Reportedly the principal aims of Khamenei of the last couple of
weeks, if not months, were to ensure [1] a positive reputation as
his legacy and [2] the physical survival of his family members and
their wealth, reportedly now largely in Syria and in Turkey (remember the truck convoy of $8.5 billion in cash and gold that was seized by the Turks?).
Outlook is uncertain but speculation is – considering that he is in
coma since more than 24 hours – that he may not come out of his coma and/or that he may die very soon.
If he dies it is expected that immediately a bloody clash will
develop between the powers behind Rafsanjani, who will immediately
claim temporary religious authority and overall control, and the
powers behind Achmadinejad who will scramble in order to regain
control and ensure their survival.
Latest posts from Mikverbrugge on twitter:
http://twitter.com/Mikverbrugge
Iran Shiraz yesterday (AN was visiting) http://bit.ly/iv1Vy شیراز 20 مهر همزمان با حضور احمدی نژاد
about 8 hours ago from web
Iran : AN supporter lost temper when students boycotted his speech&left hall http://bit.ly/ywUco
about 8 hours ago from web
Iran First pics of Azadi Uni Protests http://bit.ly/1GzsM6
about 8 hours ago from web
Iran Press News report : Azad Uni escalation.Students now fighting Basij & Police force http://tinyurl.com/yz5hyuw
about 9 hours ago from web
Iran :R's site features Savak transcript of sermon criticizing Shah, which cd b applied 2 SL 2day http://tinyurl.com/yjgbt7l
about 9 hours ago from web
Iran : http://bit.ly/1ILGpI article summary : around 2000 students are now protesting all around Uni, 1 Student lea (cont) http://tl.gd/lkmb
about 9 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : Report on Azad Uni raid : tear gas was used to disperse students http://bit.ly/1ILGpI
about 9 hours ago from web
(more info) Iran : Src from Azad Uni : Basij & Police forces closed Tehran's Azad Technical University. Students st (cont) http://tl.gd/lkkt
about 9 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : Src : Basij & Police forces closed Tehran's Azad Technical University.
about 9 hours ago from web
US soldiers raided a freighter shipping arms from Iran to Syria or Hizbullah http://bit.ly/2Gtwjq
about 10 hours ago from web
Iran : Tehran Prosecutor confirms proceeding against Karroubi at Tehran Special Clergy Court http://tinyurl.com/yhblv3k
about 10 hours ago from web
Iran : Famous Iranian TV Sport commentator sought refuge abroad http://tinyurl.com/ylpmtnf
about 10 hours ago from web
Iran : Nourizad blasts Gov, criticizes colleagues for remaining silent in spite of catastrophy http://tinyurl.com/yhkla9q
about 11 hours ago from web
Iran : Famous Iranian Singer Eftekhari clarifies his position : he had been reported by Fars as saying he'd be hono (cont) http://tl.gd/lkbm
about 11 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : Nourizad resigns from association of revolutionary writers in protest http://bit.ly/1wHhGN
about 13 hours ago from web
Iran Narges Kalhar,daughter of AN adviser:It's not about vote,give our lives back!(She's now abroad) http://bit.ly/18gdyT
about 13 hours ago from web
Iran : From Qd to 13Aban:How Regime changed to accept&recognize Green Mvmt after show of force on Qd http://bit.ly/17i2lJ
about 13 hours ago from web
Iran madeupcaption "The fat one! Arrest him! We have proof he's a Green rioter!" http://bit.ly/12aQSr
about 14 hours ago from web
Iran : Summary : Peiknet report : SL's health situation worsening. 3 Specialists were summoned 2 his camp on Saturd (cont) http://tl.gd/ljqt
about 14 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : (same link, other quote) Ghanbari criticizes self-censorship of some MPs http://bit.ly/2qTiU
about 15 hours ago from web
Iran : Ali Larijani:Kahrizak Closed as a result of Majlis commission's work http://bit.ly/2qTiU
about 15 hours ago from web
Iran : Plain clothed agents chased & shot down young man in Tehran http://bit.ly/7CZdG
9:47 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Seyyed Mohammad Khatami's birthday http://bit.ly/19kMw4
9:44 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Seyyed Mohammad Khatami's birthday http://bit.ly/19kMw4 (ex-president, not moron cleric)
9:44 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis plan on questioning AN on Satellite Jammers http://bit.ly/3k4l4e
9:42 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Hayyat-e No blasts Ejei for calling Iran's condition a "State of war" http://bit.ly/fC13Q
9:41 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Taherkhani:A "mysterious & suspecious current" doesn't want unity/wants to derail Conciliation Plan http://tinyurl.com/yg9lesf
9:39 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Combatant Clerics blast Judiciary's biased actions in letter to S.Larijani/warns of loss of ppl's trust http://bit.ly/z0zFG
9:38 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Education&Research Cmte demands AN to designate Education Minister for Majlis approval http://bit.ly/4fmYVs
9:36 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Tabesh : Judiciary Chief's "Honey Moon" is over now. Tabesh criticizes political detainees not freed,despit (cont) http://tl.gd/lf56
9:32 PM Oct 12th from Twitlonger
Iran : Pictures of (Keyhan E-i-C) Hossein Shariatmadari's court session http://bit.ly/DKM5V
12:30 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis Art 90 Commission takes up complaints, investigates 1st VP Rahimi http://bit.ly/IOv8l
11:38 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Aalia no longer willing to stand as Education Minister in 10th Gov http://bit.ly/2BcHss
11:21 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran :Researcher&Security expert Shahbazi:grave crisis in Shiraz due to attacks on Ayat.Dastgheib http://tinyurl.com/yz83vqh
9:47 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Peiknet.com starts campaign to identify driver of $18.5B truck confiscated by Turkey http://tinyurl.com/ygo7yl2
9:42 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis Minority Leader Tabesh: Ppl want confrontation of real culprit responsible for Kahrizak http://bit.ly/4v0zsU
9:29 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis Health Commission hearing on Satellite Jammers today http://bit.ly/Ao53M
9:26 AM Oct 12th from web
http://pajamasmedia.com/michaelledeen/2009/10/13/khamenei-said-to-be-in-coma/
October 13th, 2009 6:55 am
Khamenei Said to be in Coma
This story has been floating around the net for the past day or so, but this report comes from a person who is in a position to know such things. As I know very well (having been gulled into wrongly announcing Khamenei’s death a while back), it is easy to be misled, and Khamenei has had previous medical emergencies in the past, and recovered, but the source is excellent. Nonetheless, it’s always smart to apply the Reagan Caution: Trust, but verify. I’m doing my best.
Here is what he/she says:
Yesterday afternoon at 2.15PM local time, Khamenei collapsed and
was taken to his special clinic. Nobody – except his son and the
doctors – has since been allowed to get near him.
His official, but secret, status is: “in the hands of the gods”.
Reportedly this collapse is natural. Many would like him to move to his
afterlife but reportedly the collapse was not ‘externally induced’
[no poisioning]. The few insiders who know about the collapse see
this development “as a gift from the gods”.
His condition had already seriously deteriorated over the last
months, aggravated by his nervous condition due to [1] his
inability to solve the problems created by his manipulation of the
election results and the refusal of [a large part of] the
population to accept this, plus [2] his loss of religious authority
by means of the repeated condemnations of events by senior clerics
Reportedly the principal aims of Khamenei of the last couple of
weeks, if not months, were to ensure [1] a positive reputation as
his legacy and [2] the physical survival of his family members and
their wealth, reportedly now largely in Syria and in Turkey (remember the truck convoy of $8.5 billion in cash and gold that was seized by the Turks?).
Outlook is uncertain but speculation is – considering that he is in
coma since more than 24 hours – that he may not come out of his coma and/or that he may die very soon.
If he dies it is expected that immediately a bloody clash will
develop between the powers behind Rafsanjani, who will immediately
claim temporary religious authority and overall control, and the
powers behind Achmadinejad who will scramble in order to regain
control and ensure their survival.
Latest posts from Mikverbrugge on twitter:
http://twitter.com/Mikverbrugge
Iran Shiraz yesterday (AN was visiting) http://bit.ly/iv1Vy شیراز 20 مهر همزمان با حضور احمدی نژاد
about 8 hours ago from web
Iran : AN supporter lost temper when students boycotted his speech&left hall http://bit.ly/ywUco
about 8 hours ago from web
Iran First pics of Azadi Uni Protests http://bit.ly/1GzsM6
about 8 hours ago from web
Iran Press News report : Azad Uni escalation.Students now fighting Basij & Police force http://tinyurl.com/yz5hyuw
about 9 hours ago from web
Iran :R's site features Savak transcript of sermon criticizing Shah, which cd b applied 2 SL 2day http://tinyurl.com/yjgbt7l
about 9 hours ago from web
Iran : http://bit.ly/1ILGpI article summary : around 2000 students are now protesting all around Uni, 1 Student lea (cont) http://tl.gd/lkmb
about 9 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : Report on Azad Uni raid : tear gas was used to disperse students http://bit.ly/1ILGpI
about 9 hours ago from web
(more info) Iran : Src from Azad Uni : Basij & Police forces closed Tehran's Azad Technical University. Students st (cont) http://tl.gd/lkkt
about 9 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : Src : Basij & Police forces closed Tehran's Azad Technical University.
about 9 hours ago from web
US soldiers raided a freighter shipping arms from Iran to Syria or Hizbullah http://bit.ly/2Gtwjq
about 10 hours ago from web
Iran : Tehran Prosecutor confirms proceeding against Karroubi at Tehran Special Clergy Court http://tinyurl.com/yhblv3k
about 10 hours ago from web
Iran : Famous Iranian TV Sport commentator sought refuge abroad http://tinyurl.com/ylpmtnf
about 10 hours ago from web
Iran : Nourizad blasts Gov, criticizes colleagues for remaining silent in spite of catastrophy http://tinyurl.com/yhkla9q
about 11 hours ago from web
Iran : Famous Iranian Singer Eftekhari clarifies his position : he had been reported by Fars as saying he'd be hono (cont) http://tl.gd/lkbm
about 11 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : Nourizad resigns from association of revolutionary writers in protest http://bit.ly/1wHhGN
about 13 hours ago from web
Iran Narges Kalhar,daughter of AN adviser:It's not about vote,give our lives back!(She's now abroad) http://bit.ly/18gdyT
about 13 hours ago from web
Iran : From Qd to 13Aban:How Regime changed to accept&recognize Green Mvmt after show of force on Qd http://bit.ly/17i2lJ
about 13 hours ago from web
Iran madeupcaption "The fat one! Arrest him! We have proof he's a Green rioter!" http://bit.ly/12aQSr
about 14 hours ago from web
Iran : Summary : Peiknet report : SL's health situation worsening. 3 Specialists were summoned 2 his camp on Saturd (cont) http://tl.gd/ljqt
about 14 hours ago from Twitlonger
Iran : (same link, other quote) Ghanbari criticizes self-censorship of some MPs http://bit.ly/2qTiU
about 15 hours ago from web
Iran : Ali Larijani:Kahrizak Closed as a result of Majlis commission's work http://bit.ly/2qTiU
about 15 hours ago from web
Iran : Plain clothed agents chased & shot down young man in Tehran http://bit.ly/7CZdG
9:47 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Seyyed Mohammad Khatami's birthday http://bit.ly/19kMw4
9:44 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Seyyed Mohammad Khatami's birthday http://bit.ly/19kMw4 (ex-president, not moron cleric)
9:44 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis plan on questioning AN on Satellite Jammers http://bit.ly/3k4l4e
9:42 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Hayyat-e No blasts Ejei for calling Iran's condition a "State of war" http://bit.ly/fC13Q
9:41 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Taherkhani:A "mysterious & suspecious current" doesn't want unity/wants to derail Conciliation Plan http://tinyurl.com/yg9lesf
9:39 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Combatant Clerics blast Judiciary's biased actions in letter to S.Larijani/warns of loss of ppl's trust http://bit.ly/z0zFG
9:38 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Education&Research Cmte demands AN to designate Education Minister for Majlis approval http://bit.ly/4fmYVs
9:36 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Tabesh : Judiciary Chief's "Honey Moon" is over now. Tabesh criticizes political detainees not freed,despit (cont) http://tl.gd/lf56
9:32 PM Oct 12th from Twitlonger
Iran : Pictures of (Keyhan E-i-C) Hossein Shariatmadari's court session http://bit.ly/DKM5V
12:30 PM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis Art 90 Commission takes up complaints, investigates 1st VP Rahimi http://bit.ly/IOv8l
11:38 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Aalia no longer willing to stand as Education Minister in 10th Gov http://bit.ly/2BcHss
11:21 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran :Researcher&Security expert Shahbazi:grave crisis in Shiraz due to attacks on Ayat.Dastgheib http://tinyurl.com/yz83vqh
9:47 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Peiknet.com starts campaign to identify driver of $18.5B truck confiscated by Turkey http://tinyurl.com/ygo7yl2
9:42 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis Minority Leader Tabesh: Ppl want confrontation of real culprit responsible for Kahrizak http://bit.ly/4v0zsU
9:29 AM Oct 12th from web
Iran : Majlis Health Commission hearing on Satellite Jammers today http://bit.ly/Ao53M
9:26 AM Oct 12th from web