Last Roundup for a while

Due to the greatly increased atmosphere of the Iranian crisis and the cyber war right now, I am taking a hiatus from blogging to help some great people with some great protest ideas, offline. Hit the invaluable links to the right for up to the minute news, analyisis and commentary. Tehran Bureau, EA and GB are particularly reliable English language roundups and analyses from Farsi sources.

Green Mail/Next Global Day of Action

Ruin Ahmadinejad's trip to NYC to speak to the UN! Green Mail the UN here, and check here for updates on the next Global Day of Action, a week of action this time, starting September 22.

Khamenei Says No Proof Iran Protest Leaders Linked With U.S. More here on how Khamenei appears to be "putting some distance between himself and Ahmadinejad."

Iran's factional disputes grow increasingly bitter.

Iran in Turmoil: Understanding Political Divisions and Advocating Human Rights.

Ramadan Karim

Quite a few night-time protests have been reported around Iran yesterday. A good roundup of the videos can be found here.

Here is the English translation of Rafsanjani's speech along with a very good analysis. It doesn't sound to me like he is calling for the people to unite behind Khamenei but quite the opposite, that the leaders should follow the people to find unity. Rafsanani is such a wily old operator.

What is Rafsanjani up to?

The political machinations of the Iranian leadership are so far beyond my understanding now.

More here and here.

Persepolis II

Story of the 2009 Election. Here.

Friday Update

Another Ayatollah condemns the government, reports of secret burials of protesters in government cemetery, and protests last night to honor slain protesters. Here.

The Story of the Iran Election

No English subs yet, but the pics tell their own story.

Mousavi backs Karoubi/A Trial Postponed

Summary of Mousavi's letter in support of Karroubi here.

"I praise your courage and hope the other clerics join and strengthen your efforts," Mousavi's letter said.

"It is the main duty of revolutionary clergy to reflect the realities, but some have closed their eyes and ignored this responsibility," it added.

More from Earthnews:

“Those who have committed these crimes are agents of the regime….Does the rulership have no interest in knowing what these agents are doing to the people?….
Your letter on ugly treatments of prisoners have made the pro-government dailies nervous. This indicates that there might even be more horrible abuses of which we are not yet aware…. Do you [in the regime] also want four witnesses to wash off the sin from your hands?…It is expected from the Islamic clergy to fulfil their spiritual duty and only to be afraid of God and not of liars and rapists.

[VIA]

One of the most evil men in the world, Tehran chief prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi, has postponed one trial because he has suddenly decided some defendants should be able to consult lawers and those lawyers should have a few days to prepare. Nobody buys it.

Yarom Bia by Kiosk & Mohsen Namjou

Tomorrow

Persian poetry in film (and in English) here.



Introduction to Iranian poetry here.

Monday Roundup

Via Mehdi. Join the Facebook group for his dad here.

The latest on maneuvers, protests, and Rafsanjani at the inauguration of the new Judiciary head here. (PressTV highlights Rafsanjani's speech and, remarkably, seems to be leaning towards the opposition these days.)

Mehdi Karroubi had called off today's protests at the Eternade Melli newspaper offices. But people came anyway.

Ayatollah Sanei blasts the regime.

Here, Persian Rap from Cyrus Mafia.

Sunday Roundup: A Puddle of Black Versus a Sea of Green

Is Ahmadinejad afraid to come to New York next month to speak to the United Nations? Same source provides this recent photo: Ahmadinejad not so popular at home either.



A puddle of black versus a Sea of Green.

"Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has 72 hours to get approval from Parliament of his choices for Cabinet ministers. Otherwise, under Iranian law, the way is [open] for dissolution of the Government and new elections."

Latest statement from Mousavi (which was reprinted in FULL on PressTV site:

“Our election campaign was conducted under the Constitution and the principles which the Iranian nation holds dear. We still remain committed to the same slogans.”

More here. Mir Hossein!

Same source reports more Russian rethinking of government's support of Ahmadinejad. Also, more moves against Khamenei by clerics and others and:

"An Iranian website is reporting a statement from the “conservative” Society of Teachers and Researchers of Qom, whose members include Mohammad Yazdi and Ahmed Khatami, calling on the Government to ensure detainees’ rights and to curb illegal actions committed during arrests and detentions."

Another chilling account of detention and torture here.

Tehran Bureau has a good roundup here. Shemiranat Friday Prayers Leader Hojjatoleslam Mohsen Doagou says:

“A velvet revolution is the revolt of the people to seize political power without bloodshed; a military coup is military men seizing power; a political coup is seizing political power by manipulating public opinion,” he continued. “This is while the candidates and their supporters before and after the election proved their devotion to the establishment and Imam Khomeini [by demanding] the governing of the country in line with the constitution.”

There is no confirmation of this info yet AFAIK but this post makes some interesting points so am passing it along. Via Anti-Mullah. (I am not anti-Mullah as I've met some great ones but am anti-theocracy.)

Have you Green Mailed yet today?

Karroubi

Mehdi Karroubi continues to tell it like it is. Didn't know much about him before the elections except that he ran in 2005 as a reformist and lost to Ahmadinejad, and am now getting up to speed on him in the wake of his courageous stand on the treatment of detainees. He is an impressive man.

Beyond the Blue Horizon - Michael Nesmith

Letter from Tehran

"Should the United States reach out to Ahmadinejad? I think they are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t. He loves to be threatened and will use that to show how pure he is, how outside the reach and influence of foreign powers he really is. But on the other hand, I think the unity of European and North American countries does scare him. A real novel approach however would be to confront Russia and China for their support of the regime; this could be the most powerful force. The U.S. government should use all of its diplomacy in that direction. The regime in Iran will not last and United States needs to come to terms with Russia and China about how much they would like to prolong this regime’s life."

More here.

Green Mail Russia and China with easy to use email forms here.

The Green Path of Hope

Moussavi forms new political front as hardliner allies of the medievel regime call for Karroubi to be "whipped" if he doesn't produce FOUR witnesses for each alleged rape in detention. Safe to say there is no justice in Iran under the current regime.

New maneuvers between Rafsanjani and Khamenei? Same source: Many conservatives angered by Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi's statement that “obedience to the President is like obedience to God.”

The newspaper Jomhoori Eslami has pointed out the inherent hypocrisy in Mesbah’s proclamation: “If Mr. Mesbah-Yazdi’s statement is accepted, he must confess that he himself is a great sinner because, during the eight years that Mr Khatami was President, he encouraged everyone to disobey and confront the President….Even during the last four years, Mr Mesbah has also occasionally sinned against God by expressing his disagreements with Ahmadinejad.”

More on the latest machinations here and here.

Mounting Pressure

The divisions in the government may be coming to a head, with ominous warnings about an arrest of Mousavi, amid more reports of conservative criticism of the regime and its functionaries.

The regime wants the whole world to hate them.

Why?

The Real Election Stamp

Via Mehdi.

I Confess... and more

"But above all I confess that I feel small and powerless in view of the plight of my friend, his family and his people. I would like to help more."

And purportedly from inside Iran, A Message to the International Community.

And... The Persistence and Ingenuity of the Iranian Opposition.

How to Cover a Paranoid Regime with your Laptop.

New detentions.

Ahmad Khatami is such an evil parrot for the Ahmadinejad-Khamenei regime. Do these hardliners not realize how they look when they get more upset by Karroubi publicizing the well-substantiated charges of rape and other abuse of detainess than they get by the idea that these abuses have happened? Do they care about the Iranian people? Rape and torture of people denied their due process doesn't upset them, but making it known does?

(BTW Ahmad Khatami, evil parrot, must not be confused with Seyyed Mohammed Khatami, who is one of the good guys.)

What is Ali Larijani up to? Is he a patriot (in which case he would support reforms) or just a big political weasel out for his own clan? He's so hard to read. We know he and his are close to the IRG, but that they also have a scholarly background and brains so they aren't just regime parrots and stooges.

"I confess I wanna see iranian people smiling and walking for their rights as God always preffer but not a president who shot against is own people beyond his army forces or mercenaries."

Esfahan reporters show green at press ceremony, get applause.


Top 10 Ways to Overthrow Government of Iran using Google Translate.

Dota Cheshme Siaah Dari

This version is beautiful too.

Mashaie Blabs and More

Sistani speaks about trials: "These prosecutions are stain on Islamic justice."

Ahmadinejad "aide" Mashaie unleashes regime's secret weapon: Crazy Talk.

Also, Tehran Bureau on the next Minister of Intelligence.

"More than 200 former and current government officials of Iran sent a letter to the government asking it to pay heed to Rafsanjani, Karroubi, Khatami and Mousavi’s suggestions and stances on the country’s future. Signatories included former and current ministers, directors, governors, mayors and academics." [VIA]

In the NYT, a great review of the book GUARDIANS OF THE REVOLUTION: Iran and the World in the Age of the Ayatollahs By Ray Takeyh.

I missed this conversation, from late June, between Christiane Amanpour and Leslie Stahl.

Swedish police are showing their solidarity with Iranians.

The Epic Protester.

Maneuverings/Rumblings

Ayatollah Dastgheib calls for an emergency meeting of the Assembly of Experts and condemns Khamenei, as criticism mounts against Ahmadinejad.

The latest Ayatollah watch.

Ardeshir Rowhani and Elaheh

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I saw this, so I did both. This is Iranian satirist Ebrahim Nabavi, and this is what he predicted (a week or two before the trials IIRC) Abtahi would confess to.



Here is the English transcript.

Nightly Chants/Ahmadinejad is God on Earth?

Last night's opposition chants (with newspaper shown for date confirmation):




Is this the face of God? Via EA and Parleman news:

Mahmoud is God. So says Ayatollah Mesbah-Yazdi, who told a gathering of “Basij Artists,” “Once the President has received the investment from the Supreme Leader, the holiness of the Supreme Leader is transferred to him as well, therefore people should obey the President as if they obey God.”

That sounds blasphemous to me. There is no God but Allah..... Are Basiji "artists" falling for this?

I Confess, it was me and Google Translate

"I worked from inside of your government. where was given this secret chafiyé. But now I've betrayed you all! And I'm working with portugal Governement! Yes, Portugal government, not britain or france. your intelligent agency cant even find the right country. I confess It was me. All the time and only me that stole every profile on facebook. Twitted from all people on twitter at the same time. I even made videos and put them all over the youtube and translated them into many many languages using google's translator. I confess, Me and my chafieye caused all this velvet revulution."

Via him and these folks.

Iran is So Much Better than its Government

Mousavi:

"What happens in Iran's prisons these days clearly shows the necessity of a deep change in the country," the Ghalamnews quoted Mousavi as saying. "Could America harm Iran ... as much as these events in prisons have damaged the (1979 Islamic) revolution and the country?"

Conservative Opposition candidate Mohsen Rezaei criticizes Intelligence ministry purge in letter to Speaker of the parliament Ali Larijani.

Ahmadinejad still having trouble with Principlists. Update: Principlist calls on AN to change his "past ways" and become law-abiding.

In an effort to appease women, other reformists, and.... the west, the regime is sending some pro-woman signals, coupled with some pro-Israel signals. I know, it sounds fishy. IRIB has shown a documentary that showed Israel as a benign example of governments with women ministers, amid reports that Ahmadinejad will name several female ministers in his new cabinet. Ahmadinejad, champion of women! But as we all know, the only place the regime treats men and women as equals is in prison. Way too little, way too late.

Hard to obey Iran's insanely strict laws when enforcement changes from day to day.

Mehdi has a lot of interesting new material today, go here.

Confession (Eng subtitles added)

Watch This

EU Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs' discussion on Iran, July 2009, (note the voice of the interpreter in the first part).

Elsewhere... new momentum for the Opposition... and The Supreme Leader looks for Facebook friends.

No Rafsanjani Friday/Confessions of a Cartoonist

Now reports from many sources, including the Guardian, Tehran Times, PressTV and Hashemi Rafsanjani's own website say Rafsanjani will NOT lead Friday prayers - ostensibly to prevent another regime crackdown. The sense is that there is a lot more to this story.

Elsewhere, Confessions of a Cartoonist.

Backlash Against Russia

Here.

According to an Aug. 6 piece published by the privately owned Nezavisimaya Gazeta, it's time to give the divisive president the heave-ho.

"It appears that recent events in Iran, when the opponents of Ahmadinejad shouted slogans of 'Death to Russia,' indicate that Moscow's defense of Ahmadinejad's government has not been met with approval among a considerable portion of the Iranian population," the editorial said.

"It appears that the idea that Iran is a regional power which Russia could use as a trump card in relations with the West has turned out to be mistaken," the editorial says.

"As a matter of fact, it has turned out that Iran is using Russia to polarize the Group of Six," the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany, over Iran's nuclear program.

The editorial pointed out that Russians are being singled out by the West and Iranians themselves as the primary backers of Ahmadinejad, possibly to Moscow's disadvantage.

The editorial adds,

"banking on personal relations with Ahmadinejad appears to be counterproductive." It urges "the development of contacts" with other political players.

Wow.

More.

Monday Roundup

Warning - graphic material: More reports -- and photographs -- of torture in Iran's prisons, and Karroubi asks Rafsanjani to investigate reports from "senior officials" (and many others) that some protesters were brutally raped, as outrage over the Ahmadinejad crackdown continues to spread. A good analysis here. Karroubi's accusations should come as no surprise. Rape is a tried and true torture technique in Khamenei's Iran, (and too many other places), and is nothing new.

RR has one detainee's story here. Again, this is very graphic and painful.

Photos from Aug 6th ceremony. Kermanshah, for Kianoosh Asa. It looks like there were a lot of people there.

There is again doubt about whether or not Rafsanjani will lead Friday Prayers. Rafsanjani announced he would be, on his website, but that information has since been taken down. Aftab News says No (FA) (EN). Mehdi Karroubi's newspaper, Eternade Melli, says:

“It seems that such a decision [Rafsanjani's withdrawal from Friday prayers in Tehran] has been made because of concerns that the last blatant display of popular support that greeted Rafsanjani last time will be repeated. The question remains that was this decision made [by the Friday Prayers committee] due to governmental pressure or that Rafsanjani himself decided to not lead the prayers”.

@oxfordgirl on twitter notes that there were false reports that Rafsanjani had withdrawn from prayers before the July 17th prayers. Keep that in mind. An announcement is to be made Tuesday.

UPDATE: The Guardian says no Rafsanjani on Friday. Something very fishy about this.

Lots of reports now that Ahmadinejad is running into a lot more trouble in parliament with his cabinet. There's a sense that a lot of hardliners want to be rid of AN without looking like they openly oppose him and the cabinet is a vulnerable area for him.

And U2's latest tribute to the Iranian opposition, in Zagreb:

>

[VIA]

Sistani's "Oblique" Intervention

Here. Appears to be a veiled warning to Khamenei.

Stolen from the World by Ahmadinejad - Amir Javadifar

Amir Javadifar, Industrial management student, was beaten by government forces and hospitalized, then abducted from the hospital by Basiji and taken to prison, where he died under horrific torture. I have no English translation for this yet, but the pictures alone tell a story:

When the History of the 21st Century is Written...

"In the history books of the 21st century, the first chapter will be about us.
In the introduction, they might write that important events have happened before us, events like 9/11 and war on Iraq and Afghanistan, but those were the remnants of the previous century, with an outdated dialogue and with twentieth century tools: Airplanes, bombs and bullets. And then they will write that the first chapter is dedicated to us because we have been the true children of our time and our dialogue was the dialogue of the beginning of the third millennium.Early in the book, they will write that social movements are born out of communication technologies and at the same place they will write that we were the first movement that exploited entirely all the new communication tools that were established at the beginning of this century.Perhaps they will write a footnote on how these tools changed the social structure and how they changed the world view on the social classes, work flow, production and distribution of wealth, social leadership and management and even changed the world's attitude about the sustainable human values."

Read more (in Farsi and English).

Roundup

The best defense is a good offense, but too much offense is just offensive. Are Iran's show trials backfiring by alienating their intended audience?

Mojtahed-Zadeh, who is far from a radical operative of the “velvet revolution” — he is a professor at Tarbiat Modares University in Tehran — offers the advice, “Perhaps the regime would be wise enough to put some facade of legality on this, because these show trials are not acceptable in any way, by anyone.”

Except, maybe, to the Republican Guard and the Basiji -- who represent the biggest challenges at the moment and are the reason fuel sanctions on refined petroleum products are a bad idea. The Guard reportedly controls Iranian smuggling, in a region of the world that is a smuggler's paradise, and would just get richer while most other Iranians suffered under increased sanctions. The world must find more creative ways to convince the Guard and their brutish underlings that their economic and other interests are better served by a democratic Iran where people's human rights are respected and people's talents are fostered and honored, not extinguished.

More on the purge of the Intelligence Ministry, as Ahmadinejad replaces more experienced people with loyalists, here.

And, In Iran a Hostage-Taker Becomes a Hostage.

Yet more ridiculous...

Among the entities involved in the massive-worldwide conspiracy against the Iranian regime? According to the regime, "Facebook, Twitter and Google Translate."

Assorted Tweets in reaction:

"Also implicated, knowledge, soul and thinking."

"They forgot Mickey Mouse."

"They forgot Mossadegh, Cyrus, Gandhi."

Rafsanjani

The mercurial mouthpiece for the Iran government, PressTV, confirms Rafsanjani will be leading next Friday's prayers.

Stolen from the World by Ahmadinejad

Kianoush Asa playing Tanbour. Master's science student, killed in protests.

Listen for the child...

I confess the earth is flat

Go here, to see the original post with photograph and page down to read more and to join the Facebook group for his father.

I confess!

I confess that the earth is flat, I confess that night was day and
It was my optical illusion that I thought it was night…I confess
those drugs are delusion, a traitor like me does not deserve commiseration.
I will confess, just show some mercy, please give my friends a loaf of
bread, I’ll confess, stop hitting us for God’s sake.
I will confess, I will confess, Just don’t tell my daughter what happened to me during
a couple of months that passed.

RR Live Blogging the "Trial" here.

Iran conservatives demand role in Cabinet's vetting

Here.

"If, God forbid, you pursue an approach different from the one elucidated by the supreme leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] because of your refusal to consult the honest friends of the revolution, or you lose public faith out of obstinacy, we fear that the regime would suffer irreparable damage," said the statement, according to the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.

Logic is Illegal

Good update (in English from mostly Persian sources) here on spontaneous protests last night that grew and spread throughout Iran and the regime's attempts to backtrack, spin and cover up atrocities against detainees. It includes this quote from a Mousavi advisor:

"Whoever talks about something logical, they will accuse him of being disloyal to the Supreme Leader. By using these tactics they are avoiding logic. It has been two months since the election: which one of their actions solved the crisis?"

The same report has good coverage of the sermon by conservative Ayatollah Emami-Kashani, who warned the government that the Iranian people "deserve better treatment."

Iran Tightens Online Censorship

Here.

1980

solidarnosc.

The News, Briefly

Despite insanely heavy security forces in the streets, there were big protests August 5th. Numerous videos show crowds chanting in different streets, subways and in other cities, and many of these videos show the day's newspaper to confirm dates shot. The Ahmadinejad-khamenei regime continues to crack down, making even more enemies and fracturing the Principalist and other conservative blocs. While capital flees to other countries, Ahmadinejad faces double-digit inflation and unemployment and other economic problems only compounded by the volatile oil markets and widespread international disgust and hatred. The offices of the Iranian Association of Journalists have been sealed. Rafsanjani is scheduled to deliver the sermon at Friday prayers August 14, but there is no confirmation he will do it yet.

Fighting to get Iran Back and Get Back to Iran.

I Confess - tribute to Mohammed Reza Jalaeipour

Some very good soul has now provided English subtitles for this, a tribute to a young man "arrested after the elections and believed to be under torture and pressure to confess to lies."



Facebook group for Mohammed Reza Jalaeipour here.

More from the Watch me Confess project here.

Rafsanjani leading Friday Prayers August 14?/Bad Actors

Rafsanjani here.

The Bad Actors in Iran's Political theater -- The Guardian.

"The paradox of the current administration in Iran, and in particular the character of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is that they want it both ways. They want the theatre but they also want total control, not only of the production, but of the audience reaction. In so doing they have singularly failed to manufacture consent and have been struggling since the election on 12 June to impose their narrative. Indeed, we should not lose sight of the fact that for all the contests on the streets and the divisions within the elites, this is at heart an ideological contest, where the message matters. This is why journalists have been expelled, academics imprisoned and activists put on trial. This is why the hardline establishment insists on normality and business as usual, and why the mere continuation of protests denies them that particular fiction. In fact, control has been especially elusive of late, not least because of the crisis of authority, but because the means of transmission have been so diverse: the internet has proved just as serious a battleground as the streets. But perhaps even more significant that these have been the mistakes perpetrated by the establishment itself in its urgency to get the message right.

"It is far from over," The Economist.

Says it All

More from this artist here and here. (And a little shout out to the woman who introduced me to this artist -- hope you're well.)

Via OnlyMehdi.

Militia Member Now Fights the Militia

Here.

Ahmadinejad faces economic hurdles.

Several reports mention that opposition MPs boycotted the Ahmadinejad inauguration and members of the Imam Khomeini line walked out as soon as AN began his speech. More coverage of the ceremony and the opposition protests:

OnlyMehdi - new videos

Roozonline - analysis

Revolutionary Road - liveblogging pics, videos and commentary from inside

Tehran Bureau (read also "Why China and Russia love Iran's hardliners" in today's edition)

Green Brief

Watch Me Confess: NV

[VIA]

Waiting for English translation on this one:



Finally, Khamenei's warning to Ahmadinejad?

Global Solidarity 2.0

Tehran Bureau on global solidarity and the "new" media.

45 Nobel Laureates' "Open Letter to the Iranian people."

Green art.

Pakistan hits Twitter

Bina Shah on Pakistan's growing internet presence here.

The Kiss

Read one guy's interpretation.

And watch this:

The Anti-American Lie

Look, I have my gripes with the US government and American business too, God knows. But I hate the knee-jerk attitude that everything wrong with the world is somehow America's fault (and a CIA plot), as if the Soviet Union, China, OPEC and people's own governments have never meddled, done harm, exploited other countries for their own gain. As if America hasn't done a lot of great good too, and given the world enormous gifts. Yes, America did a lot of harm to Iran in the last 60 years (and here is the latest example of evil Americans in the mideast). But they were not alone in this, and the mostly hardline governments of Iran of the last 60 years (excluding a few brief periods of enlightened governance) have outdone even the US, the UK and Russia together when it comes to inflicting harm on the Iranian people. The Iranian government and its allies are bigger thieves, better torturers and much more accomplished killers of Iranians than any foreign government. The Khamenei-Ahmadinejad government is the Great Satan.

As this incisive piece notes, Iran's internal battles pre-date the formation of the CIA, and America, by years.

She says she wants her vote back from Khamenei

A Patriot:



Update on the barbaric show trials in Iran.

Watchmeconfess - who is behind the "velvet revolution" to overthrow Iran? Me, of course, and you, and Julia and him....