Last June, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad proclaimed a "landslide" victory election triggering months of upheaval. Tehran and other cities have seen the largest street protests and rioting since the 1979 Iranian Revolution by supporters of reform candidates alleging voter fraud. For the past several weeks, Iranian opposition groups and various media outlets have been predicting a repeat of this past summer's events during the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. The anniversary is the most important day in Iran's political calendar.
Instead, the opposition turnout was dwarfed by huge crowds at the state-run celebrations in the center of Tehran waving Iranian flags and carrying placards declaring the "US and Britain the brothers of the devil", and "Down with Israel."
A triumphant Ahmadinejad declared that Iran was now a "nuclear state" and would soon triple its output of 20% enriched uranium.
"By God's grace, it was reported that the first consignment of 20 per cent-enriched uranium was produced and put at the disposal of the scientists," he addressed the cheering crowd who had gathered in Tehran Azadi square to mark the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.
But as Iranian state-controlled television beamed images of rallies supporting the regime in different cities, several Western and Arab television networks were reporting clashes between protesters and security forces in Tehran, Mashhad, Esfahan, Ahvaz, Shiraz and Tabriz. Opposition news websites alleged that security forces opened fire on anti-government demonstrators north of Revolution Square in Tehran, killing at least one person. A video posted on YouTube showing an Iranian security official pummeling an unarmed demonstrator was rebroadcast on several media outlets without confirming whether the video was shot recently or during the June events.
News quickly spread on Twitter that "opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was attacked by security forces as he neared the main route of the march in Tehran." This was tweeted and retweeted hundreds of times. "His youngest son, Ali, was arrested," another tweet followed.
If one followed the "hashtag" (#IranElection) on Twitter on Thursday, he or she would have had the impression that the "Velvet Revolution" was rekindled. Although this was the wishful thinking of many, it was far from the truth. What went wrong?
Despite weeks of calls to action, the opposition movement failed to derail the holiday's agenda set by supporters of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The Iranian government had spent weeks co-opting the opposition plans. Dozens of activists and journalists were arrested, along with individuals suspected of using social networking websites to encourage protests against the regime.
Following in the footsteps of China, Google and other internet service providers had been blocked in Iran. SMS messages were interrupted, and internet communication was brought to a halt. Three major international broadcasters operating in the region, the BBC, Deutsche Welle and Voice of America, have recently accused the Iranian regime of "deliberate electronic interference" in their broadcasts.
It seems that the balance in the Iranian uprising is shifting in the regime's favor. This time Ahmadinejad was prepared... he succeeded in "unplugging" the opposition.
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Follow Jamal Dajani on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamaldajani
Sorry Barack, but Ronald Reagan you are not.
President Ronald Reagan before cheering West Germans "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall!"
It appears that once a community organizer, always a community organizer.
THAT is the real sad FACT...........
The US needs to stop repressing and abusing its own before we can preach to the world...
The report includes names of the 47 verified jailed journalists and a brief information about their imprisonments.
http://cpj.org/2010/02/with-47-journalists-in-jail-iran-sets-notorious-re.php
Iran as we know it and an Israeli air armada mauling that will be biblical in proportion? Actually,
my guess is the first wave will be American B2s and F117's with the Israelis conducting
the mopup and claiming credit for the entire operation. America will be stealthy in several
dimensions.
So if the kids fail...whew...I think its gonna get dicey. I've played it out for myself and I really
don't like where it could end up. Hope I'm wrong. Thoughts?
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/02/12/this_week_at_war_are_the_ayatollahs_using_coin
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/babylonbeyond/2010/02/iran-failed-22-bahman-protest-yields-new-lessons-for-bruised-opposition.html
longwarjournal
13-Feb-2010
Ten people have been reported killed after Iraqi and US forces clashed with an Iranian-backed Shia terror group in a southern Iraqi province on the border with Iran.
The battle began after US and Iraqi forces conducted a raid against the Hezbollah Brigades in the village of Duwayjat, north of the city of Amarah in Maysan province. Fighters from the Iranian-backed Hezbollah Brigades waited in ambush for the joint US and Iraqi force to enter the village.
http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2010/02/iraqi_us_forces_kill.php
http://www.rhairan.net/en/?p=580
rhairan
13-Feb-2010
“The Iranian authorities seem either to have lost touch with reality
or are unwilling to acknowledge it. The government report reads as if
there is no human rights crisis, just politically motivatedIranian authorities have ‘lost touch with reality’ says Amnesty ahead of UN human right review
Posted: 12 February 2010
The Iranian government’s view of the state of human rights in the country is severely distorted, Amnesty International said today in an analysis paper prepared ahead of a review of Iran by the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The Amnesty International paper was prepared in response to Iran’s own submission to the UN in the framework of the Universal Periodic Review. The UN Human Rights Council’s Working Group will evaluate Iran’s human rights record on 15 February.
Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, Deputy Director for the Middle East at Amnesty International, said:
“The Iranian authorities seem either to have lost touch with reality or are unwilling to acknowledge it. The government report reads as if there is no human rights crisis, just politically motivated criticism.
http://www.rhairan.net/en/?p=580
The Unhappy Anniversary
The Iranian system has reached a point of repression saturation
by Rouzbeh Parsi and Trita Parsi
http://www.iranian.com/main/2010/feb/unhappy-anniversary
""small set of stats tucked away in Maziar Bahari’s article on Iran – published in the New Statesmen shortly before it became an Islamist toilet
http://www.newstatesman.com/asia/2008/09/iran-ahmadinejad-government
the figures mentioned are all underestimates but the last one caught my eye as I was rereading the article.
REPRESSION: THE NUMBERS
85 juvenile offenders on death row. Iran is the world’s most prolific executioner of under-18s
30,000 estimated number of political prisoners
100 lashes given to a woman found guilty of adultery in August
500,000 rials (£30) – the fine for women who do not observe Islamic dress in public.
The average monthly salary is £106
317 people were executed in 2007, including six juvenile offenders
11 years’ imprisonment: sentence imposed on a journalist for founding the Human Rights Organisation of Kurdistan
4Isn’t Islamic justice a beautiful thing.
To: Jamal
The murderers running Iran killed an exponentially greater number of Iranians in the years 1981-1982 alone than the Shah did in the years 1941-1979.
Iran's pro-government rallies fool nobody
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/01/07/Dabashi.iran.staged.protests/
The IRI serves the interest of military industrial complex...both need each other...do not romanticize the regime.