March 2011
47 posts
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February 2011
62 posts
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Iran Update:
Mir Hossein Mousavi’s website is reporting that Mousavi, Karroubi and their wives are being held at Heshmatiyeh prison, a military prison in eastern Tehran.
Karroubi’s website reports that his son, Ali, has also been arrested and that security forces were seeking his elder son, Hossein. Both Karroubi and his wife are reportedly in need of medical attention. The location of the four...
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“The United States strongly condemns the Iranian government’s organized...”
– Reuters: White House statement on Sunday
Meanwhile, the International Campaign for Human Rights claimed on Sunday that the two main Iranian opposition leaders and their wives are in grave danger after security forces apparently abducted them from their homes, where they were under house arrest. The...
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Eliminating the Opposition, Islamic Republic Style →
The tactics that Iran’s Islamic regime has employed against the opposition Green Movement follow a well-worn pattern that can be summed up as “call them counter-revolutionaries and then destroy them.”
There is nothing creative or innovative about this approach, which emerged in Iran at the dawn of the 1979 revolution, in a febrile atmosphere dominated by Ayatollah Ruhollah...
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“Today, in an act of unprecedented hypocrisy the misogynistic Islamic regime of...”
– Reza Pahlavi
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Ahmadinejad tells Arab leaders to respect... →
Speaking for the first time about this year’s Arab uprisings, Ahmadinejad expressed horror at the use of extreme violence and urged governments to listen to their people.
“How can a leader subject his own people to a shower of machine-guns, tanks and bombs? How can a leader bomb his own people, and afterwards say ‘I will kill anyone who says anything?’” he said in...
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Iran Update:
Tehran security forces erected iron bars around Mousavi’s residence ahead of today’s protests. (video)
Mousavi advisor begged security forces not to use violence against the protesters.
The Wall Street Journal’s Farnaz Fasihi reported that thousands of demonstrators chanting against the government poured into the streets in nationwide protests on Sunday. In Tehran, protestors targeted...
Iran naval ships to cross Suez Canal on Monday →
The vessels will be the first Iranian naval ships to pass through the canal since Iran’s 1979 revolution. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Iran’s plan was a “provocation.”
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Why Egypt and Iran are different
Why haven’t the street demonstrations toppled the Iranian government? It happened in Egypt. It happened in Tunisia. And demonstrations are wracking Yemen, Libya, and particularly Bahrain.
While many Americans view the Arab world as one cohesive block, nothing could be further from the truth. That would be like saying all 50 US states are the same. Is Oklahoma or Mississippi politically similar...
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Iranian Film Receives Top Golden Bear Prize at the... →
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Iran's Revolutionary Guard Pledges to Hold Fire →
theatlantic:
Senior officers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have written a letter to their commanding officer demanding assurances that they will not be required to open fire on anti-government demonstrators… Following the recent violence that occurred during anti-government protests in Egypt, the officers argue that it is against the principles of Shi’ite Islamic law to use violence against...
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NYT: Mousavi Missing in Iran →
The daughters of the missing opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, told an opposition Web site that they had had no word from either of their parents since Tuesday and feared they had been detained. Security forces have surrounded their home, and all communications have been cut.
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BREAKING: Iran's Revolutionary Guards vow to hold...
Senior officers in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have written to their commanding officer demanding assurances that they will not be required to open fire on anti-government demonstrators.
After the violent clashes during anti-government protests in nearby countries, the officers argue that it is against the principles of Islamic law to use violence against their own people.
In a suggestion...
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Iran Update →
Ghaneh Jaleh, brother of slain 25 Bahman protestor Saneh Jaleh, has been arrested after telling VOA in an emotional interview that the Ministry of Intelligence issued a fake Basij membership card for his brother. There are reports that security forces have surrounded his family’s home.
Mehdi Sharifian, a movie director, producer and documentary filmmaker, has been arrested. He had...
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NYT Breaking: Iranian security forces have raided... →
In an interview with Saham News that took place minutes ago, the opposition leader’s son stated:
“Approximately 20 security officers arrived at my residence, broke down the door to the main entrance and entered the building, despite the fact that no one was home. Sadly these individuals proceeded with the destruction of property, disturbing the peace and creating fear and discomfort...
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Reuters: Israel says Iran Warship to Transit Suez... →
“Tonight, two Iranian warships are meant to pass through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean Sea and reach Syria, something that has not happened in many years,” Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said in a Jerusalem speech distributed by his office.
“To my regret, the international community is not showing readiness to deal with the recurring Iranian provocations. The...
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Andrew Sullivan: Khamenei's Brutality →
Omid Memarian reflects on yesterday’s protests:
“American-backed autocracies, like Mubarak’s Egypt, are more vulnerable than anti-American dictatorships like Iran, for they are subject to the scrutiny of American politics and public opinion,” said [Karim Sadjadpour of the Carnegie Endowment]. “Iran can slaughter its people without worrying that China or Russia is going to hold it...
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1,500 Hundred People Arrested and Transferred to... →
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An Eye Witness Account Of Demonstrators Ambushed... →
A journalist who was an eye witness among the protestors today, sent the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran his observations of violence unleashed by forces, use of teargas, electric batons, shots fired, and finally getting hit by batons during the 14 February demonstration. He explained in his report that police forces and Special Guard motorcyclists ambushed people on side streets,...
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Correction:
According to a NYT article I just posted, there were only 20,000 to 30,000 protesters across the country. But Tehran Bureau for PBS as well as Aftenposten, Norway’s largest newspaper and others, say it’s as many as 350,000 in Tehran ALONE. Still investigating.
UPDATE: Looks like Tehran Bureau is sticking with their figure as reported by Frontline. That’s good enough for me.
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“Iran: Youth take to streets to protest government. America: Youth take to...”
– Andy Borowitz
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“They have cut off the electricity to the street lamps on the Enghelab St. from...”
– an eye-witness to the BBC in Tehran
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According to CNN’s Reza Sayah, there have been violent clashes in front of Tehran University, where some protesters have been taken away on motorcycle. There are also many protesters clashing with security forces at Iman Hossein Square, where people are chanting “Death to the Dictator, Death to Khamenei.”
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NYT: Iranian Police Fire Tear Gas at Protesters →
Hundreds of black-clad riot police officers, some in bullet-proof vests, deployed in key locations in central Tehran on Monday and fired tear gas to thwart an Iranian opposition march in solidarity with the uprising in Egypt, news reports and witnesses’ accounts from Iran said.
At the same time a reformist Web site reported that phone lines to the home of one opposition leader, Mir Hussein...
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Iran opposition to hold demonstrations despite... →
Activists in Iran will go ahead with a banned rally in central Tehran on Monday in defiance of warnings by the regime and a heavy security presence. Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand, a spokesman for the former presidential candidates Mousavi and Karroubi, accused the government of hypocrisy in voicing support for protesters in Egypt and Tunisia while refusing to allow a peaceful demonstration.
“Our...
White House criticizes Iran response to Egypt →
The White House says Iran’s government is showing it’s scared of the will of its people by cracking down on opposition leaders and blocking international media outlets in the wake of Egypt’s uprising.
Press secretary Robert Gibbs says the Iranian government should allow its people to demonstrate and assemble peacefully.
Ahmadinejad has clamped down on its opposition, even as it has cheered...
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“February 11 is the day that the Shah’s regime fell in 1979 and Nelson...”
“One cannot but note the “miraculous” nature of the events in Egypt: something...”
– For Egypt, this is the miracle of Tahrir Square | Slavoj Žižek | The Guardian
Kate - he already knew this would happen! Yesterday! :)
He is ahead of his time! :) 