Nico Pitney is National Editor at the Huffington Post. He was previously Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and Managing Editor of ThinkProgress. He lives in Washington, DC, and has appeared on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and NPR. Nico can be reached at pitney@huffingtonpost.com.
Tonight, in a little strip-mall office next to the local Safeway, a teenage student from Alameda, California will spend the evening dialing up strangers to make an earnest request: please save my school.
The budget ax is about to fall on this Bay Area city. Seven million dollars in K-12 education cuts are planned this year, nearly $10 million will be lopped off next year, and a massive $17 million cut looms in 2012. A few weeks ago, Alameda's Board of Education handed out pink slips to 130 teachers, administrators and staff.
"This is the worst yet," said Superintendent Kirsten Vital, a 20-year veteran of California's education system. "I've never seen anything like it."
And so this month, Vital and a host of parents and students are fighting to pass a "parcel tax" -- basically a flat tax on landowners -- the latest trend in last-ditch efforts to save California's schools.
Unlike with big congressional elections, the campaign to shore up this 10,000-student district runs along on a relative shoe-string budget.
"It's a volunteer army," Vital said. Local residents have "organized block captains, everyone has a caseload. Tuesday through Thursday nights we have 65 to 70 high school students on the phone, doing phone-banking. It's totally a volunteer effort."
The situation in Alameda isn't unique. Parents across the state, including in four other Bay Area counties, have placed parcel taxes on the ballot next Tuesday to make up for sharply reduced school funding.
Last year, California raised $251 million from parcel taxes, according to the Education Data Partnership, despite the fact that they require two-thirds supermajorities to become law. (Alameda's measure would cost residential property owners $659 per year.)
Indeed, schools in Alameda are already funded by a parcel tax that passed in 2008 by the slimmest of margins, 39 votes. Just to maintain current funding levels, another parcel tax of double the amount is needed. "That is to preserve what we have, not to add new programming for young people," Vital said.
And what happens if the measure doesn't pass? It's a grim picture.
Class sizes will grow, from 20 students on average to 25 or even 32. Meanwhile, students' time in class will drop; they'll leave school early as partial days increase, and the total number of school days will be cut by a week.
Teachers and staff will have targets on their backs. All employees will face furlough days, and many teachers -- particularly the next generation of young educators who today are the least experienced -- will be let go. (A bill currently working its way through Congress would provide funding to prevent 300,000 education lay-offs.)
The teachers who keep their jobs will receive no professional development or coaching -- those training days are eliminated. Also on the chopping block are field trips and various enrichment experiences, which already are funded heavily by volunteer community auctions and fundraisers.
The shifts in class size and teaching time impact students immediately. "They'll have different work assigned, maybe not as much writing and reading," Vital explained, "because when teachers have more students, they're not able to assign the same level of work."
The end result, she admits, is that fewer students will meet their grade level standards. "I think that's just the truth. When you defund, this is what happens. And then what happens -- for a kindergartener this year, imagine as they move to first grade, to second grade, what that means as a cost to society when kids are not reading or doing math at grade level."
I'm blogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
2:18 PM ET -- Mousavi website: Protests will continue. Reuters reports:
Iran's opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Monday the pro-reform protests which erupted after the country's disputed June presidential vote will continue, his website reported.
"The pro-reform path will continue," Mousavi said in a statement. "The establishment should respect the constitution and let us to gather to commemorate our killed loved ones on Thursday."
Moderate defeated candidates Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi on Sunday called on the authorities to permit a gathering on Thursday at Tehran's "Grand Mosala," a prayer location where tens of thousands can gather, to commemorate unrest victims.
2:12 PM ET -- "Feisty opposition starts new protest campaign." Time magazine's Robin Wright: "Phase 2 has begun. Six weeks after millions took to the streets to protest Iran's presidential election, their uprising has morphed into a feistier, more imaginative and potentially enduring campaign."
11:44 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad fires his intelligence minister.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad fired his intelligence minister and his culture minister resigned under pressure Sunday as further rifts emerged in his camp with just days to go until his controversial inauguration for a second term.
Although Ahmadinejad has frequently replaced his cabinet members over the past four years, Sunday's firing and resignation were significant because both Intelligence Minister Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei and Culture Minister Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi are especially close to Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, analysts say.
"All ministers are close to him," said Amir Mohebbian, a political analyst who shares Ahmadinejad's ideology but has been critical of his actions. "But these two are closer to the leader."
Taken together, the moves suggest deep unhappiness within Ahmadinejad's inner circle at a time when the government is still reeling from the impact of a weeks-long campaign by the opposition to overturn the results of June's disputed election, in which Ahmadinejad was declared the winner in a landslide.
11:28 AM ET -- A rare interview from inside Iran. Via reader Yong, here's an interview that CNN's Fareed Zakaria conducted with Tehran University Professor Mohammed Morandi. The talk gets a bit contentious after Marandi claims that the United States government and its media outlets have urged Iranians to riot and use violence. Zakaria asks Mirandi if he worries that one day he will be viewed as a "mouthpiece for a dying repressive regime."
8:56 AM ET -- Still in the streets. A protest, reportedly from yesterday, in front the headquarters of IRIB, Iran's state-backed media.
8:28 AM ET -- Israeli official: No option off the table. From the AP:
Israel dug in its heels Monday in a disagreement with the United States over a potential military strike to thwart Iran's progress toward a possible nuclear weapon, as the visiting American defense chief urged patience.
"We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table," Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said pointedly, following discussions with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
"This is our policy; we mean it," Barak continued. "We recommend to others to take the same position, but we cannot dictate it to anyone."
While the United States also reserves the right to use force if need be, the Obama administration is playing down that possibility while it tries to draw Iran into talks about its disputed nuclear program and other topics. Gates said Washington still hopes to have an initial answer in the fall about negotiations.
"The timetable the president laid out still seems to be viable and does not significantly raise the risks to anybody," Gates said.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
Demonstrators in cities around the globe joined protests Saturday denouncing human rights abuses in Iran and showing support for opponents of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmandinejad.
Some of the biggest rallies took place in Amsterdam, London and Stockholm, with more than 4,000 alone taking to the streets of the Swedish capital.
Among the 1,000 people in Amsterdam was Iran's Nobel Peace laureate Shirin Ebadi who led the crowd in chanting: "We want to live in peace. Long live peace".
"We are here to show our solidarity with the people of Iran and to urge the Iranian government to respect human rights," said Tom van den Brand, a spokesman for Amnesty International in Amsterdam.
In London, where more than a thousand gathered outside the Iranian embassy, organisers also spoke of supporting Iranians protesting Ahmandinejad's disputed re-election.
"This is symbolic, it's a global day of solidarity," said Potkin Azarmehr, one of the organisers. "We need to make sure the government pays a price for the way they're treating the people in Iran."
3:12 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad names Mashei as senior advisor.
"I appoint you [Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei], as a faithful and competent figure, as advisor and head of the Presidential Office," Ahmadinejad said in a decree on Saturday.
According to the decree published on president's website, Ahmadinejad expressed hope Rahim-Mashaei would be successful in serving the great Iranian nation and the Islamic establishment in cooperation with his colleagues.
Rahim-Mashaei's appointment as the country's vice president unleashed torrents of criticism from both the president's supporters and opponents alike.
Following the political controversy, the president reversed his decision and accepted Rahim-Mashaei resignation.
3:11 PM ET -- Big turnout in Australia. Many more photos here.
3:08 PM ET -- Demonstrators in Kyrgyz Republic reportedly arrested. A press release from United4Iran.org.
(July 25, 2009) Eight human rights defenders who were planning to hold a protest in front of the Iranian Embassy in the city of Bishkek in Kyrgyz Republic were arrested today. The demonstrators had assembled on a sidewalk, walking towards the Iranian Embassy. As they approached the main street leading to the embassy a group of policemen, who were apparently expecting them, detained all of them. As of this writing, 8:30 a.m. GMT, the detainees were held in a local police station and were due to be arraigned in a court. It is not clear under what article of the law they have been detained.
United4Iran, who has called for worldwide rallies to show solidarity with the people of Iran in over a hundred cities on July 25, deplores the actions of the Kyrgyz government denying its citizens the right to peaceful assembly.
United4Iran called on the Kyrgyz authorities to immediately release all the detainees. The names of the detainees are:
1. Tolekan Ismailova, Director of human rights center "Citizens Against Corruption"
2. Baijumanova Aida, national coordinator "Citizens Against Corruption"
3. Shaihutdinov Timur, Youth and Student rights Advocacy Council of Ombudsmen.
4. Diana Makembaeva, coordinator of human rights film festival, "Citizens Against Corruption"
5. Krapivina Evgeniya, lawyer
6. Imankulova Erkingul, Public Association "Karek"
7. Arykova Umutay, human rights activist
8. Urmat Kyzy Mirgul, activist
For more information contact:
Hadi Ghaemi (917)669 5996
Pantea Beigi (303) 455 2099
2:54 PM ET -- Iranians demonstrate outside Evin prison. Via reader Chas Danner -- date unspecified but just uploaded today:
8:41 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad VP Mashaei resigns. Some big news broke while I was away -- Khamenei released a succinct letter demanding that Ahmadinejad dump his controversial choice for vice president Rahim Mashaei (who had come under heavy fire from conservatives and hard-liners in part over comments he'd made praising Israelis), and within hours, Ahmadinejad gave in. From the NIAC blog:
Rahim Mashaei has resigned from his post as First Deputy to Ahmadinejad, Fars News Reports [Persian]. Ahmadinejad had resisted firing Mashaei for six days despite an order to do so from the supreme leader. Mashaei was a controversial nominee in part because he said Iran was the friend of the American and Israeli people.
Samareh Hashemi, President's senior aid, on behalf of Mashaei said, "after the announcement of [Supreme Leader's] order, I no longer consider myself the President's First Deputy and will serve the Revolution and Iran wherever else it is necessary."
8:35 PM ET -- Meeting Austin Heap and his team. I had the great pleasure of watching a demonstration of Austin Heap's Haystack technology today -- it's simply astounding work. It sounds as if they'll be announcing more details in the days and weeks to come but for now, please consider heading to his site and donating either funds or USB thumb drives.
The tweets still fly and the videos hit YouTube whenever protesters take to the streets in Iran -- even as the Internet battle there turns more grueling.
Authorities appear to be intensifying their campaign to block Web sites and chase down the opposition online, and the activists search for new ways to elude them.
Sites such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube remain blocked, as they have been since Iran's political turmoil began following the disputed June 12 presidential election. Internet experts believe the government is going further -- including tracking down computers from which images and videos of Iran's protests are sent out to the rest of the world. Activists fear their every move online is watched.
"We are really worried about this. To protect myself, I just limit my posts on social networks, my tweets and also I deleted some parts of my personal blogs and my other notes on the Web," one Iranian who regularly sends tweets about the election turmoil said in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
Another said, "Every site where people can gather and stay connected and share news and pics ... is blocked." Both agreed to e-mail interviews on condition of anonymity, fearing government retaliation.
7:50 PM ET -- Christian Science Monitor slams Clinton over Iran. A very harsh editorial from the paper's editorial board begins, "Loose lips sink ships and, for America's top diplomats, they can also sink countries into war."
1:04 PM ET -- Senate passes Iran VOICE Act. Just emailed out by Sen. Joe Lieberman's office.
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Senate voted unanimously last night to adopt bipartisan legislation that will help strengthen the ability of the Iranian people get access to news and information and overcome the electronic censorship and monitoring efforts of the Iranian regime.
The Victims of Iranian Censorship (VOICE) Act was introduced by Senators John McCain (R-AZ), Joseph Lieberman (ID-CT), Ted Kaufman (D-DE), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Robert Casey (D-PA) as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Among the key features of the VOICE Act:
* Authorizes $30 million to the Broadcasting Board of Governors to expand Farsi language broadcasting into Iran by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty's Radio Farda and the Voice of America's Persian News Network. The funds may be used to develop additional transmission capability to counter Iranian government efforts to jam radio, satellite, and Internet-based transmissions; establish additional proxy server capability and anti-censorship software to counter efforts to block access to websites in Iran; develop technologies to counter efforts to block SMS text message exchange over cellular phone networks; and hire, on a permanent or short-term basis, additional staff for Radio Farda and the Persian News Network.
* Authorizes $20 million for a new "Iranian Electronic Education, Exchange, and Media Fund," which will support the development of technologies, including websites, that will aid the ability of the Iranian people to gain access to and share information; counter efforts to block, censor, or monitor the Internet in Iran; and engage in Internet-based education programs and other exchanges with Americans online.
* Requires a report by the President on non-Iranian companies, including corporations with U.S. subsidiaries, that have aided the Iranian government's Internet censorship efforts, including by providing deep packet inspection technology.
* Authorizes $5 million for the Secretary of State to document, collect, and dissemination information about human rights in Iran, including abuses of human rights that have taken place since the June 12 Iranian election.
12:08 PM ET -- Warnings sent to anti-Khamenei activists, Rafsanjani. Reuters reports:
A hardline Iranian cleric said on Friday there had been plots in the Islamic state to weaken Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's position after a disputed election last month. [...]
"We know of some insulting private meetings. We know about the plots against the leader but you (who hold these meetings) should know that you will not be able to stand against the people," Ahmad Khatami told Friday prayer worshippers. "Our people will defend the leader until the last drop of their blood," Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts, added.
Also:
Separately on Friday, 50 members of the 86-seat Assembly of Experts, called on Rafsanjani in a statement to show more support for the leader.
"Many ... expect the head of the assembly, who has always helped the leader in solving problems and obstacles in the past, to show more and clearer support for the leader during these sensitive times," the statement read.
11:54 AM ET -- Demonstrators give flowers to Army soldiers. A friend describes the scene:
This video is from the city of Kerman (I am unsure when it was taken but it was posted yesterday) and shows demonstrators clapping for and giving flowers to security forces (Nirooye Entezami) who are coming towards them - I guess this is an ingenious way to stop them from getting beaten up. How can you beat someone who hands you a flower?
11:50 AM ET -- Son of Rezai's consultant reportedly dies in Evin prison.
According to reformist paper Mowj Sabz (Green Wave), the son of Dr Abdolhossein Roh Allamani Najafabadi, one of the top consultants to Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei (who is actually fairly conservative), has died in Evin Prison. The paper reports that his family was informed via phone on Tuesday of the death of Mohsen Roh Allamani, who was arrested during the 18 Tir protests on 9 July.
11:45 AM ET -- Ayatollah issues fatwa over Ahmadinejad's inauguration. Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani, responding to questions from a "concerned person," has issued a fatwa regarding the presidential inauguration of Ahmadinejad:
If the individual [claiming to be president] has attained his position illegitimately and fraudulently, the inauguration ceremonies and investment of power done by the supreme leader will are not sufficient to confer legitimacy [upon the aforementioned president] because [the act of] performing these ceremonies is not the main foundation upon which [presidential legitimacy is built upon] . These ceremonies can only invest power if the president has reached his position through an honest election process.
11:42 AM ET -- Tehran mayor slams Ahmadinejad over VP choice. Translated by a reader: "In a meeting with a number of members of Parliament today, Tehran's Mayor, Dr. Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaaf, strongly criticized Ahmdinejad's pick for VP, Rahim Mashaie. In that meeting, Ghalibaaf said: 'What is surprising is that how can Ahmadinejad who goes on about "Velayat-e Faqih" make such a choice? It must be that Ahmadinejad does not believe in "Velayat-e Faqih." Ghalibaaf went on to talk about Mashaie as being anti-revolutionary - that Mashaie had spent time in prison for being an opposition member and had married the woman he met in prison."
Velayat-e Faqih is a book written by revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini.
9:59 AM ET -- Hunger strike updates. From reader Mario: "Here's the Akbar Ganji and Noam Chomsky speeches in NY yesterday. Ganji's speech is worth translating, I found it to be quite amazing."
8:17 AM ET -- More pressure on Ahmadinejad to sack VP. From today's prayers in Tehran:
"I hope that the president will pay attention to critics and especially the demand by the supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and revise the appointment of his first vice-president," the ayatollah said.
Ahmadinejad appointed Rahim-Mashaie was last week as first vice-president, making him de-facto acting president until his own inauguration on Sunday.
"The demand by the leadership should be implemented by the president at the earliest term without any hesitation," said the cleric, himself a supporter of Ahmadinejad.
Amid a continued political controversy in Iran over Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first vice presidential pick, cabinet members engage in a verbal quarrel with the president over his insistence on the choice.
The quarrel broke out at Wednesday's cabinet meeting between President Ahmadinejad and the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, Mohammad-Hossein Saffar-Harandi.
Despite a reported call by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution advising the president to reverse his decision in appointing Rahim-Mashaei as his top deputy, Ahmadinejad insisted that Esfandiar Rahim-Mashaei would serve as the vice president.
Following President Ahmadinejad's refusal to reverse the decision, Saffar-Harandi left the meeting of cabinet members, Ayandehnews reported on Wednesday.
During the meeting, President Ahmadinejad also criticized what he called "interference by certain officials" in the shape-up of his future cabinet.
The president's criticism prompted reactions from some other cabinet members with ministers of intelligence and labor walking out of the meeting in protest at the remarks.
7:51 AM ET -- Haystack update. I've spent some time here discussing Haystack, a brand new tool developed by tech guru Austin Heap and his team to help Iranians break through their country's Internet firewall. Haystack has a brand new website -- you can check it out here.
This afternoon, Austin Heap and his team will be here in Washington DC, explaining Haystack and demonstrating the technology. (If you're in the area and would like to attend, email me at the address above. Space is extremely limited but I'll try my best.) But more importantly, Cyrus Farivar alerted me to the fact that Austin has just posted an important request for donations of USB thumb drives.
If you've got some mini USB drives hanging around, going unused, or if you'd like to buy a few at your local electronics store and send them Austin's way, click here for instructions.
7:13 AM ET -- A day in the life of the Basiji. A fascinating 10-minute documentary produced by Current TV:
6:53 AM ET -- Parvin Fahimi speaks. Via reader Chas Danner, the activist mother of 19-year-old Sohrab Aarabi, who was murdered during last month's election demonstrations, addressed Tehran's City Council yesterday. The videos -- part I and part II -- are each several minutes long and in Persian.
Update: On his blog, Chas Danner writes about Fahimi and "the power of mom."
Update II: A volunteer has transcribed Fahimi's very powerful statement. Here's a portion -- read it all here:
Now I just want to know why my son has passed away, is it just for the vote he had given? Or for the protests or whatever else? My 19 year old child who has not yet even been given the entrance examination for his Bachelors Degree, a child who hadn't yet reached for any of his wishes, is assassinated by whom? And by whose order? and why? I ask the City Council, what had my son asked of you? Of the government? Of the country? We just wanted tranquility, liberty, my son was just thinking about who he would vote for, and then asking "Where has my vote gone...?" He asked for nothing more, he was just killed because he was supporter of Mr. Mousavi... for what kind of crime was he killed...? My son was just a 19 year old boy.... He hadn't yet reached for any of his wishes... I, his mother - day and night I am asking God to put an end to this oppression....
6:50 AM ET -- Clinton: Iran unable to respond to overtures.
The United States is still willing to 'reach out' to Iran but political turmoil there means Tehran is not now in a position to respond, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the BBC on Thursday.
President Barack Obama made diplomatic overtures to Iran before its June 12 election, but Clinton told the BBC: "We haven't had any response."
She added: "We've certainly reached out and made it clear that's what we'd be willing to do, even now, despite our absolute condemnation of what they've done in the election and since, but I don't think they have any capacity to make that kind of decision right now."
6:41 AM ET -- Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi criticizes state media coverage. As reported by Iran's state-backed media Press TV:
With Iranian media criticized over its post-election coverage, Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi touches on the "aggressive language" employed by Iran's state broadcaster. [...]
In its reports of the post-election rallies, the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) referred to protesters as "rioters".
The state television came under criticism by the opposition for having a "biased stance" in its coverage of the unrest.
In a meeting with the managers of the semi-official Fars News Agency, Ayatollah Makarem-Shirazi urged the "use of the language of friendship and compassion" to help maintain security in the country.
"We should urge everyone to use the language of friendship and compassion because the aggressive language used by IRIB will not help resolve any of the problems," Mehr news agency quoted the Grand Ayatollah as saying on Thursday.
6:31 AM ET -- Graphic video apparently of injured demonstrator. Please be aware, this video is very graphic. It was uploaded relatively recently but the caption states that it was filmed last month, on June 21.
6:25 AM ET -- Iran's economy reportedly suffering. This report from RFI states that the economic situation has worsened in Iran in recent years, contrary to government claims. Citing the Center of Statistics of Iran, the unemployment rate hit 11 percent in April 2009, up one percent from a year ago. But, an informed emailer writes, Iranians who work even one hour each week are considered "employed," so the true figure is higher.
WEDNESDAY JULY 22
10:47 PM ET -- Rep. Berman wants sanctions on Iran petroleum sector. Well, here's the key takeaway from the House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing we've been talking about the last few days.
I'm going to save extended comment on this development until tomorrow. The gist is below -- this editorial piece from Voice of America has much more. Reuters also has a write-up.
Reading these stories did make me recall the conversation I had with Berman one month ago. At the time, Berman was backing a non-binding resolution on Iran, and I asked him if he foresaw any additional congressional actions on Iran. He said no. "We have said what we've said. And my view now is the principle of 'do no harm.' Stay out of this."
Apparently his views have changed.
The chairman of a key U.S. House of Representatives committee has signaled his intention to move ahead with sanctions legislation targeting Iran's refined petroleum sector, if Iran does not take up the U.S offer of direct talks on its uranium enrichment program. The statement by Democratic Representative Howard Berman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee came amid other steps in Congress to increase pressure on Iran.
Congressman Berman's statement came during a hearing on Iran, and refers to his Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA) which now has 260 sponsors in the House of Representatives.
The legislation would amend the existing Iran Sanctions Act to target persons or companies involved in exporting refined petroleum products to Iran, or investing $20 million or more directly contributing to maintaining Iran's domestic petroleum infrastructure.
Although a major oil producer, Iran imports most of the gasoline it uses because of inadequate refining capacity. U.S. lawmakers see this as leverage in efforts to persuade Iran's government to halt its nuclear enrichment program.
Describing his bill as "Plan C" in a strategy that includes President Barack Obama's offer to Iran to begin a dialogue, and stronger international sanctions, Berman says he will move it forward in the next few months if Iran fails to take up President Obama's offer of engagement:
"I view the bill as a "Sword of Damocles" over the Iranians, a clear hint of what will happen if they do not engage seriously and move rapidly to suspend their uranium enrichment program as required by numerous U.N. Security Council resolutions. If engagement doesn't work than I am prepared to mark up the bill in committee early this fall," he said.
10:38 PM ET -- Rumor patrol. There's a graphic photo being passed around allegedly showing bodies of people killed at Iran's notorious Evin prison. That's not right. Here's the same photo, posted months ago, reportedly showing individuals killed in Iraq.
10:36 PM ET -- Iran nuclear reactor set to be switched on this year. "Russian news agencies quote the country's nuclear agency chief as saying a Russian-built nuclear power reactor in Iran is still set to be switched on this year."
10:35 PM ET -- Time magazine: "Iran opposition tries to spark power outage."
10:29 PM ET -- More Facebook issues. Apparently the moderators of the Facebook page for Mousavi's wife, Zahra-Rahnavard, are being blocked from posting. I've let my Facebook contacts know, and will update when I hear anything.
Update: Facebook's Chris Kelly writes again to say his team is working on this.
2:34 PM ET -- Major hunger strike begins outside the U.N. Readers have been sending me emails about this for days and I feel guilty about not posting about it earlier, it just slipped through the cracks.
In any case, here's one reader's description:
I am not sure whether you are aware of the hunger strike that is going on in front of the UN building right now. It started today and will continue till Friday evening. Many prominent Iranian figures are taking part or supporting the hunger strike (including major political figures, academics, journalists, clerics, etc). In fact, what is very important about this effort is that it has brought together many figures with different beliefs and backgrounds, but who share the desire for true democracy in Iran and the release of political prisoners.
The idea for the strike was initiated by Akbar Ganji, the well-known Iranian journalist who was jailed by the regime and went on a hunger strike in prison that lasted for weeks and almost took his life.
Here's the language from the press release association with the strike:
In solidarity with the Iranian people's Green Movement and condemning the widespread electoral fraud, the merciless repression of the popular protests, and the illegal arrest of hundreds of citizens and activists in Iran, we the undersigned are going on hunger strike between 22 to 24 June in front of the UN building in New York. We intend to have the voice of the long-suffering Iranian people to be heard. We ask the responsible members of the world community to demand the release of all the recent prisoners. Considering the alarming condition of the recent detainees, with their health and even lives in jeopardy, we demand they be visited by representatives of the General Secretary of the UN and immediately freed.
In addition, we the undersigned call on all our compatriots living in the United States to join this protest, meeting on the above-mentioned dates in front of the UN to declare their solidarity with Iranian people's Green Movement during these dangerous and crucial days.
Actor Sean Penn co-authored an article declaring his support for the strike, you can read it at the official website for the strike, Strike4Iran.com. Actor Robert Redford also pledged support:
Political events in Iran over the past month have been dramatic. Many have been killed and hundreds of innocent people have been imprisoned. I strongly defend the human rights of the people of Iran. A hunger strike in front of the United Nations is one way of drawing world attention to the plight of political prisoners in Iran. I support this effort and my daughter, Amy Redford, will be there as an expression of solidarity with the Iranian people, and in the hope of achieving the humanitarian goal of freeing political prisoners in Iran.
Update: Here's coverage from CNN International:
2:00 PM ET -- Remembering Neda.A sculpture in San Francisco.
1:52 PM ET -- Brother of Mousavi's wife arrested, according to U.S. funded outlet Radio Farda.
1:49 PM ET -- Paging Facebook staff. Why is Mousavi's page suddenly down?
Update: It appears the page is functioning at this alternate address.
Also, I reached out to Chris Kelly at Facebook -- he writes back, "I have our folks looking at this..."
1:20 PM ET -- Reaction to Clinton's remarks. I posted earlier (7:30 AM) about Hillary Clinton's comments regarding the creation of a U.S. "defense shield" in the Middle East in response to Iran.
A smart reader argues that the "defense shield" concept will undermine U.S. interests in Iran and region-wide by too closely allying the U.S. with (non-democratic) Arab states, many of which have a long history of enmity with Iran. He argues that the "defense shield" sends the message that "regardless of regime in Iran, the U.S. will always support the Arabs."
Meanwhile, Israel has taken a different stance, arguing that Clinton's remarks are a sign that the U.S. does not intend to stop Iran from producing nuclear weapons:
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Wednesday stirred Israeli fears that Washington would accept a nuclear armed Iran when she raised the idea of a US "defence umbrella" for Gulf allies.
However, Clinton, during a visit to Thailand for an Asian security conference, said later that she was not announcing a new policy and simply wanted to turn Iran away from pursuing a nuclear weapon. [...]
In Jerusalem, Israeli Intelligence Services Minister Dan Meridor criticised her remarks.
"I heard without enthusiasm the American declarations according to which the United States will defend their allies in the event that Iran uses nuclear weapons, as if they were already resigned to such a possibility," he said.
"This is a mistake," Meridor said. "We cannot act now by assuming that Iran will be able to arm itself with a nuclear weapon, but to prevent such a possibility." [...]
Speaking at a press conference in Phuket later, Clinton suggested her remarks were misunderstood.
"I'm not suggesting a new policy. In fact we all believe that Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons is unacceptable, and I've said that many times," she said.
1:18 PM ET -- Mousavi: More woes for Iran under Ahmadinejad.
Mousavi, who has refused to acknowledge Ahmadinejad's victory in the June 12 election, said senior technocrats, managers and other professionals were not keen to work with the new government.
"You are facing a government which the elite do not want to work with, and on the other hand the government too is not interested in using the experience of the elite," Mousavi was quoted as saying by the ILNA news agency.
"This will result in a lack of efficiency and legitimacy, which can increase domestic and foreign problems," he said, speaking to academics and journalists.
12:47 PM ET -- Human Rights Watch: Iran 'framing' government critics: "Iranian authorities are coercing detained supporters of reform presidential candidates to implicate leading reformists in illegal acts, Human Rights Watch said today. Intelligence forces have also intensified pressure on the families of detainees to be silent about their cases."
An Iranian defense lawyer voiced concern on Wednesday about two leading reformers detained shortly after last month's disputed election, saying he did not know where being held and who was holding them.
Lawyer Saleh Nikbakht says he represents several pro-reform activists who were detained after the June 12 presidential vote, including Mostafa Tajzadeh and Behzad Nabavi, both allies of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi.
"We know nothing about their whereabouts and which body has arrested them," Nikbakht told Reuters. "The families ... have not been able yet to meet with them and expressed their concerns over the conditions of the two."
12:42 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad bucks Khamenei, defends VP pick. Ahmadinejad is unbowed on Wednesday. This is getting interesting.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defiantly defended on Wednesday his appointment of controversial aide Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as first vice president, saying he liked him for "1,000 reasons."
Iranian hardliners and clerics are pressuring Ahmadinejad to reverse the appointment of Rahim Mashaie, whose daughter is married to the president's son, after he enraged them last year for making pro-Israel comments.
Ahmadinejad however has not shown any sign of backing down and on Wednesday came in bold support of Rahim Mashaie, saying he was proud of him.
"I like Rahim Mashaie for 1,000 reasons. One of the biggest honours of my life and one of the biggest favours from God to me is knowing Rahim Mashaie," Ahmadinejad said.
"He is like a pure source of water," the president said in an address at a farewell function for the aide after he officially resigned from his position as vice president in charge of tourism to take up his new post.
"One of the reasons to like him is that when you sit with him and talk, there is no distance with him. He is like a transparent mirror. Unfortunately not many people know him," the official IRNA news agency quoted Ahmadinejad as saying.
Contrastingly, in a story printed by state-backed media today, Ahmadinejad's senior political adviser backtracked on comments he made saying Ahmadinejad would definitely not let Mashaie be sacked.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
4:43 PM ET -- Tear gas disrupts large group of people praying. Just awful.
4:29 PM ET -- Reza Aslan: Rafsanjani did not disappoint.
In the end, Ali-Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani did not disappoint. For a man who has made a career out of mediating from the middle and playing both sides, Rafsanjani delivered an unusually pointed criticism of the Iranian regime's handling of the election crisis. He explicitly condemned the Guardian Council's haphazard investigation into claims of election fraud and demanded the immediate release of all the protesters who had been arrested and detained by the Revolutionary Guard. "We do not need people in prison for [demonstrating]," Rafsanjani said. "Let's allow them to return to their families."
Perhaps the most intriguing part of the sermon came when Rafsanjani hinted that progress has been made in his attempts to come up with some kind of compromise with the regime over the election crisis, though he remained elusive about what that could possibly entail. "I have some suggestions," he said, in an oblique reference to his work behind the scenes with Iran's powerbrokers. "I have spoken to some members of the Expediency Council and the Assembly of Experts about them too."
2:40 PM ET -- Defending Karroubi. A reader sends along two interesting videos. In the first watch it here:
Speakers announce Rafsanjani is going to speak, to which people respond: "Hashemi, if you remain silent you are a traitor!" Then at 0:40 -- Karroubi amongst people who greet him: "dorud bar Karroubi" (Hello) then praise him "Karroubi bagheyrat, beres be dade mellat" (Honorable/Brave Karroubi, come to the help of the people!"
Then:
The forces attack, people shout "don't shoot." Then they tell Karroubi who is in the front line: "Karroubi remain behind us!" Then they yell "death to the dictator!"
2:33 PM ET -- Video, complete transcript of Rafsanjani's speech. Video (in 10 minute chunks) is on this person's YouTube account. Transcript here.
Via a reader, some notable attendees: Karroubi, Ansari and Yaser Khomeini (Khomeini's grandson)... Nategh Noori, Hassan Rouhani... Mohesen Rezai (another presidential candidate)... Mortazavi... Mir Hossein Mousavi.
2:12 PM ET -- Guardian Council releases Iran election report. From state media: "Iran's Guardian Council has published a 'detailed report' on the country's latest presidential election, which shows how complaints about the results were dealt with."
Via reader David, here's the full report -- if an English version pops up, let me know.
1:59 PM ET -- "Death to Russia!" A fascinating video. From reader Sadeq Rahimi:
Here's a clip from today's prayers in Tehran that I think is a MUST for your weblog! There's not much by the way of image, it's taken by people who couldn't make it inside, but it's the recorded audio that is fascinating. Traditionally, there's this guy at the Friday prayers whom people mockingly call 'vazireh shoaar', or the minister of slogans. His job is to shout slogans through loudspeakers and lead the crowd to chant death to America or Israel or whoever after him. In this clip you hear the crowd going flatly against him as he desperately cycles through the usual slogans (death to America, death to Israel, death to England and so on), and regardless of what he shouts, the crowd keeps repeating one chant: 'marg bar roosiyeh' (Death to Russia) !!
The chants against Russia and China -- whose governments have both recognized Ahmadinejad's election victory -- were widely used today. As noted below by a reader, the strategic benefit here seems to be associating the Iran's government with a foreign power, just as the government is trying to do to tar the reformists.
Update: A regular reader, after watching this video, writes:
I get goose bumps each time I listen to this.
Hats off to all of our people. I am amazed and in awe by their bravery. I feel like I am not big and free enough a person to be called Iranian now....
Thank you, people, Thank you. You fill my eyes with tears...and fill my heart with such a huge sense of pride and gratitude to have known you and lived among you...
1:43 PM ET -- Siemens risks losses due to Iran work. "One of the world's largest engineering firms, Siemens, could lose hundreds of millions of dollars in sales to the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) because it sold Iran equipment used to spy on dissidents."
1:38 PM ET -- Demonstrators meet a group of Ahmadinejad supporters. Near the end of the clip... it all stays peaceful. Via a reader:
1:33 PM ET -- Karroubi reportedly attacked. "Mehdi Karrubi, a former Parliamentary Speaker and a defeated candidate in the June 12 ballot, was attacked by plain- clothed forces on his way to Friday prayers, his party said on its Web site. Karrubi didn't require hospital treatment after the incident and later returned home."
1:27 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad picks VP who praised Israel.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has appointed Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie as Iran's new first vice president, the official IRNA news agency reported on Friday.
Ahmadinejad announced late Thursday in Iran's northeastern city of Mashhad that Mashaie will serve as the new first vice president in the 10th government, replacing incumbent First Vice President Parviz Davoudi, who was appointed adviser to the president, IRNA said.
Mashaie a year ago was severely criticised by the country's hardliners and even rapped by supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for saying Iran was a "friend of the Israeli people."
He returned to the theme again in August, saying he had "no hostility against the Israeli people."
1:23 PM ET -- Great new photos of the Tehran University protests from a photojournalist with Demotix. An important detail from Andy at Demotix: "He's one of our most established reporters in Tehran, but is going via a new username because eight of his friends (6 photographers and 2 cameramen) have been arrested. He himself was detained by the Sepah 7 days ago." True bravery -- and because of them, the world is still watching.
Some pictures apparently from today of Zahra Rahnavard, wife of Mousavi, here.
Mousavi should be put on trial as the driving force behind the post-election unrest, according to an Iranian lawmaker cited by the state-run Fars news agency.
"Mousavi has been the main factor behind the unrest," said Esmail Kosari, a member of the parliamentary committee for national security and foreign policy. "People have been harmed and he must be accountable."
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.
11:10 AM ET -- Brave Iranians gather in front of Interior Ministry.
11:00 AM ET -- How geeks (and non-geeks) can help Iranians.
10:32 AM ET -- Anti-Rafsanjani chants. (Update: Or maybe not.) Thoughts from reformists on Rafsanjani's speech today are very, very diverse. Some are extremely happy with his comments. Some are pleasantly surprised by the speech (given his history of cautiousness) but wish he had gone much further. Others are disappointed, and still others believe he "sold out the people."
In a video posted below, a reader notes, people are chanting "base dige dorooghgoo, Akbar Hashemi (literally: we've had enough you liar, Akbar Hashemi [Rafsanjani])." The reader notes, "It is crucial not to mistakenly identify the unusually high number of people who attended today's prayer as backers or even fond of Rafsanjani. His sermon merely presented people with an opportunity to once more voice their dissatisfaction."
UPDATE: Another reader challenges this translation:
Hi, you've mentioned the chant: "base dige dorooghgoo, Akbar Hashemi (literally: we've had enough you liar, Akbar Hashemi [Rafsanjani])."
But in face they were saying, base dige dorooghgoo, Akbare Hashemi KU? which means, enough of you liar (addressed to the guys who was talking for a very long time before Hashemi), where is Akbar Hashemi.
Taghavi the guy who spoke for a long time before Hashemi was bascially saying things in support of the leader, and people chanted enough, let Hashemi speak!
Yet another reader offers:
I know his speech may have disappointed some people. It was soft, and full of double speak. But we have to remember that this speech is coming from a man who has always moved behind the scenes. The fact that he is even so closely connected to the Green Wave is a pretty big deal. For him to give such a speech that even hints at anything is huge.
The real question is what does all this mean? Perhaps he was trying to comfort the people. Maybe he was hoping to influence some of the hard liners who are now questioning things. What I'm worried bout is that maybe this means his behind the scenes influence has lost its clout and he is forced to come out of the shadows a bit more.
10:29 AM ET -- Several new photos apparently from today are here, via reader Tim.
9:32 AM ET -- Rafsanjani's most important line? Via email, Portland State University professor R. Kevin Hill writes:
There was subtext and not-so-sub-subtext in several of Rafsanjani's remarks, based on the transcript of a live-blogger (caveats about accuracy, accuracy of translation, etc.) excerpt of which follows. If this is accurate, and I'm reading the oblique sermon style correctly, he's articulating a principle of popular sovereignty and calling on the government to resign. I've highlighted the crucial remark:
"The Imam [Khomeini] would always quote the Prophet [Muhammad] who would say to Ali [Muhammad's successor]: leave the people if they do not want you.
9:16 AM ET -- Photo of Mousavi at prayers. Allegedly from today:
9:01 AM ET -- Demonstrators reportedly swarming state media HQ. Iranians calling into EPersianRadio.com say that large crowds have gathered outside the headquarters of the state media outlet IRIB. One caller said the building was surrounded by thousands of people, and that demonstrators were trying to break in.
Here's a series of new videos from today:
8:38 AM ET -- Today in Tehran. A great compilation of video from today by Chas Danner:
And one new high-quality clip, again showing very large crowds:
A caller to EPersianRadio.com says he is a former Revolutionary Guard member. Via a reader, "He said that mentally it's so hard, that the basiji forces may not be able to hold up. He said he served 10 years ago and he knows what goes in their mind and how much effect it has on them. Otherwise, why are they asking for volunteers now? He said when they were on alert he couldn't get any sleep and he knows how scared the forces are themselves."
8:19 AM ET -- Mousavi among the people? A caller from Tehran to EPersianRadio.com claims that Mousavi is taking part in the street demonstrations.
Another caller says "so much tear gas... old men laying on the ground. The air was thick with tear gas, so much that you couldn't open your eyes."
And here's video of another reformist presidential candidate, Karoubi, apparently demonstrating today:
8:03 AM ET -- Reports of violence. An account relayed from an Iranian:
"Plastic bullets being used. Getting lots of reports of people hurt. He says every minute its getting bigger and bigger. He says its the biggest protest in weeks. People are starting to come from all the streets, lots of tear gas. He says batons and tear gas, yet lots of people. Fatami seems to be the big street that is happening. He says 1 hour ago, people were headed towards the state-run tv station, but he doesn't know what happened."
Iranian police detained at least 15 people and used tear gas and batons to disperse supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi outside Tehran University on Friday, a witness said.
The incident took place as former President Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani led Friday prayers inside the university grounds.
Mousavi supporters outside chanted slogans calling for the release of people detained since last month's disputed presidential election and for the resignation of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad when police moved to disperse them, the witness said.
7:52 AM ET -- A note from a reader: "great videos you posted. if you have any sources in iran, please tell them a 22 year old diaspora that has never been to iran was crying tonight in LA watching that. never been more proud."
7:50 AM ET -- Tear gas fired on demonstrators outside Tehran University.
7:25 AM ET -- Mousavi did attend the prayers, his first official public appearance since the vote, Reuters reports.
Here's more video:
7:14 AM ET -- A caller from Tehran to EPersianRadio.com says that several women were stabbed by plainclothes paramilitaries outside Tehran University. "Blood everywhere," she says. "Please tell everyone to get away from the university."
A reader's contact in Iran says something very similar: "The basijis had knives with them. That's why everyone around the university has knives. He says its really bad."
7:09 AM ET -- Women's rights activist reported arrested on way to prayers. Associated Press: "Two pro-reform Web sites reported that a prominent women's rights activist, Shadi Sadr, was beaten by plainclothes militiamen and taken away as she headed toward Tehran University. Sadr was forcible pushed into a car and taken to an unknown location, Mousavi's Web site http://www.mowjcamp.com and a women's activists site http://www.meydaan.com said."
7:02 AM ET -- Massive crowds. Via reader Chas:
7:00 AM ET -- Down with Russia. Here, the crowd chants, "Russia, do us a favor and let go of our country!" A smart reader offers, "The anti-Russia chants are great. It's like the '79 version of death to America. They are associating the regime with a foreign power."
CLICK BELOW FOR TO SEE THE NEXT PAGE OF UPDATES
6:45 AM ET --EPersianRadio.com continues to have live updates from people in Iran. One caller just said people are fighting, especially around the university. You can here very very loud chanting in the background.
Another caller from Sweden asks people to protest in front of the Russian and Chinese embassies. Another caller in Iran asks people to go to Evin prison and free the prisoners like the French Revolution. Now another caller from Tehran -- he said they had taken his mobile earlier. He is urging everyone to come to the streets.
6:30 AM ET -- Update from Tehran. "My friend just came back from prayer (he is alive) he said there were so many people and it felt really good. He said there were so many people and also so many riot police and they forced people to get separated around University of Tehran and Enghelan Sq. He said he couldn't heard Rafsanjani's speech but didn't matter they chanted with others anyway.. and he was very happy he went."
6:20 AM ET -- First video from today. A very loud and very large crowd:
6:00 AM ET -- Rafsanjani updates. (The updates in this section are in reverse chronological order -- there was no television coverage of Rafsanjani's speech so we were posting updates and translations from readers in real time. Scroll down to the bottom of this section to get the gist of the speech, or read the wire reports directly below.)
Iranian police used tear gas and batons to try to disperse tens of thousands of supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mirhossein Mousavi who had flocked to Tehran University for Friday prayers, a witness said.
Influential cleric Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, leading the weekly ceremony for the first time since the disputed June 12 election, said many Iranians had doubts about the official result in favor of hardline President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad.
"We are all members of a family. I hope with this sermon we can pass through this period of hardships that can be called a crisis," he said in a sermon broadcast on state radio.
Mousavi, a former prime minister, attended the ceremony in his first official public appearance since the vote, which he says was rigged. The authorities deny any fraud.
Rafsanjani, a key backer of Mousavi's election campaign, also demanded the immediate release of people detained in post-election unrest and called for press curbs to be relaxed.
"In the current situation it is not necessary for us to have a number of people in prisons ... we should allow them to return to their families," he said.
Earlier the crowd inside the hall could be heard on live state radio chanting "Mousavi, Mousavi, we support you," interrupting Rafsanjani's sermon.
The chants died away after he quietened the crowd, urging them "not to contaminate the position and the sanctuary of Friday prayers by comments and slogans."
And here's the AP report:
One of Iran's top clerics criticized hard-liners at the main Islamic prayers Friday, saying the clerical leadership must clear up doubts over the disputed presidential election and should release opposition supporters arrested in the postelection crackdown.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former president who sits on two powerful clerical ruling bodies, made the comments during his sermon before tens of thousands of opposition supporters, with opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi sitting in the front row.
The opposition packed the prayer hall to make a show of strength at the weekly Islamic prayers, which broadcast live on radio and are one of Iran's most important and symbolic political platforms. It was Rafsanjani's first time delivering the sermon since the June 12 election. In recent weeks, hard-line clerics have been using the sermon to tell Iranians to fall in line behind Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and accept the election victory of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Rafsanjani urged unity and appeared to blame hard-liners for disrupting unity by not listening to the controversy over the election, which was declared a victory for Ahmadinejad but which Mousavi claims to have won.
"Doubt has been created (about the election results)," Rafsanjani said. "There are two currents. One doesn't have any doubt and is moving ahead with their job. And there are a large portion of the wise people who say they have doubts. We need to take action to remove this doubt."
He said the turmoil following the elections "was a bitter period ... all were the losers." He criticized hard-liners for the crackdown on postelection protests, saying they should show sympathy for those arrested.
"Sympathy must be offered to those who suffered from the events that occurred and reconcile them with the ruling system. This is achievable. We need to placate them," he told the worshippers in the Tehran University prayer hall.
"It's not necessary ... to keep individuals in jail. Let them join their families. We should not let enemies criticize or laugh at us ... for keeping our people in jail," he said.
-- I've posted a few instant reactions to Rafsanjani's speech from readers down below.
-- On a radio station, an Iranian calls in from Fatami Square and you can hear loud chanting in the background -- "death to the government that tricks poeple!"
People are now chanting, "Liar, liar, where is your 63%?" (a reference to Ahmadinejad's election vote total). Now, "Death to Russia, death to China" -- two countries that have recognized Ahmadinajead's "victory." People are singing 'Yare Dabestani,' chanting 'Oh Houssein Mir Houssein.'
The caller says "the first group of people just went by, another thousand is passing by surronded by riot forces." A new chant: "I will kill, I will die, I'll get my vote back."
-- From the calls people are getting from Iran, thousands of riot forces are standing in front of Tehran University, a reader writes. "Seems like they are wating to attack people coming out of the university. All streets that are leading to the university is filled with riot police."
Large crowds are reportedly now going from Vali Asr square to IRIB headquarters.
A reader relays word from Iran, "my friend just said, the basijis are being a lot more aggressive than any of the other days, they are breaking up groups very very quickly, a lot more quickly then any previous time."
-- The conclusion of the sermon (three translations): "I have some suggestions. I have spoken to some members of the the expediency council and the assembly of experts about them too. [Signaling that he is the chief of the assembly of experts and the expediency council and he is speaking from that platform]. We must bring back the trust of the people. First of all, everyone must accept the law. The people, the parliament, everyone. We must create a condition so that everyone can speak. We must speak logically. And a part of this is on the shoulders of the broadcasting corporation The guardian council did not make good use of the extra fives days given to them by the leader. We do not need people in prison for this. Let's allow them to return to their families. [More chants of Allah o Akbar] We must join hands with those who have incurred great loss and try to lesson their pain. We must give freedom to the press within the confines of the law."
14:15 We are all members of the same family. We must remain friends and allies. Why have we gone so far as to pain some of our marajeh [top religious leaders]?
14:16 I hope this sermon will pave a way out of this current situation. A situation that can be considered a crisis.
'Unfortunately the opportunity given by the Supreme Leader (5 extra days to submit election fraud evidence) wasn't used properly, but that's over now. People shouldn't be in prison. Let them get back to their families. Our enemies are laughing at us (b/c we have put our people in prison). Don't limit the media if they operate within the law.'
From another reader: 'We are now past the stage where the Guardian Council could have restored the peoples trust. We must be able to tolerate one another. We must compensate the families that have been harmed. We must let the press be free, we should refrain from intimidation. We are all one family. We (he must be referring to the opposition) have been involved in government for 30 years.'
-- Rafsanjani: 'Which ever of those elements of our governance (Islamic or Republic) is not respected, then we have failed our revolution. Towards the end of the election campaign, some people were abusing the system, using the national television and radio... [speech in interrupted by jeers]... The majority of the people are suspicious of the election. Today is a bitter day. It is a bitter time. Everyone is losing. We need unity. We need unity more than ever today, given the numerous threats facing our nation.'
'You all know me, i do not and never do take sides. But my opinion is that we must find a path of unity. My solution: the assembly of experts has been consulted and we conclude that the trust of the people must be restored. This must be our priority. Everyone is within the framework of the law. We must proceed within the framework of the law. We should follow the legal paths. Restoring the peoples trust will not happen over night. Everyone should be able to say their words. IRIB and radio should give everyone a chance.'
-- Crowd begins chanting loudly again, Rafsanjani pleads for calm. None of our readers can figure out what the crowd is chanting.
-- "Now he talks about how the previous regime was toppled by the people and how he worked with the Imam on a daily basis, and how Imam wanted the goverment to be by the people. He is quoting a story by a 13th century Islamic scholar, reading it in Arabic (you get extra points, kind of like talking Latin by the Pope) and translating to Farsi, again basically arguing why the support of people is so important."
The quote, another reader says, "If people are satisfied and happy then you may continue to govern with constitutional authority." Another reader, "In our constitution everything is the people's vote. It's Islamic and it's a republic."
-- Violence being reported outside the sermon in Tehran. One reliable Iranian on Twitter: "I am alive.the hit ppl with batons and pipes in 12 farvardin and daneshjoo avenue!"
-- Rafsanjani now addressing the elections. 'Very good beginning to the electoral campaign. The people should take pride in their participation. He wishes the same trends could have continued til today. Sadly it didnt go that way. The main question in my second segment is 'what do we want from our revolution'?'
Another account, "He is saying we should thank the people for showing such a support for the election, and unfortunately the outcome was not how he had hoped for. He said you are hearing this from me, my history goes back to 60 years. I worked with the Imam (Khomeini) and the Imam historically wanted the people's support."
-- Crowd now interrupting Rafsanjani, he is asking them to stop. He is addressing the violence against Muslims in China. 'May god bring justice to all the criminals and give patience to the victims (in the context of death of the 7th imam).'
-- The end of point 1 of Rafsanjani's speech:
Rafsanjani is getting teary. "The prophet respected the rights of all those under his rule." He brings an example from the end of the prophet's life where the prophet comes to the people and asks that if he ever treated anyone unfairly, they speak up and let him know.
The prophet felt, during the last years of his life, that animosity was brewing amongst his people [he is crying now]. The prophet felt that his old friends are now enemies.
The prophet went to Baghi [where his old friends were buried] and said to them: you are lucky that you are no longer here to see that your old brothers are killing and destroying one another.
-- A caller to this radio station says the gate at Tehran University (site of the prayers) is closed, people are being turned away. The caller said mostly Basij are in the arena. People began shouting "Death to the dictator" and tear gas was fired in response.
-- CNN's Reza Sayah says some demonstrators were chanting this morning, "Hashemi (Rafsanjani), if you stay silent, you have committed a crime."
-- The Prophet was so concerned about harming anyone that he asked for forgiveness before death, if he has in anyone caused harm to his people.
-- First shot at Khamenei? Rafsanjani says, the Prophet was always careful not to violate any person's right.
-- Rafsanjani discussing the origins of Islamic rule and how it turned Medina in Saudi Arabia into a major influential story. "I guess his point is Mohammad didn't use force," one reader says.
-- A photo of crowds heading to prayers apparently from today, via reader Chas:
-- A reader in contact with Iranians says the speech is not being aired on Iranian TV. CNN is not airing the speech either, despite claiming it would.
-- I have three items to discuss. Number one, explaining the fundamentals of Islam and the Islamic Republic. Number two, goals of the revolution. I want to clarify the goals of the revolution to the youth, so they understand where we have come from and where we are going. He says he will express his personal views and hopes that people in charge will listen. The third part will be about current day events and the conditions we are in. I will try to draw out solutions the way I see them. Of course, these will be my personal opinion.
-- This is a holy place, let us not allow events to get out of control...
-- Basij chanting: the blood in our veins is a gift to our leader (threatening Rafsanjani) & Raf says tnk u! let me start!
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
(Blogging will be light today, HuffPost is moving offices in DC.)
10:57 AM ET -- Basiji rush the cameraman. Video apparently from yesterday:
10:15 AM ET -- Tehran police chief: few arrests made. AP:
The head of Tehran's police says few arrests were made in opposition protests that erupted in the Iranian capital in an opposition attempt to revive street demonstrations over the country's disputed election.
Police chief Azizullah Rajabzadeh says those arrested in Thursday's protests were involved in "damaging public property and chanting," according to a report Friday in the semi-official Mehr news agency.
Rajabzadeh gives no exact number of detainees, saying only that they were "few," adding, "there was no widespread campaign of arrests."
Thousands marched in various parts of the capital on Thursday, chanting "death to the dictator." In some places, clashes erupted as police fired tear gas and charges demonstrators with batons.
9:53 AM ET -- The rooftop project. Chas Danner, who has been doing all sorts of yeoman's work on Iran, today posts the most comprehensive set of videos capturing the haunting and inspiring "Allah-o Akbar" chants that are heard around Iran each evening.
This is meant to be the most complete possible collection of recordings of nighttime protest in Iran since the beginning of the uprising. Its goal is to locate and profile at least one video for each night primarily focusing on the nightly chanting of Allah-o-Akbar from the rooftops, whenever that footage is available. Some of these videos have not been widely seen until now.
9:42 AM ET -- Big demonstration outside Iranian embassy in London. Photos here.
9:35 AM ET -- Iran criticizes Italy's suppression of protesters. "Iran summons the Italian Ambassador to Tehran Alberto Bradanini in protest against the violent suppression of anti-G8 protesters. Bradanini was summoned to the Iranian Foreign Ministry on Friday to hear Tehran's concerns about the 'violent suppression of justice-seeking protesters by the Italian police.'" No comment.
9:30 AM ET -- Obama: "Further steps" needed if Iran talks fail.
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday the G8 message to Iran was that if it failed to change its nuclear defiance by a September deadline "we need to take further steps."
"We're not going to just wait indefinitely," Obama told a news conference at the end of a G8 summit in Italy. He insisted, however, that it had never been the intent for the summit to apply new sanctions on Tehran.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time. Support this post on Digg here.
10:55 PM ET -- The dangers for citizen journalists in Iran. For another reminder of why we're so lucky to get as much citizen-produced video from Iran as we do, watch the end of this clip. Via reader Marc:
8:46 PM ET -- U2 does it again. The band again plays "Sunday Bloody Sunday" with the stage covered in green light and Farsi lyrics streaming on the screen above them, during a concert in Milan.
8:36 PM ET -- Journalist explains time in Iranian prison. From Al Jazeera:
At least 35 Iranian journalists have been arrested since protests against the result of recent elections began.
Some foreign journalists were also detained. Iason Athanasiadis, a Greek-British reporter, was held for three weeks in Tehran's Evin prison.
He's now back home in Athens, where Al Jazeera's Barnaby Phillips asked him to describe what happened after his arrest.
8:11 PM ET -- No propaganda too ironic. State-run media: Iran "voices concern" over China's crackdown on protesters.
8:04 PM ET -- Good news. On June 17, the site TehranLive.org -- which had been posting incredible photos of Iran's huge demonstrations -- suddenly stopped updating. Family members of its publisher, Amir, said he had gone out one night and hadn't returned.
7:30 PM ET -- "Russia, Iran will never forgive you." From a reader, "Just wanted to say that one of the photos you linked to says 'Russia, Iran will never forgive you'.
Iranians care a lot about how other countries respond to this crisis."
Russia, as readers know, has celebrated Ahmadinejad's election "victory" and said little about the subsequent violence.
7:27 PM ET -- Allah-o Akbar! Earlier today, the NYT reported:
An Iranian blogger wrote on Twitter about one hour ago that in the Amirabad district of Tehran, "people are all on the roofs" to resume the nightly ritual of shouting "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is Great!") -- a form of protest turned against the Shah in the 1970s.
A young woman, her clothing covered in blood, ran up Kagar Street, paused for a minute and said, "I am not scared because we are in this together." [...]
A man in a business suit pulled out a collapsible baton and beat a person with a camera until the baton broke. A middle-aged woman ran through the crowd, her coat covered with blood stains. Protesters hurled rocks at security officers. Two men held a huge floral arrangement of yellow and purple flowers on green leaves in commemoration of those killed last month and in 1999, a witness said.
But still, no matter who stopped to talk, witnesses said, there was a sense of mission and unity that seemed almost validated by the brutal government response. A 55-year-old woman on the streets in support of the marchers said: "This is Iran. We are all together."
6:17 PM ET -- Professor estimates 25,000 demonstrated in Tehran. Prof. Scott Lucas, who's been blogging Iran here, is interviewed by Fintan Dunne.
5:22 PM ET -- Jubilation. It's striking, after the last few weeks of fear and anger and frustration we've heard from people in Tehran, just how joyful people seem to be in returning to the streets and being together again.
4:30 PM ET -- What is going on with BBC Persia? I've received multiple reports that BBC Persia has had practically zero coverage of the demonstrations today. What is going on over there?
4:09 PM ET -- Inspiring. More videos showing very large crowds out in Tehran. This one comes from the friend of a reader -- here is the friend's note:
This video shows the time when protesters arrived at the intersection of Taleghani and Valiasr ave, heading toward Valiasr Square.
The duration of this rally was about 25 minutes and before arriving at Taleghani intersection, riot forces were not interfering but closed behind the crowd to block the accumulation of people. After arriving at the intersection of Taleghani and Valiasr ave, people continued toward Valiasr Square, as shown in this video. At this time, the anti riot forces shot teargas and followed people on motorcycles forcing the crowd to Taleghani ave.
I continued toward Chahar-rah Valiasr where people were blocked from going to Enghelab Square. The revolutionary guards on motorbikes hit pedestrians with batons. On my way to the subway station I saw a lot of military cars full of anti riot guard heading west, apparently to help their forces stationed at Enghelab square.
3:28 PM ET -- Teargas. Via reader Chas, an apparent victim of the teargas used in Tehran today. The person next to her smoking a cigarette is trying to use the smoke to alleviate some of the burning (we've seen this several times in videos from Iran).
3:19 PM ET -- "Today they sounded very different..." Via reader Allie, Tehran Bureau has accounts from all over the city. Here's one: "All the friends I spoke to today have been relatively depressed for the past few days. But today they sounded very different. They said while the security forces were trying their best to separate the demonstrators, the city overall was alive and filled with peaceful protests. Their voice sounded excited, and much more confident and determined than in recent days."
3:13 PM ET -- From a friendly reader: "They are chanting: political prisons must be freed. You can also see a women is helping to set fire to the trash dumpster."
3:08 PM ET -- Major AP dispatch. Worth reading all of it:
Thousands of protesters streamed down avenues of the capital Thursday, chanting "death to the dictator" and defying security forces who fired tear gas and charged with batons, witnesses said. The first opposition foray into the streets in 11 days aimed to revive mass demonstrations that were crushed in Iran's postelection turmoil.
Iranian authorities had promised tough action to prevent the marches, which supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi have been planning for days in Internet messages. Heavy police forces deployed at key points in the city ahead of the marches, and Tehran's governor vowed to "smash" anyone who heeded the demonstration calls.
In some places, police struck hard. Security forces chased after protesters, beating them with clubs on Valiasr Street, Tehran's biggest north-south avenue, witnesses said.
Women in headscarves and young men dashed away, rubbing their eyes as police fired tear gas, in footage aired on state-run Press TV. In a photo from Thursday's events in Tehran obtained by The Associated Press outside Iran, a woman with her black headscarf looped over her face raised a fist in front of a garbage bin that had been set on fire.
But the clampdown was not total. At Tehran University, a line of police blocked a crowd from reaching the gates of the campus, but then did not move to disperse them as the protesters chanted "Mir Hossein" and "death to the dictator" and waved their hands in the air, witnesses said. The crowd grew to nearly 1,000 people, the witnesses said.
"Police, protect us," some of the demonstrators chanted, asking the forces not to move against them.
The protesters appeared to reach several thousand, but their full numbers were difficult to determine, since marches took place in several parts of the city at once and mingled with passers-by. There was no immediate word on arrests or injuries.
It did not compare to the hundreds of thousands who joined the marches that erupted after the June 12 presidential election, protesting what the opposition said were fraudulent results. But it was a show of determination despite a crackdown that has cowed protesters for nearly two weeks.
Onlookers and pedestrians often gave their support. In side streets near the university, police were chasing young activists, and when they caught one, passers-by chanted "let him go, let him go," until the policemen released him. Elsewhere, residents let fleeing demonstrators slip into their homes to elude police, witnesses said.
All witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals. Iranian authorities have imposed restrictions that ban reporters from leaving their offices to cover demonstrations.
Many of the marchers were young men and women, some wearing green surgical masks, the color of Mousavi's movement, but older people joined them in some places. Vehicles caught in traffic honked their horns in support of the marchers, witnesses said. Police were seen with a pile of license plates, apparently pried off honking cars in order to investigate the drivers later, the witnesses said.
3:05 PM ET -- Hats off to CNN. Its coverage of Iran today is blowing every other media outlet out of the water, including Al Jazeera and BBC Persia.
Rick Sanchez just said, "It's our responsibility, here at CNN, to share these peoples' stories with the rest of the world."
2:15 PM ET -- Scenes from today. The NYT's Lede blog has returned to Iran coverage for the demonstrations today -- check it out here. Robert Mackey just published this note from today:
Just off the phone with Teheran with several people who were out on the streets. One of them is an Iran/Iraq war veteran from the volunteer forces. People are out all over the city, there is not a single march, but protesters gather in groups of 200-300, and do not move when attacked. The basijis are trying to prevent large groups to form, but people are not forming such large groups, however there is so much protest that it cannot be contained.
Until my contacts had returned home there was no shooting, but lots of tear gas. They marched in Karegar, Vali Asr, and tried to get to Teheran University. People of all ages are out, but the young are more present. All the garbage cans in major streets are on fire. People are honking their horns. The sense is that this is the beginning of the end.
The regime assumed that with Khameni's speech last week forgiving the protesters, and arresting all the reporters and heads of reformist movement, the issue of unrest was resolved. Today's marches and protests are not supported by Mousavi, Khatami, and Karoubi. It is a grassroot uprising meant to let the Islamic regime know the people will not be silenced.
1:37 PM ET -- Really large crowds. Wow.
1:31 PM ET -- Scenes from today. From a reliable Iranian on Twitter: "One guard was running after us holding his hand up with a baton but he kept saying don't be afraid i wont hit u!"
This post in Farsi claims tear gas was thrown into a bus with passengers inside of it.
Here's a better view of the Basij out in force today:
1:17 PM ET -- The world is watching. Footage from a rooftop, reportedly from today, in which clashes are seen. Riot police seem to beat two girls and then hit a passing car.
A friend writes, "The phrase you hear -- 'begeer...begeer' means capture it, as in capture the scene."
12:51 PM ET -- The Basij lined up. More video from today (this one's a bit choppy)...
12:37 PM ET -- Changes. This blog is now paginated -- at the bottom of the screen you'll see the text "« First Prev 1 2 Next Last »" -- you can use that to click to early entries from today. It's an effort to keep the page loading faster.
If you'd like to support this post on Digg,click here.
12:28 PM ET -- Scenes from today. Via reader Leyla, from the Guardian:
According to one witness, police fired shots in the air above the crowd and swooped to arrest at least 10 protesters at one location in Tehran. One elderly man was pushed to the ground, handcuffed and put in a police bus after he shouted: "Death to the dictator." Another witness reported clashes in another part of the city.
The police stopped the cars of those supporting the protest and confiscated driver licences, a second witness said.
Click on the page numbers below to read earlier updates from today.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time. Support this post on Digg here.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time. You can support this post on Digg here.
7:48 PM ET -- Grand Ayatollah Sanei releases another statement supporting demonstrators. A reader writes, "You may have seen this statement from Grand Ayatollah Yousof Sanei -- an Iranian scholar, renowned theologian and Islamic philosopher. He is known as a senior reformist cleric and a Grand Marja (source) of Shia Islam. He is particularly noteworthy for issuing a fatwa in which he declared suicide bombing as haram and a 'terrorist act.' ... Sanei retired as the head of the Guardian Council in 1988 and has not held any political office since."
HIS EXCELLENCY GRAND AYATOLLAH SAANEI'S SYMPATHY WITH THE FAMILIES OF THE VICTIMS OF THE RECENT DISASTERS
While extending my sincere condolences to the families of the victims of the recent tragedies, and wishing a speedy recovery for the injured, particularly for our precious and devoted student body in Esfahan, Shiraz, Tehran, and other cities, who have stood up for their rights and have of late protested against the ambiguities surrounding the election results, seeking clarification which is indeed their right, I hereby express my grave sorrow and grief at the detestable incidents as have taken place and also express my aversion to those who had a hand in those disasters and tragedies. I hope that the wishes of the people will be fulfilled and their demands will be met by those responsible in the system, whose foremost duty should be the protection of people's life and property.
7:45 PM ET -- U2 goes Green. Via reader Jashar, U2 performed last night in Barcelona and played their hit "Sunday Bloody Sunday" -- about British troops who shot and killed civil rights marchers in Ireland -- as green light covered the stage and Farsi lyrics ran across the screens.
First up, the previous song outros with a beautiful lilting vocal piece by (we discover) Iranian-born singer Sussan Deyhim. Then as the rhythmic opening bars of 'Sunday' arrive, the overhead spherical screens turn a luminous shade of green as farsi script script scrolls into sight.
7:40 PM ET -- Iran state media: West 'regretting' its stance. This analysis is...interesting. From Press TV:
A senior Iranian dignitary says Western powers are regretting the inappropriate stance they adopted in the wake of the June 12 presidential election.
"Western countries have now realized their stance on the Iranian elections was undoubtedly out of line," head of the Iranian Parliament's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission Alaeddin Boroujerdi said on Friday.
Boroujerdi said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband's recent telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki shows that political heavyweights in Europe are retracting their wrong claims on Iran.
"After three weeks of resentment, [European countries] have a long way to go before rebuilding trust with Iran," said Boroujerdi.
7:38 PM ET -- "My fellow schoolmate." The Revolutionary Road blog has posted a really wonderful video of a student demonstration that reportedly took place in the last few days at Kashan University. The students "form chains and sing 'Yare dabestani' -- 'My Fellow Schoolmate' -- a classic revolutionary song that every Iranian around knows by heart."
7:33 PM ET -- "Ten days of anguish, abuse inside Tehran's prison archipelago." The Los Angeles Times publishes another account of the brutal violence facing people swept up by the Basij:
Ali-Reza said he was near Tehran's Fatemi Square on June 13, a day of riots and unrest just after the election, when he spotted the plainclothes Basiji fighters beating a man "in a very bad way," he said.
"Do not beat him!" he protested to the Basijis.
But instead of laying off, the militiamen came after him. "They started to follow me," he said. "I ran and changed my direction, but in a dead-end street they caught me."
He said they began pummeling him. "The started to beat and beat and beat me, with their batons, feet and cables."
They stuffed him into a van with other young men and women and took them to a holding cell near Horr Square, where they were all beaten for more than two hours, he said.
"You voted for Mousavi," one of the Basijis told them, according to Ali-Reza. "Beating you is our right. We can even kill you."
1:27 PM ET -- The Nation's cover story: "Iran's Green Wave." It is absolutely worth going over and reading Robert Dreyfuss' complete cover story in this week's Nation magazine. He was in Iran for the election and its aftermath, and has a wealth of interesting details. Here's a taste:
[T]here was the Obama factor. Countless Iranians watched his June 4 Cairo speech, and its transcript was parsed word by word. By offering to respect Iran rather than locating it in the "axis of evil," Obama appealed to secular nationalists, activists seeking greater individual freedom and businessmen hungering for an end to the sanctions strangling Iran's economy. Nearly everyone I spoke with during the ten days I was in Iran brought up Obama, whether I asked or not. At a frenzied Moussavi rally in the city of Karaj, west of the capital, I met a campaign organizer, Hojatolislam Akbar Hamidi, 48, a distinguished cleric who's known Moussavi for more than twenty years. "I listened to Obama's speech, and it made me very happy," he told me. "But we're afraid that some Iranian authorities do not understand the positive message of Obama." In interviews at polling places on election day, dozens of voters praised Obama's opening to Iran. At a Tehran mosque where hundreds of people were lined up to vote, several dozen crowded around as I asked an older woman why she supported Moussavi. When I suggested, "Perhaps Moussavi and Obama might meet someday soon?" the crowd, translating for one another, erupted in cheers, laughter and thumbs-up signs.
More prosaically, many plugged-in Iranians told me that nearly the entirety of Iran's business class is fed up with Ahmadinejad's bellicose rhetoric, and they want to put an end to sanctions. Saeed Laylaz, an economist and former official at the Ministry of Industry, said that as a result of sanctions critical sectors of the economy--including computers and information technology, oil and natural gas, and civil aviation--are suffering badly. "Ahmadinejad's is the first right-wing government since the revolution, and it has been a catastrophe," he said. "You cannot run the government with populism. You need experts. You need technocrats. You need planners." (Laylaz was arrested days after the election; he's still in detention.) To get a sense of what the business community thinks, during election week I attended a forum packed with executives at the offices of Etelaat, a liberal newspaper, where eight former ministers of oil, industry and mining slammed the government over its incompetence. Later, at Moussavi's campaign office, one of them, Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, who was minister of industry under Khatami, told me that he'd put his business on hold to travel across the country working for Moussavi. "I'm a businessman, and I've been reluctant to get into politics," he told me over several cups of tea. "It's the desire of most of us in the business community to rebuild relations with the United States," he said. "It doesn't mean that we have to give up our independence or our dignity."
Besides reformists, students, women and businessmen, Khamenei and Ahmadinejad are losing their core constituency: the clergy. And given that Iran is a state run by the priestly class, that might prove their undoing. I spoke to a dozen or so clerics, from low- to mid-ranking mullahs to a few who'd attained the rank of hojatolislam, just below ayatollah. There are hundreds of thousands of mullahs in Iran, perhaps a hundred or more who have attained the rank of ayatollah, and just two dozen or so who have developed sufficient reputation and following to be called grand ayatollah. And more and more of them, including many grand ayatollahs, have joined the opposition. "After the television debates with Ahmadinejad, a large number of mullahs who'd been undecided went over to Moussavi," one hojatolislam told me. They were offended, he said, by Ahmadinejad's insulting attitude toward Moussavi--particularly his rhetorical assault on his wife, Rahnavard, whom he accused of falsifying her academic credentials--and his accusations against Rafsanjani and Khatami. "A president should be polite," the cleric told me. "Impolite behavior and ugliness cannot be accepted."
1:21 PM ET -- Friday prayers. Some images from today.
Iran's head of the Guardian Council Ahmad Janati delivers his speech at the weekly Friday prayers sermon in Tehran University on June 3, 2009. The powerful Iranian cleric said that some local British embassy staff will be put on trial for allegedly stoking post-election unrest, a move set to plunge already strained ties to a new low.
1:11 PM ET -- New video. Via reader Jenny, this video was uploaded today, but the date of the events is unclear. Given the smaller crowd sizes, it seems very likely to have been filmed at least a few days after the massive demonstration on Saturday.
What's curious is that this video was apparently aired by Iran's state media (notice the PressTV logo). Also, throughout much of the footage, one can hear what sounds to be a photo camera clicking -- perhaps someone capturing images of the people in the streets.
(Warning: some intense images, including a militiaman trying to run over a demonstrator with his motorcycle.)
1:08 PM ET -- Report: U.S. to block Iran sanctions at G8. "The United States is opposed to enacting a new set of financial sanctions against Iran that are due to be discussed in the G8 summit next week, diplomatic officials in New York reported Friday. According to officials, sanctions against Iran are expected to top the G8's agenda. Sources are also predicting a pointed debate between the heads of the industrialized nations over an appropriate response to Iranian authorities' suppression of reformist demonstrations in Iran led by Mir Hossein Mousavi and other Iranian opposition leaders. "
12:49 PM ET -- Iran views: Quiet but not normal. The BBC publishes three first-person accounts from Iranians. One describes being beaten at the hands of Basij paramilitaries and the climate of fear around Internet use. Another offers this observation:
Most of the shouting from the rooftops at night has been coming from the rich and middle class areas of Tehran. There's much less, if any, from the poor areas.
On Monday I was in Niavaran Park, a very expensive area. I heard people shouting 'Allahu Akbar' as you wouldn't believe!
Afterwards I wondered if it's because the rich have satellites and can watch foreign TV, so they are influenced by that. But the poor don't have satellites and just watch the normal government TV.
12:47 PM ET -- Dalton on Iran. The tireless Steve Clemons posts an interview he conducted with Sir Richard Dalton, the UK ambassador to Iran from 2002-06.
Clemons writes, "Despite Dalton's clear concerns about the unprecedented eruption we have seen recently in Iran, he believes that engagement with Iran's regime should be a top priority."
12:42 PM ET -- New UN watchdog: no hard evidence Iran seeking nukes. Some provocative comments from the new IAEA chief: "The incoming head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog said Friday he did not see any hard evidence that Iran was trying to gain the ability to develop nuclear weapons. 'I don't see any evidence in IAEA official documents about this,' Yukiya Amano told Reuters in his first direct comment on Iran's nuclear program since his election, when asked whether he believed Iran was seeking a nuclear weapons capability."
12:11 PM ET -- EU summons all Iranian ambassadors in coordinated protest. Tensions are definitely rising.
The EU decided today to summon all Iranian ambassadors in capitals across Europe in a co-ordinated protest over the detention of UK embassy staff. The move came after a senior cleric said some of the staff accused of inciting protests following last month's disputed presidential election would be put on trial.
The head of Iran's guardian council, Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, said the detained staff members had "made confessions" in connection with the unrest.
The surprise move by the council, Iran's top legislative body, will cause relations between London and Tehran to deteriorate further after tit-for-tat diplomatic expulsions last week.
10:01 AM ET -- Iran cleric says British embassy staff to stand trial. The New York Times reports:
Brushing aside British and European efforts to seek the release of local British Embassy staff members held in Tehran, the Iranian authorities indicated Friday that they plannedto put some of them on trial -- a move that deepened a diplomatic crisis and could provoke the withdrawal of ambassadors.
In London, the Foreign Office said it was urgently checking reports that the Iranian authorities planned to put two of its local employees on trial. Nine staff members were seized after the unrest sparked by Iran's disputed presidential elections on June 12.
Hours after the Iranian threat, the European Union seemed to hold back from an out-and-out showdown, resolving to summon Iranian ambassadors in all 27 countries to send "a strong message of protest against the detention of British Embassy local staff and to demand their immediate release," a European diplomat said, speaking in return for anonymity.
Other measures -- such as a ban on issuing visas to Iranian travelers and a pullout of European ambassadors -- would be considered depending on how the crisis unfolded, the diplomat said.
9:35 AM ET -- "In possible signal to Iran, Israel sends sub through Suez canal." The Jerusalem Post, which tends towards sensationalism, offers this report:
After a long hiatus, the Israeli Navy has returned to sailing through the Suez Canal, recently sending one of its advanced Dolphin-class submarines through the waterway to participate in naval maneuvers off the Eilat coast in the Red Sea.
IDF sources said the decision to allow navy vessels to sail through the canal was made recently and was a definite "change of policy" within the service. In 2005, then OC Navy Adm. David Ben-Bashat decided to stop sending Israeli ships through the canal due to growing threats in the area.
In the run-up to Iran's election, there was ample reporting that the Netanyahu-led government in Israel saw an Ahmadinejad victory as the optimal scenario -- he was a better bogeyman to use to rally international support. Since the Green uprising, the commentary from Israeli analysts has been far more divided (many now see Mousavi as a far better option), and there have been demonstrations by ordinary Israelis in support of Iran's reformists.
Yet the rhetoric from Netanyahu and Avigdor Lieberman continues to seemingly be aimed at injecting Israel into the debate in Iran (both Israeli leaders have, for instance, openly endorsed Mousavi). These are displays of support that only serve to strengthen Ahmadinejad's hand domestically.
UPDATE: Here's Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren discussing Iran with The Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg yesterday at the Aspen Ideas Festival (Iran section starts at 3:00):
9:31 AM ET -- Blogger who claimed Ahmadinejad had Jewish roots reportedly arrested. "The Iranian blogger who claimed President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has Jewish roots is being detained by the authorities after he was arrested along with 150 university students earlier this week, according to sources in Teheran. Dr. Mehdi Khazali, who reportedly participated in several recent opposition demonstrations, was reportedly summoned to a special court convened for religious figures, detained and transferred to an unknown location."
3:51 AM ET -- Jordan shuts down Press TV? Sara writes, "According to BBC Persian, Al-Alam has written to the network news offices in Amman ordering the state offices of the English-language Iranian television network of Press TV to be shut down." More Press TV discussion below.
3:43 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad 'facing diplomatic isolation.' The Los Angeles Times' term -- "diplomatic isolation" -- may be too strong for what we've seen thus far. A dozen or so countries have recognized Ahmadinejad'd victory, and even the U.S. provided visas to Iranian officials who visited the UN in New York last week. But as the Times notes today, Ahmadinejad's diplomatic treatment has certainly undergone a significant change since his tainted "victory" in last month's election:
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev publicly greeted Ahmadinejad at a recent meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, but did not grant him a private meeting as he had the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan. In Belarus, the Iranian leader was met not by President Alexander Lukashenko, but by the speaker of the upper house of parliament.
A similar pattern has emerged in the Middle East, where Arab regimes have long been wary of Iran's ambitions. Authorities in Jordan withdrew licenses for two Iranian news organizations this week and the sultan of Oman reportedly canceled a trip to Tehran following the unrest after Iran's June 12 election.
Snubs and slights in the diplomatic world are common, sometimes almost imperceptible. But as long as Ahmadinejad remains in power, with the support of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, there are concerns about how the messy fallout over his reelection will influence diplomacy regarding Iran's nuclear program, regional stature and relations with the U.S. and Europe.
Basij militiaman to driver: "Your breath smells of Allah o Akbar." The chant of Allah o Akbar, which helped bring down the Shah 30 years ago, is now being chanted every night in protest of the current government.
3:32 AM ET -- Don't negotiate. There has been a notable swing in the pendulum among centrist and progressive Iran analysts -- Trita Parsi (in the call mentioned below), NYT columnist Roger Cohen, and Fareed Zakaria all now advocate a relative freeze in negotiations with Iran. Zakaria explained his position in a new interview with CNN:
CNN: Is this from a position of weakness, because the West has so few options?
Zakaria: Not really, because while it might seem like the West has few options, in reality, Iran has fewer. Its economy is doing badly, the regime is facing its greatest challenge since its founding, and its proxies in Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere are all faring worse than it had expected. Let the supreme leader and President Ahmadinejad figure out what they should do first. Time might not be on their side.
3:30 AM ET -- Digg. I try to post these Digg solicitations fairly regularly, and readers have been so supportive. Having Iran news featured on social networks really helps remind people that the uprising continues and still needs their attention. If you'd like to support this post, click here. Thanks.
3:28 AM ET -- Trita Parsi on the Iranian opposition: Nothing is over. Spencer Ackerman reviews a press call that keen Iran analyst Trita Parsi held today:
Parsi further explained, in response to Matt Duss of the Center for American Progress, that the critical constituency would be conservative clerics who feel threatened by Ahmadinejad's consolidation of power. In an irony from the perspective of the American debate about Iran -- which conflates reformism with secularism -- the clerics see Ahmadinejad "as a dangerous element, quite correctly, who tries to undermine the clergy as a whole." That might compel some of them to resist Ahmadinejad, or to place pressure on Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei to find some compromise with the opposition.
But if a compromise can't be found, then the opposition enters a new phase, having to face a choice between accepting Ahmadinejad and moving to a more radical position. "There are people loyal to the system, who don't want to bring the system down but at the same time believe the system is quite imperfect [and wish to] ensure the system changes through peaceful means," Parsi said. If they fail, "then we face a significantly more radical movement in Iran, with more bloodshed than we've seen."
3:17 AM ET -- Some bad news, and some great news. First the bad: Freegate, an organization formed to help Chinese get around web censors, has cut Iran's access by 75 percent due to the high costs.
Meanwhile, there are multiple efforts around the world right now to establish serious funding to help ordinary Iranians break through the government's Internet wall. I'll post details here as soon as they're available.
3:14 AM ET -- Swedish PM speaks on Iran. As readers know, Sweden assumed the presidency of the EU on Wednesday. Video via reader Heather:
3:02 AM ET -- Press TV rep claims network is "impartial." Via reader Heather, the BBC aired a debate on Wednesday between a senior staffer of Iran's state-backed network Press TV and British journalist Martin Bright. At the onset, the BBC noted that Britain's communication department is reviewing Press TV's broadcasting license.
To be honest, the debate is a bit unsatisfying, since neither the BBC host nor Bright seemed to do much research before the segment. But the fact that this propaganda outlet is increasingly coming under scrutiny is certainly good news.
2:45 AM ET -- Charges sought for Mousavi carry 10 year prison sentence. "Iran's embattled opposition leader, Mirhossein Mousavi, faces a new threat after the Basiji militia accused him of 'offences against the state' and 'disturbing the nation's security', charges which carry a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment."
2:40 AM ET -- Imprisoning an innocent, severely disabled man. Tehran Broadcast publishes an emotional plea for the release of Saeed Hajarian, "a prominent reformist theorist, [who] survived an attempted assassination in March 2000, at the peak of the conflicts between conservatives and reformists in Iran, and has subsequently become severely disabled."
What did you tell Saeed? How did you ask him to talk? Saeed?
He can't talk. I have seen Saeed. When he wants to talk he has to concentrate all his afflicted and sick body to utter a word. Don't tell him to talk; he can't talk. When he was able to talk, he wasn't talking either. Outside the prison, when he met his friends, he was barely talking. Now what do you expect from him? Him who hardly can speak and even forcing himself is still not able to utter a word.
You have been putting your one hand on his afflicted shoulder and have been pressuring his weak body and have been telling him, "Tell me you were trying to do 'Green Revolution,' Tell me..." Meanwhile, you have been making a fist with the other hand to punch his face. Move away your hand. HE CANNOT TALK!
I had visited Saeed Hajarian when he was at "City Council". With numerous surgeries they had kept him alive and he was still not able to have control over his face and his hands. With great effort, he said," Seyed, I read your piece and I laughed. It's been a while since I've laughed." I was glad I was able to give a smile to his afflicted heart, but I was upset that this smile might have made him suffer more pain in his body. A body which suffered for freedom and was injured for knowing.
2:28 AM ET -- Programming note. I'll be on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning at 8AM ET.
2:25 AM ET -- Doctor who tried to save Neda responds to Iran propaganda. A reader helpfully sent along this link to the blog of Arash Hejazi, the doctor who attempted to save Neda's life, subsequently fled to London, and now is being attacked in state media by Iranian officials. The reader provided a nearly full translation of the blog post:
After my interview on June 25th, 2009, regarding my personal account of the brutal killing of Neda Agha Soltan, I read the news of my arrest warrant by the government of Iran.
As I mentioned in the interview, I was expecting such as action from a government, which is founded on lies and deceit. I was expecting them to deny my statements. This government, instead of bringing justice to the murders of this innocent girl and others and accepting their responsibilities, tries to blame individuals and organizations, which have done nothing wrong.
They have put pressure on my friends and family who have done nothing. They have harassed my father who is 70 years and a university professor.
I did what every human would have done in my situation. I tried to save a victim. When the government tried to cover up the details, I testified what I witnessed.
I have lived my life so that I would have no regret. I was one of the first physicians who went to Bam after the earthquake so that I could be near the victims who had no hope. However this time, this victim was not the victim of a natural disaster.
I am a writer and from my essays and stories, you will realize that I have always been a human rights advocate and I have paid the price.
I have always tired to live honestly and do not betray my principles.
I believe what I did regarding Neda was the right things. I believe that if I have to pay the price, so be it, but I reserve the right to defend my honor.
God is my witness that I told the truth.
This lie questions the entire principles of this government. A government which questions the events of WWII, claims that there is freedom of speech in Iran, claims that there is no censorship, states that there are no political prisoners and that each individual enjoys full rights including regarding their sex, religion and race.
In the past 20 days, the world has come to realize that these are false claims. I know that the world will not believe these new lies and know that this physician has do nothing except following his principles and coming to the help of people who need help and stating the truth.
Neda was not the only victim. Are all the other victims the result of Western conspiracy?
I am only a witness. Why are they pursuing the witness and not the killers? Is there enough bloodshed? Should I have been silent regarding this horrible crime? Is this the message that we want to send to the future generations?
I believe that all the citizens of the world will support me and thousands of other Iranians who have been beaten, murdered and imprisoned, in order to achieve freedom and join the rest of the free people.
I am proud of myself for being a part of this movement. I have done something that every honest human being would have done. This is my crime and this is why they are threatening me.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
9:04 PM ET -- Rafsanjani will not lead Friday prayers. The NIAC relays this report from the news site Mowj:
Mowj announced that Hashemi Rafsanjani has "declined" to lead the Friday prayers for a second time. "Temporary Friday prayer Imams" are scheduled to lead the sermons by taking turns. No official reason has been announced on why Rafsanjani has not been present for his last two turns. "The rumors regarding resignation from his position as a temporary Imam have not been confirmed."
The NIAC also notes, "Twitter feeds are reporting that the mothers of the dead demonstrators are organizing a silent demonstration in the 4 major parks of Tehran on Saturday, July 4. This is interesting, as the 4 major parks in Tehran are very large, so they must be expecting a large crowd."
8:44 PM ET -- Iraqi top Shi'ite clerics silent on Iran. The AP's Hamza Hendawi writes a long-overdue story on the silence of top Shi'ite clerics in Iraq on the uprising in Iran. Iran's political-religious leadership, and about two-thirds of its citizens, are Shi'ite Muslims.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani -- who was born in Iran but resides now in Iraq -- became a de facto U.S. ally in Iraq when he repeatedly urged calm during the heights of Sunni-Shi'ite fighting there. He is considered the senior religious leader of Shi'ites worldwide, and Iranians have been waiting with some anticipation for him to weigh in on the violent crackdown, to no avail. Yet many observers say he would be more likely to have conveyed any protests politely and in private correspondence with Iran's Supreme Leader Khamenei.
From the AP piece:
There is no place outside Iran that has closer links to Tehran's ruling establishment than Iraq's holy Shiite city of Najaf, where the silence during Iran's post-election crisis says much about the deep complexities of their cross-border bonds.
"Simply put, the whole affair does not concern Najaf," said Sheik Ali al-Najafi, son of and spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Bashir al-Najafi, one of the city's four top Shiite clerics. "We will not interfere in the internal affairs of a dear, next door neighbor."
The four -- who include Iranian-born Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani -- have remained quiet on the upheavals in Iran since the disputed presidential election June 12. The reasons have to do with both religion and politics. [...]
Despite the deep ties between the clerical establishments in Najaf and Iran, there are important differences.
The Najaf strain of Shiite teaching emphasizes that top clerics should be background figures -- though influential -- on most political affairs.
They did not speak out even during the crackdowns on Shiites by Saddam Hussein's regime in the 1990s. Nor have they spoken publicly about U.S. accusations that Iran has been aiding Shiite militias in Iraq as part of indirect pressure on American forces and the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad.
Iran's Islamic system, by contrast, bestows all main powers on the non-elected Shiite theocracy.
There had been expectations that the top Najaf clerics could break their traditions and publicly comment on the unrest -- appealing for calm or even coming to the defense of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, following the protests over claims that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's re-election was rigged.
But any sign of interference in Iran's affairs by the Najaf clerics, particularly al-Sistani, could prove costly at a time when many Iraqis fear that Iran will try to broaden its influence in their country as the Americans reduce their military presence.
7:56 PM ET -- Ebadi wants UN human rights envoy to Iran. "Iranian Nobel Peace Prize recipient Shirin Ebadi called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Thursday to appoint a personal envoy to investigate human rights abuses in Iran. In a letter also signed by the rights groups International Federation for Human Rights and the Iranian League for the Defense of Human Rights, Ebadi asked Ban to appoint the envoy to look into abuses in Iran following June's disputed presidential election."
6:55 PM ET -- Has the Green uprising taken the military option off the table? Global Post has an important piece noting something that I've thought from the very beginning: America's new familiarity with ordinary Iranians has made the concept of a preemptive U.S. military strike on Iran untenable.
It's worth remembering how intensively the Bush administration worked to portray the nation of Iraq as one man -- Saddam Hussein -- during the lead up to the 2003 invasion. It was a critical part of whipping up the citizenry to support a full-scale war.
[T]he discomfort caused by the the dramatic clashes between Iranian moderates and the regime is of a different nature. As long as the vacant stare of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Hilterian rants of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad embodied "Iran," Israel could avoid thinking too seriously about what military types call "collateral damage." Many suspected Iranian nuclear facilities were located in busy suburbs, some beneath busy cities.
Now, however, Iran has donned a very different face -- not just that of Neda, the young protester whose tragic death has been watched by millions on YouTube. The new face Iran has turned to the world is a composite. Yes, the mullah and Ahmadinnerjacket are still in there, but so are hundreds of thousands of people risking their skin to repudiate them. [...]
Now, images of street protests vastly complicate that calculus. Imagine the revulsion if such air strikes, as they regularly do in Afghanistan, led to the unintended deaths of dozens or more of the very Iranians who are being cheered in the streets today?
6:54 PM ET -- Greek reporter working for Washington Times 'to be freed.' The Guardian reports:
A Washington Times reporter detained for more than a week by Iranian authorities is to be released within hours, according to a Greek politician.
Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden, a journalist with joint British and Greek nationality also known as Jason Fowden, was arrested as he was attempting to leave the country last Tuesday, 23 June.
The head of a small rightwing Greek party said today he has received assurances that the Iranian government will soon release Athanasiadis-Fowden.
6:04 PM ET -- For the letter-writers amongst us. Middle East analyst Juan Cole blogs:
The regime is already conducting Stalinist show-trials, as in the case of Maziar Bahari, who recently appeared with me on Fareed Zakaria's GPS Sunday interview show. Please politely protest Mr. Bahari's detention and the coerced 'confession' to Mohammad Khazaee, Ambassador and Permanent Representative, email address: iran@un.int . While you are at it, demand the release of Greek journalist Iason Athanasiadis and the others listed by Amnesty International. If you can, it is best to write by land mail to: Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, Howzeh Riyasat-e Qoveh Qazaiyeh, (Office of the Head of the Judiciary) Pasteur St., Vali Asr Ave.,south of Serah-e Jomhouri,
Tehran 1316814737, Islamic Republic of Iran (Salutation: Your Excellency).
5:53 PM ET -- Waterboarding in Iran? Via the Daily Dish, ABC's Lara Setrakian tweets: "Tehrani source close to those detained says some have been beaten heavily and waterboarded with hot water"
5:50 PM ET -- Apologies for the light posting today, an afternoon full of meetings and administrative work. Getting up several updates now.
2:48 PM ET -- "First they kill, then they count." Radio Free Europe's Golnaz Esfandiari, who I had the great pleasure of meeting the other day, has a new interview up with a student leader in Iran:
Student Leader: In Iran we always use this joke to describe this situation: they say that a group sees a fox that is running away, they ask him, "Why are you running away?" The fox says, "The ruler has ordered that all foxes that have three testicles be killed." They note, "But you have two testicles," and the fox responds, "But first they kill and then they count."
This is exactly the situation activists in Iran are facing. Any crisis is an excuse to suppress them; their crimes have been decided beforehand.
2:28 PM ET -- The latest on SMS service on Iran. Yesterday, we noted accounts from Iranians saying that SMS service had mostly returned after being shut off the day before the presidential election. BBC follows up with some additional details:
The conservative Hamshahri newspaper recently supported the cutting off of SMS across Iran, saying the measure had created tranquility.
However, parliamentary deputy Mostafa Kavakabian told the Farda News website that the blocking of SMS services had caused great damage to Iran's economy. He asked the Iranian parliament to investigate.
On Wednesday, Mr Mousavi published a statement on the internet in which he demanded an end to what he called the government's illegal interference in phone and SMS networks and the world wide web.
2:16 PM ET -- Obama comments on Iran in AP interview.
President Barack Obama says he is "not reconciled" to the idea of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon within a year.
The president told The Associated Press in an interview that U.S. government planning is running in precisely the opposite direction. He said a nuclear-armed Iran would likely trigger an arms race in the already volatile Mideast and said that would be "a recipe for potential disaster."
Obama also said Thursday that opposing a nuclear weapons capacity for the Persian Gulf nation isn't simply "a U.S. position." He said "the biggest concern is not simply that Iran can threaten us or our allies, like Israel or its neighbors."
The president said that Iran must not be a nuclear power, although he conceded that the challenge ahead is formidable.
2:15 PM ET -- FIFA won't take action against Iran soccer team. AP reports:
FIFA won't punish Iran's national soccer team for the green wristbands some players wore in solidarity with anti-government protesters during a World Cup qualifier last month.
Soccer's governing body last week said it was reviewing reports from the June 17 game against South Korea to decide whether any rules on player dress were breached.
"We received the match reports and there was no reference to the wristbands," meaning there will be "no further action," FIFA said in a statement Thursday.
2:07 PM ET -- Arab reaction to Iran's election: a view from Beirut. Paul Salem, Director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, and Ellen Laipson, president and CEO of the Stimson Center, discuss the fallout of Iran's uprising in the Arab world in an episode of BloggingHeads.
2:01 PM ET -- CNN reports on Newsweek reporter being held by Iran. Video from last night's 'Anderson Cooper 360':
11:43 AM ET -- Fight the propaganda. A Facebook page protesting Iran's state media is growing very quickly.
11:28 AM ET -- Freedom Glory Project. Reader Minoo writes, "Yesterday, I was listening to NPR's Soundcheck program and for the first time heard of this Iranian underground rock band HYPERNOVA, and they have a video on YouTube (there are actually more vidoes from them). They were recently in a protest in New York by Columbus Square. This song is amazing and is related to the unrest in Iran. Please, post it. It is called Freedom, Glory, Be Our Name."
It turns out this song is part of a broader project by Iranian artists called the Freedom Glory Project. Check out their website here. The video is really well done and worth watching:
11:18 AM ET -- A request. The video below is one of the most touching pieces of footage to come out of Iran's recent uprising. An Iranian woman filmed the haunting chants of "Allah-o Akbar!" at night while sharing her own thoughts about her country in heart-breaking poetic form.
When this video surfaced two weeks ago, an Iranian-American reader translated the woman's words into English, and another reader, Chas Danner, placed English captions over the video.
In recent days, Chas has received several additional videos from the same Iranian woman. He would like to translate them and have them captioned like the video below. If you have a few moments to help with this, please email him here, and he'll send along a transcript for you to transcribe. As always, many thanks.
11:11 AM ET -- Iran hardliners urge legal action against Mousavi. "Iranian hardliners pressed on Thursday for legal action against moderate leaders accused of inciting post-election turmoil that has dimmed Western hopes of engaging Tehran on its disputed nuclear program. 'Those who hold illegal rallies and gatherings should be legally pursued,' parliament member Mohammad Taghi Rahbar was quoted as saying by the hardline Javan newspaper."
11:03 AM ET -- Windows on Iran. I wanted to pass on word of this excellent Iran blog "Windows on Iran" run by Fatemeh Keshavarz, Chair of the Dept. of Asian and Near Eastern Languages and Literatures at Washington University in St. Louis.
One recent entry:
I have already told you about all the beautiful songs written in honor of the Green Movement toward a full-fledged democracy in Iran. I would like to open this window with one of my favorites - because it is not about the cruelties that have happened but about hope. It is called "zemestun sar umad" which means "The winter has ended." It is a new arrangement of an old and popular song. The images you see on the clip are from Mr. Mousavi's campaign, his visits to the war front during the eight-year Iran/Iraq war, and some earlier images from the 1979 revolution. One of the goals of the clip is to demonstrate Mr. Mousavi's deep roots in the Iranian social and political tradition. Enjoy!
10:49 AM ET -- Russia opposes Iran sanctions. A reader sends along an English translation of this article in Persian:
The Russian MFA (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) spokesman, Andrei Nesterenko, in a meeting with reporters today Thursday claimed that imposing sanctions on Iran as a result of recent presidential election issues is pointless.
According to RIA Novosti, Nesterenko added: "We see the idea of posing sanctions on Iran because of its internal problems as illegal and pointless, and it can create further internal challenges and difficulties in compliance."
According to Nesterenko, Russia sees Iran's presidential elections issues as an internal problem and adds: "We are certain that the differences of opinion that have come about as a result of the elections must be resolved according to the law and the constitution of the Islamic Republic."
10:46 AM ET -- Congresswoman compares Iranians to New York Dems. Can we stop with these ridiculous comparisons?
"People around the world watched and were inspired as people in Iran risked their lives to vote," [Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.)] said. "New Yorkers deserve the same. They deserve the right to vote, the right to make their own decision."
Sentiment has shifted radically in Iran as multiple security forces deploy in defense of a lie. For Ayatollah Ali Khamouenei, the supreme leader, the question of how to win back support will in time arise. Enter America, the target of Great-Satanism but dear to most Iranians.
"Relations with the United States are the big taboo, and whoever breaks the taboo will be a hero," Mahmoudi said. "The real fight is over whether the right or the left should rebuild ties."
Referring to the opposition leader, Mir Hussein Moussavi, and the former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, the cleric explained: "We would never allow Moussavi or Khatami to restore relations, because they would then have heroic status."
10:01 AM ET -- Iran police fabricated Interpol probe into Neda's death. Surprise, surprise.
The International Police force, or Interpol, has denied a claim by Iran's police chief that it is seeking a doctor who witnessed the shooting death of 26-year-old "Neda."
Head of police Brig. Gen. Esmail Ahmadi-Moqaddam said, "Arash Hejazi is wanted by Interpol and Iran's Intelligence Ministry" in the murder of Neda, who's shooting fueled what were daily opposition rallies in the capital city of Tehran, according to a Wednesday report by Iran's Press TV, a state-run, English language network.
Speaking by phone to CBSNews.com Thursday morning from her office in Lyon, France, a spokesperson for Interpol flatly denied any involvement whatsoever in an investigation into Sultan's death.
8:23 AM ET -- Washington Post runs op-ed backing Iran military strike. Tuesday's Post includes an op-ed by hard-right hawk John Bolton titled, "Time for an Israeli strike?"
In short, the stolen election and its tumultuous aftermath have dramatically highlighted the strategic and tactical flaws in Obama's game plan. With regime change off the table for the coming critical period in Iran's nuclear program, Israel's decision on using force is both easier and more urgent. Since there is no likelihood that diplomacy will start or finish in time, or even progress far enough to make any real difference, there is no point waiting for negotiations to play out. In fact, given the near certainty of Obama changing his definition of "success," negotiations represent an even more dangerous trap for Israel.
7:47 AM ET -- Iran violence condemned in Parliament. Reader Jeff passes along this video of Iran parliament member Dr. Masoud Pezeshkian speaking passionately against government actions. The description posted with the video notes:
Imam Ali is the son in law of Prophet Mohammad and is considered the role model of Iranian citizens. His birthday is celebrated as father's day in Iran. Dr. Pezeshkian in his speech uses Imam Ali's letter to Malek Ashtar that specifically tells him what he should not do just because he is in position of power -- exactly what the government of Iran has been doing these past few days.
You can turn on English captions in the video below by clicking the button on the bottom-right and making sure the (CC) option is red:
7:43 AM ET -- Merkel likens Iran to repressive East Germany. "German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday likened events in Iran to the oppression at the hands of the Stasi secret police in communist East Germany, where she grew up. 'I know from the time of the GDR (East Germany) how important it was that people around the world made sure that the people stuck in (Stasi prisons) Bautzen and Hohenschoenhausen ... were not forgotten,' Merkel told parliament. 'Iran must know, particularly in the age of modern communications, that we will do everything in our power to ensure that these people (arrested in Iran during the recent turmoil) are not forgotten about,' she said."
7:35 AM ET -- Iran book publisher recalls weeklong ordeal in prison. The Los Angeles Times publishes more awful accounts from Iran's notorious Evin prison:
Older than most of the prisoners, M was designated the cellblock leader, in charge of scheduling four-hour sleeping shifts for the inmates, who had to stand during the rest of the time, share a single toilet or make quick calls to their family on a single phone.
At mealtime, they ate watery bean or noodle soup. To kill time, they debated politics and the nation's future.
Prisoners were frequently singled out and pulled away for interrogation. They came back hours later with bruises or with blood in their urine, he said. Some would be pulled out at 8 a.m. and returned 14 hours later, limping and exhausted.
7:06 AM ET -- Dates to watch for potential demonstrations. A reader notes this sentence from an op-ed in the Guardian: "Dates to watch include next week's 9 July anniversary of the 1999 student protests and the end of the 40-day mourning period for a young woman the world now knows simply as Neda."
For anyone of Iranian descent, this will not be news. For the rest of us, next week marks the 10-year anniversary of a major set of student demonstrations sparked by the closing of a reformist newspaper. Those rallies were also violently suppressed -- at least one person was killed and hundreds of others imprisoned, according to human rights groups.
Of course, unlike the government-permitted gathering that formed at Ghoba mosque this past Sunday, Iran's leaders will not sanction any events to commemorate this event. And given that Mousavi's movement is trying to emphasize its diverse roots, there may be some political risks in an event focusing exclusively on student activism. But there do seem to be plans for some kind of demonstration on Thursday -- another reader passed along a planned march route that's being distributed by Iranians online.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
10:57 PM ET -- EU considers withdrawing envoys from Tehran. European officials are discussing whether to withdraw the ambassadors of all 27 members nations as a reaction to Iran's arrest of nine employees of the British Embassy in Tehran last weekend.
The Iranian reaction to the possible withdrawal was typically "bellicose," reports the New York Times:
The official, Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the armed forces chief of staff, was quoted by the semiofficial Fars news agency as saying that because of the European Union's "interference" in the postelection unrest, the bloc had "totally lost the competence and qualifications needed for holding any kind of talks with Iran."
He added, "We believe that they don't have the right to speak of negotiations before apologizing for their obvious mistakes and showing their regret in practice," Fars said.
8:19 PM ET -- Khatami calls election outcome a "coup" against democracy. The former Iranian president's strong statement today is his latest condemning the disputed election. Voice of America reports:
Former Iranian president and leading reformist Mohammad Khatami says the outcome of Iran's disputed presidential election is a "coup" against democracy.
The New York Times reports that the Iranian reaction to the possible withdrawal was typically beillicose":
The official, Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, the armed forces chief of staff, was quoted by the semiofficial Fars news agency as saying that because of the European Union's "interference" in the postelection unrest, the bloc had "totally lost the competence and qualifications needed for holding any kind of talks with Iran."
He added, "We believe that they don't have the right to speak of negotiations before apologizing for their obvious mistakes and showing their regret in practice," Fars said.
Khatami also accused Iran's government of suppressing the rights of people to protest the election results...
...Defeated presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi also criticized the election outcome Wednesday, calling the government led by Mr. Ahmadinejad "illegitimate."
6:15 PM ET -- SMS service reportedly reactivated. An Iranian on Twitter reports that text messaging has returned to Iran. "SMS Service Is Reactivited In Iran, After About 3 Weeks," he writes. The Persian-language social network Balatarin has several similar reports.
6:03 PM ET -- Newsweek again calls on Iran to release reporter.
Maziar Bahari has been detained in Iran since June 21 without access to a lawyer. An Iranian state news agency reports that Bahari has said he participated in a Western media effort to promote irresponsible reporting in Iran. NEWSWEEK strongly disputes that charge, and defends Bahari's work. Maziar Bahari is a veteran journalist whose long career, both in print and in documentary filmmaking, has been accurate, even-handed, and widely respected. NEWSWEEK again calls for his immediate release.
5:21 PM ET -- Iran to be 'front and center' during Obama's Russia trip. "Responding to Iran's political crackdown and nuclear program will be 'at front and center' of President Barack Obama's visit to Russia and the G8 summit in Italy next week, a US official said. ... [Senior Obama aide Denis] McDonough said that Obama was "quite gratified" at the role played by Russia in forging the G8 foreign ministers' statement. Moscow had previously commented that the demonstrations were an internal affair. On Friday, the G8 expressed full respect for Iran's sovereignty but deplored post-election violence there and urged Iran to respect fundamental human rights."
5:08 PM ET -- Mousavi to release documents 'proving election fraud.' Iran's state-backed PressTV reports on the next stages of Mousavi's work to remain a viable opposition leader, including a new organization focused on citizens' rights. This is a crucial step for the Green movement to remain organized and active despite Iran's crackdown on demonstrations.
As the Iranian opposition continues to express skepticism about the election result, defeated candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi says he will present documents that prove electoral fraud.
Mousavi, who has rejected the result of Iran's presidential election as fraudulent, said on Wednesday that a number of Iranian scholars are set to form a committee to preserve the vote of the people.
The committee aims to "make public documents proving fraud and irregularities in the election," Mousavi said in his latest statement issued on Wednesday.
The opposition leader added that the committee would pursue its objections to the vote result through the judiciary.
"I will join this committee as well," Mousavi confirmed.
Iranian presidential election runner up Mir Hossein Mousavi on Wednesday renewed a demand for a complete re-run of the vote and pledged to help set up a new group to defend citizen's rights.
Another defeated candidate, Mehdi Karroubi, saw his reformist newspaper Etemad Melli shut down after he denounced the re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as invalid and the new government as not legitimate. [...]
Mousavi said a group of politicians including himself have decided to create "a legal political body to defend citizen's rights and votes that were crushed in the election, to publish documents about the frauds and irregularities and to start legal action."
5:07 PM ET -- Britain turns up the heat on Iran. "Gordon Brown today expressed 'deep disappointment' at the behaviour of the regime in Tehran following the expulsion of British diplomats and the detention of Embassy staff. The Prime Minister said Tehran's actions were 'unjustified' and 'unacceptable' and he condemned the suppression of protests following the disputed election. Mr Brown told MPs the regime was attempting to blame Britain for the 'legitimate Iranian voices' calling for greater openness and democracy."
4:50 PM ET -- Solidarity. A fun video of Dutch youth spreading signs and art about Iran.
The caption posted with the video is, "Support the Iranian people in their desire for freedom and democracy! You can spread the voice of the Iranian people too. Download the poster at SupportDemocracyInIran.com and spread their slogan: WHERE IS MY VOTE?"
4:44 PM ET -- Iran activist released from Evin prison. On the website of his organization 'Stop Child Executions,' Mohammad Mostafaei posts a message titled, "Free after 7 days."
This afternoon after paying 1 billion Rials (about $100,000 USD) , being accused of conspiracy against the security of the government and propaganda against the regime, I was released from section 209 of the Evin prison (in Tehran)
I greatly am thankful to all of those who had a role in gaining my freedom.
My imprisonment made me more determined than ever to solidly stand for human rights
Remain strong and standing
Mohammad Mostafaei
4:30 PM ET -- Arrested, beaten and raped: an Iran protester's tale. The UK Guardian runs a disturbing piece:
Afshin, a shopkeeper from south-west Iran, alleges that one of his friends was beaten and repeatedly raped after being arrested at an opposition rally after last month's disputed election. He gave this account to Esfandiar Poorgiv, a journalist and academic. It is published here as part of the Guardian's project to trace those killed and detained during the unrest. The Guardian has been unable to independently verify the account.
1:54 PM ET -- L.A. Times sees shift in tactics by reformists.
Observers said the reformist camp appeared to be trying to gather public momentum for a national strike or another day of mass protests in defiance of Khamenei, who the opposition says broke tradition and made himself fair game for political criticism by openly siding with Ahmadinejad.
"The supreme leader has confronted the emerging opposition and has lost his fatherly role for the nation," said one analyst, who spoke on condition he not be identified. "Thanks to the rigging of the election, for the first time in the past 30 years an opposition group from both the grass-roots and the educated and well-off walks of society has emerged and asserted itself."
The letter by the Islamic Participation Front, Iran's main reformist political alliance, blasted Ahmadinejad and his supporters as "the conductors of a coup against the republic with the worst and most violent methods."
1:47 PM ET -- Oil ministry official reportedly arrested. According to Jahan News (sent by a reader), a high-ranking Petroleum Ministry official was arrested in a "rioter cell house" on charges of attempting to instigate a strike in one of the refineries of Iran.
12:34 PM ET -- Mousavis' Facebook pages call for strike.
Mousavi's page updated first, about 7 p.m. local time, stating, "Strike: The manner of a man is better than his goverance. Help to bring this message back to IRAN." Three hours later the status updated to "Dont underestimate the power of National islamic Strike."
And early Wednesday, around 2 a.m. local time, both he and his wife's pages updated to "Islamic Strike, help to spread the Voice out to fight the Bullets." The message was posted twice in a row on both accounts.
12:01 PM ET -- 'My brother was only 18.' A journalist interviews the sister of an 18-year-old Iranian named Ashkan Sohrabi who was reportedly killed by the Basij on Saturday, June 20. One eerie exchange:
Rooz: Were you easily able to retrieve Ashkan's body from the hospital?
Sohrabi: It's better not to talk about that.
11:59 AM ET -- Blood or politics: What next for Iran? Fintan Dunne interviews Prof. Scott Lucas, who has been blogging on Iran here.
11:57 AM ET -- Iran releases 3 more British embassy officials. "Iran has released three more local employees of the British Embassy but is still holding one member for what has been described as playing a significant role in post-election violence."
11:52 AM ET -- Hangings reported in Iran. The Jerusalem Post is running a story today headlined, "6 Mousavi supporters reportedly hanged." State media in Iran have several reports of the hangings today, but officials say the executed prisoners had committed crimes unrelated to the election (some of the men were convicted of killing their wives). The Post says it has no confirmation that the executions were of Mousavi supporters, and until I see more evidence, I'm disinclined to believe their story.
Ayande News, a self-described independent news Web site, reported that 22 of the 25 jailed employees of Kalameh Sabz, the reformist newspaper owned by defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, were released on Monday. Alireza Hosseini Beheshti, manager of Kalameh Sabz, told the site that three editorial staffers remain behind bars. Over the weekend, authorities also released Life.com photographer Amir Sadeghi, who was arrested about a week earlier.
"We welcome the news of the release of the Kalameh Sabz staffers and Amir Sadeghi," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's program coordinator ‎for the Middle East and North Africa. "The Iranian authorities should now release the rest of Kalame Sabz's employees and the many other journalists who are being held."
11:43 AM ET -- Group urges people to contact Russian, Chinese, EU envoys. The National Iranian American Council today published this action alert:
We at NIAC have been asking ourselves everyday: What more can we do to stop the violence in Iran? We recognize that there just isn't a whole lot that the United States can do in this situation-our history with Iran and the absence of formal diplomatic relations makes it difficult for Americans to get involved in a productive fashion.
But that doesn't mean that other countries can just sit on the sidelines.
Russia, China, and many European countries all have close ties to Iran, either through commercial trade or political relations. They have a responsibility to use their influence with the government of Iran to stop the bloodshed.
Click here to send this letter - and forward it on to your friends, family, and anyone else concerned about the violence.
11:38 AM ET -- Basij want Mousavi arrested. The Guardian reports, "Iran's opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi today became the target of the notorious Basij militia as it called for him to be prosecuted for his role in the greatest political unrest in Iran since the Islamic revolution. In a letter to the country's chief prosecutor, the Basij accuse Mousavi of involvement in nine offences against the state, including 'disturbing the nation's security'. That charge carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence."
10:59 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad cancels Africa visit. "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has cancelled his trip to an African Union summit in Libya, officials in Tehran say. Mr Ahmadinejad's office did not give any reason for the decision. His visit would have been one of his first major public appearances abroad since his re-election in Iran's disputed poll last month."
Mir Hussein Mousavi issued a statement today in response to Guardian Council certifying the election results. Mousavi said the majority of the people including him do not recognize the legitimacy of the current government. He expressed his fears about a grave danger facing the country because people no longer trust the government. According to Mousavi, it is not too late to regain people's trust and reinstate the rule of the law. Denying the fact that people have lost their trust in the government is not beneficial, he said. He requested an end to the militarization of the society, revising the election laws, honoring the article 27 of the constitution (freedom of assembly), freedom of media, reactivating news websites, and a ban of illegal government intervention in restricting communication and monitoring people's activities among other things.
9:55 AM ET -- Human Rights Watch: Iran holding reformist in need of serious medical attention.
Harsh interrogation conditions and inadequate medical care are threatening the life of the detained prominent Iranian reformist Saeed Hajjarian, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch urged the Iranian authorities to immediately transfer Hajjarian, who has been severely disabled and ill since a 2000 assassination attempt, to a competent medical facility for the specialized care he needs, or to release him into the care of his family.
"It's bad enough that the authorities would detain a man as ill as Saeed Hajjarian in their crackdown in the protests," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "But the conditions, harsh treatment, and intense pressure to make a false confession are putting his life at risk."
Hajjarian, 55, was detained without charge on June 15, 2009, one of scores of prominent reformist politicians, intellectuals, journalists, clerics, student leaders, and others whom the authorities have arrested in a coordinated and continuing effort to stamp out nationwide protests against the disputed results of the June 12 elections in Iran. He requires constant medical care, and his wife, a physician, said after a visit that his condition is seriously deteriorating.
8:29 AM ET -- Iran seeking to prosecute doctor who tried to save Neda.
Fars News Agency in Persian on 1 July 2009 reports that the commander of the Law Enforcement Force said: Arash Hejazi who as the witness of the murder of Neda Aqa-Soltan has created uproar is being prosecuted by the International Police (Interpol).
He stressed: The murder of Neda Aqa-Soltan is a scenario which has no links to Tehran's riots.
Arash Hejazi, the doctor who was present at Neda Aqa-Soltan's murder scene, has held certain sensational interviews with foreign media on this murder case after departing the country.
Hejazi fled to London shortly after Neda's murder. He conducted a lengthy interview with the BBC last week, acknowledging he would probably never be able to return to Iran.
Iran's Police Chief says the mysterious death of Neda Aqa-Soltan, who became a symbol of post-election street rallies in Iran, was a 'prearranged scenario'. [...]
Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam, commander of the Iranian Police, said Wednesday that the unfortunate incident --which has been hyped and dramatized by Western media outlets--, was in fact a 'premeditated act of murder'.
The Iranian police chief said Arash Hejazi, a doctor who claims he tried to save Neda's life in her final moments, has fanned the flames of the western media hype.
Ahmadi-Moqadam said the Iranian Intelligence Ministry is making every effort to discover the whereabouts of Hejazi. "He has fled the country and is working against the Iranian government abroad."
8:27 AM ET -- Iran orders end to election activity. From state media: "Following the conclusion of a probe into the complaints into the 10th presidential elections in Iran, the Interior Ministry has ordered all election headquarters to end their activities. 'Any activities by the election headquarters in provinces, cities and districts will no longer have a legal basis,' warned the ministry."
8:16 AM ET -- Audio of Mousavi. Reformist presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi spoke with 70 university professors last week (66 of whom were reportedly arrested after the meeting ended). Someone has posted the alleged audio of Mousavi's speech to them here.
8:05 AM ET -- Iran says 20 people killed post-election.
Twenty people were killed and more than 1,000 arrested in the protests that swept Tehran after the disputed re-election of President Ahmadinejad last month, the country's police chief said Wednesday.
"No policeman was killed in the Tehran riots but 20 rioters were killed," police chief Ahmadi Moghaddam was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.
"Police arrested 1,032 people in the recent riots. Many have been released and the rest are being prosecuted in Tehran's public and revolutionary courts," he added.
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time. You can support this post on Digg here.
6:09 PM ET -- Israel's grand Twitter conspiracy.Via NIAC, a major hard-right newspaper in Iran, Kayhan, "reports" that Israel posted 18,000 Twitter messages urging people to complain about voter fraud two days before Iran's presidential election.
A senior advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says US President Barack Obama's recent remarks about Iran's election show that he is under pressure from the Zionists.
In an exclusive interview with Press TV on Tuesday night, Mojtaba Samareh-Hashemi said that Obama originally took a soft stance on the results of Iran's presidential election but then was forced by the Zionists and the US neoconservatives to make tough comments about Iran.
Hashemi, who ran Ahmadinejad's most recent presidential election campaign, stated that a president should be strong enough to follow his own principles.
5:16 PM ET -- Host quits Iran's Press TV over 'bias' after election. "It is called Press TV, is funded by the Iranian regime, and opponents say that from its nondescript offices off Hanger Lane in northwest London the 24-hour news station is beaming pro-Tehran propaganda into homes across Britain. Nick Ferrari, a leading British radio presenter, quit his show on the station yesterday in protest at the regime crushing dissent after the Iranian elections, but Press TV continues to employ plenty of other Britons -- including MPs and Cherie Blair's sister."
Silicon Valley minds and money should pool resources as a way to help Iranians get around this information blockade by providing easier-to-use proxies, anonymizers and maybe even unfiltered Internet access through hardware.
Long-range Wi-Fi, 3G, satellite or other wireless communications devices from Iran's neighboring countries or even the Persian Gulf could be used to get faster and better information in and out of Iran. One Arizona company, Space Data, even advertises the capability to use helium-filled balloons to provide Internet and mobile phone access. Much of Iran could theoretically be covered with one or two such balloons.
All of that may sound crazy, but not helping Iranian reformers at their darkest hour would be even crazier.
4:59 PM ET -- Sweden: No decision on EU action yet. "The European Union is taking a wait-and-see attitude to the post-election violence in Iran. Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt says the EU 'will have to assess (a reaction) in close consultation with the Americans.' He says it's 'too early' for the EU to impose retaliatory measures. Sweden takes over the EU presidency on Wednesday. Bildt said Tuesday that 'repression is the order of the day in Iran.' But he announced no specific steps in the wake of Iran's crackdown on protesters and its detention of nine local British Embassy employees."
3:55 PM ET -- EU states set to recall Iran ambassadors.
Most of the European Union's 27 member states will recall their ambassadors from Tehran as early as this weekend if the Iranian authorities refuse to free four local employees of the British embassy who were arrested last Saturday.
Amid continuing anger across Europe over the arrests of the employees - linked by Tehran to the opposition protests over the disputed outcome of the June 12 presidential election - senior EU diplomats said a co-ordinated diplomatic protest would take place "within days".
"Member states are now very focused on the idea of conducting a co-ordinated withdrawal of ambassadors this weekend if there has been no movement on the side of the Iranians," said one EU diplomat. "We need to see these [four] set free by Friday at the latest."
Also, via the NIAC, here's a list of countries that Ahmadinejad's website claims have recognized his re-election:
3:37 PM ET -- Suspicious ballot photos posted by Iran state media? A reader writes, "I believe this is well worth reporting: many interesting photos are being put on the web as I write, a good number of them published by IRNA itself (see here). These are images from the recent Guardians Council TV broadcast session where they 'recounted' some ballot boxes and found out that indeed Ahmadinejad's votes were higher than previously counted. These pictures show two things very clearly: 1) that a whole lot of the ballots that are being recounted are fresh, crisp, unfolded sheets - which makes no sense, given that people typically had to fold these sheets before they can slip them into the ballot boxes, and 2) that the handwriting on so many of the sheets which are votes for 'Ahmadinejad' are the same handwriting (and very clearly so)."
3:31 PM ET -- "Allah-o Akbar!" It's 11PM in Iran right now. An Iranian-American friend writes, "I'm on the skype with Iran and could hear the Alah-o akbar in the background about 20 min ago."
Here's new video from last night's chants, via reader Jenny:
3:21 PM ET -- Ahmadinejad's post-"victory" remarks. "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad hailed on Tuesday his re-election as a victory for the Iranian people and a defeat for the Islamic Republic's enemies. 'This election was actually a referendum. The Iranian nation were the victors and the enemies, despite their ... plots of a soft toppling of the system, failed and couldn't reach their aims,' the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying."
The significance is not in Ahmadinejad's words, but in their low-key presentation. Both in a national broadcast the night after the election and in a press conference the day after that, the President was loudly celebrating his win, even taunting the opposition as "dust". Now, the day after the Guardian Council has re-affirmed his victory, his public appearance is limited to a brief statement repeating the "foreign threat" theme.
Interpretation? After his over-enthusiasm in the first 48 hours beyond the vote, Ahmadinejad has been reined in by other leaders. The President's "victory" is looking decidedly Pyrrhic in the wider context of the Iranian system.
Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad today dropped in unexpectedly at a summit of African leaders, the invited guest of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. "Diplomats expressed surprise at Ahmadinejad's visit, indicating Kadhafi had extended the invitation without consulting the bloc's 53 members," AFP reported. "'It's a little strange to invite him, unless you consider who made the invitation,' one west African diplomat said. 'We will do what we can to calm things down.'"
3:05 PM ET -- 'Obama urged to punish US firms for aiding internet censorship.'
Leading companies earn hundreds of millions of pounds every year through their relationship with governments in repressive countries. Campaigners are agitating for the US president to put his weight behind the Global Online Freedom Act (Gofa), a law that would see US companies fined if they profit from involvement in online censorship.
The issue has taken on added resonance after recent events in Iran, where questions about western complicity have been raised after a post-election crackdown by the government that has included throttling internet access and blocking websites to prevent information from spreading.
2:38 PM ET -- "A view apart." Chas Danner has created two photo galleries -- here and here -- showing the Iran that most of us haven't seen in the midst of all the rallies and government violence.
For a few days I have been looking for images of Tehran that showed it in a more ordinary light, images that could behave as a control group against the ones we have been seeing. I have compiled them in two parts comprising about 60 total images. Some are of places where we have seen demonstrations, but many are just slices of life or images I somehow reacted to. Iran seems like a very modern place with a fascinating culture that somehow straddles two worlds - I have tried to capture that essence with these selections. BTW 12 million people live in Tehran, which is the combined population of New York and Los Angeles.
It's a great collection of photos -- you can start here.
1:27 PM ET -- Mousavi's political future. Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi, a conservative cleric and member of Iran's Guardian Council, claims that the Council will not approve Mousavi as a candidate for any future presidential race.
1:15 PM ET -- German companies 'fleeing Iran.'
The recent unrest in Iran following the disputed presidential election results have shaken German companies' confidence as to continuing their activity in the Iranian market, says Felix Neugart, a German expert in the business field, who is responsible for the Middle East region in the Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce.
Neugart told a Kuwaiti news agency that "the riots have caused confusion among German companies as to the future of the Iranian market."
1:11 PM ET -- Solidarity. CalTech student Evans Boney writes, "I wanted to mention our solidarity e-vigils, recently covered here by the American Islamic Congress. We're trying to get the word out to as many as students as possible to continue to recognize the plight of students (and professors) in Iran, who are being condemned as terrorists working for foreign countries just for expressing their opinions peaceably. Our student group for Friends of Iranian Culture inspired our vigils as a way to hearten students abroad who may have had their spirits broken from days in jail or too many missing friends. Our Facebook group is here, and we'd really appreciate your help spreading the word."
1:06 PM ET -- Rezai's spokesman claims ballots had similar handwriting. Mohsen Rezai, the most conservative of the three 'defeated' presidential candidates in Iran's election, agreed to drop his official election complaints several days ago. But Rezai's unofficial spokesman Omidvar Rasai charges in an interview here that "between 70 to 80 percent of the votes in some constituencies was written with the same pen and with the handwriting of a single individual."
12:43 PM ET -- Beating up motorcycles. More video emerges of the brave government security officials who roam around attacking inanimate objects:
12:40 PM ET -- Revolutionary Guard "to counter organized web crimes." "Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had set up a new unit to counter organized crimes on websites, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday. The new IRGC unit which has been named 'anti-cyber system' would engaged in campaigns against organized crimes, espionage, economic and social corruption, money laundering and cultural inroad through the internet, IRNA cited an announcement the source of which was not specified."
12:18 PM ET -- Senior cleric releases statement defending Mousavi. Sara at the 'Where Is My Vote?' blog reports:
Tehran Iranian Labor News Agency in Persian on June 30, 2009 carried a report quoting a statement issued the same day by Esfahan's former Friday prayer leader, Ayatollah Seyyed Jalaleddin Taheri-Esfahani, in support of the defeated presidential candidate, Mirhoseyn Mousavi.
The agency said the senior cleric had condemned "making instrumental use" of the Islamic founder's remarks. In his statement, he asks: "Is it a case of justice to see that an honorable and modest Seyyed [one who is a descendant of the household of the prophet, Muhammad] who until the last moments of Khomeini's life, had been a dear and close companion of that grand leader, is now considered to be a rioter and an agent of arrogance who must be punished?"
11:39 AM ET -- Newsweek journalist reportedly "confesses" to aiding protests. A reader sends along this report in the state-backed outlet Fars stating that imprisoned Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari has "confessed" to "lying" and helping the demonstrations.
Update: A reader sends along a rough translation of the first few paragraphs:
Recent events are a classic and defeated example of a color revolution, the colleague/cooperator of the American and the British Media said.
The movement believing in a color revolution always announces itself a winner in every election and emphasizes that whatever happens except for the victory of this movement is a sign of fraud, and the Western media supporting the movement try to induce this idea as reality to the people.
According to Fars news political reporter, Maziyar Bahari, the 42 year old Britain's Channel 4 correspondent who also works with BBC and is currently the official representative of the American weekly magazine, Newsweek, in Iran, has sent out one-sided and untrue reports to his respective media during the recent election developments. As he admits, because of neglecting the components of true and fast reportage, he was effected by the atmosphere and avarice.
11:30 AM ET -- 'American people smarter than the neocons.' Adam Blickstein from the National Security Network highlights a new poll by CNN:
A new national poll suggests that that nearly three out of four Americans don't want the U.S. directly intervene in the election crisis in Iran even though most Americans are upset by how the Iranian government has dealt with protests over controversial election results.
Most Americans approve of how President Obama's handled the situation. And 74 percent think the U.S. government should not directly intervene in the post-election crisis, with one out of four feeling that Washington should openly support the demonstrators who are protesting the election results.
10:41 AM ET -- Amnesty Int'l warns of torture-induced confessions.
Amnesty International is gravely concerned that several opposition leaders detained in the wake of the 12 June elections may be facing torture, possibly to force them to make televised "confessions" as a prelude to unfair trials in which they could face the death penalty. [...]
According to the Iranian authorities, eight members of the Basij militia, a volunteer paramilitary force under the control of the Revolutionary Guards which has been used to crack down on protesters, have died in the demonstrations. While the authorities have not revealed any information about these deaths or named any suspect, Amnesty International is worried that if these deaths are ultimately attributed to detained opposition leaders, it would pave the way to them being sentenced to death and would make more likely their eventual execution".
Televised "confessions" have repeatedly been used by the authorities to incriminate political activists in their custody. Many have later retracted these "confessions", stating that they were coerced to make them, sometimes after torture or other ill-treatment.
10:09 AM ET -- Khatami urges impartial panel to address election problems. Reformist former president Mohammad Khatami has laid out his proposals to address Iran's post-election unrest. The article, in Persian, is here.
Khatami said that the election complaints must be investigated by an impartial group of experts to restore the nation's trust. Also, he said that Iranians needed to be able to express themselves freely, requiring a change in the atmosphere created by the military and security forces.
Update: A reader sends along a transcript of the article:
Sayyid Mohammad Khatami in a meeting with the Parliamentary Commission of National Security and Foreign Affairs expressed his concern about the damage to public trust among a noticeable portion of the population, demanded the formation of a neutral committee to resolve the problems that have arisen, and emphasized [the need for] a change in the current security and military situation.
According to "The Third Wave", quoting the public relations office of Sayyid Mohammad Khatami, he said to the elected board of the Parliamentary Commission of National Security and Foreign Affairs, which has been meeting with officials and political and religious notables of the country in recent days for the problems that have arisen, "I am certain that all of you will work hard and with sympathy for the system of government, Islam, and the revolution."
He added, "Let me express a few points. My opinions are very clear and transparent. I consider myself a child and devotee of he revolution. I have always loved the Imam (Khomeini) and have worked hard to the best of my ability. After the revolution, I took action any time I felt I had to be involved. It's the same thing now." The reformist president continued, "For me, the system of government is a holy thing that was the fruit of the pure religious and popular revolution for which we have paid a cost...the reform movement has been present in our society for over a hundred years and which culminated in our revolution. The fruit of the Islamic Republic is the same thing." He continued, "what distinguished our Imam [Khomeini] and our revolution from other movements is that the Islamic Revolution brought forth the Islamic Republic. I believe that one thing that will weaken our system of government is deviation from the principles of the Islamic Republic within the country. Naturally foreign countries too intend to damage this very achievement." [...]
Our former president reminded us that, "The excitement that existed in this election had never existed in a previous election. I too played a role in creating this excitement. When I stepped off the political stage, many friends complained but in this fourth decade of the of the revolution, a great atmosphere has been created, and we either did not hear the call for electoral boycott or noticed that it was quite lifeless."
Khatami considered one of reason for the present unrest is the damage to public trust among a noticeable portion of the society and said, "We have to prevent harming the public's trust so that the system of government is not damaged. The real loss in this situation is much greater than the person of the president. The answer to the logical protest and civil action of the society and large portions who criticize this election is not to create a security atmosphere, enact force, make arrests, and make inappropriate charges against people and respectable personalities in order to derail the problem. The solution to returning public trust has been expressed already. You should struggle to make that solution a reality."
He continued, "In any event, an incident has occurred. Many people are protesting it. The problems must be cured and the people must be convinced that the solution to this problem can be obtained through the formation of an unbiased committee." The former president emphasized, "The present military and security atmosphere must be changed in order to move society towards calm. I believe that not all the roads are blocked yet." Khatami also stated, "we love the Supreme leader and have affection toward him. I wish I could express what took place in the meeting between me and him in the days before my decision to become a candidate."
He also said, "for us the essence of our governmental system and the revolution is what matters most. There should exist an atmosphere in which every person can express their opinion freely. The atmosphere should be one in which the people would come forward more." The reformist president emphasized, "We must redefine principle-ism and reformist. Our [intellectuals] can certainly reach common consensus." Mr. Khatami reminded us, "We can make preparations [?] and provide new definitions of our situation in the world. We can create balance among the forces that exist in society. We can reach more logical solutions and thus take steps towards serving the revolution, Islam, and our system of government."
At a small gathering in the house of an Iranian writer, people appeared resigned about the news.
"What difference was the council going to make?" one young woman asked a group of depressed-looking friends. No one offered an answer. Instead, people listed colleagues who have been arrested since the election.
"Why would they bring him in?" one man said of a journalist who was picked up in recent days. "I don't care if I am next," another man said defiantly. "What will they do to me?"
The uncertainty of the future dominated the conversation in the smoke-filled room. Some talked about spending time in the countryside. Others were thinking of leaving Iran altogether.
"There is no future here for independent-thinking, cultured people," the writer said. "Things are going to change very rapidly from now on, for the worse."
9:43 AM ET -- Debating the election on state TV. Will Ward at Iran in the Gulf writes, "Here is an interesting debate show in three parts on the election results from Iran's English-language Press TV featuring Ali Ansari, Kaveh Afrasiabi, and Seyed Mohammad Marandi. Angered by Afrasiabi's insinuations that he is a British agent, Ansari walks off the set in segment 2." Here's that video -- more here.
9:30 AM ET -- How Iraq is reacting to Iran. Newsweek examines:
It's been hard not to laugh at some Iraqi officials' poses of complete indifference to the upheaval in Tehran. They're trying their best to pretend they don't know or care what's happening there, unwilling to commit themselves until they know which side will prevail--but the act isn't very convincing. "Nothing is going on in Iran," says Sheik Jalal al-Deen al-Sagheer, a senior parliamentarian from Iraq's ruling Shiite coalition, the Unified Iraqi Alliance. And he says it with almost perfect seriousness. [...]
No matter what Iraq's leaders may think of Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, they don't want to antagonize Iran's Supreme Leader. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the man who makes the big decisions, and after six years of war and insurgency, Iraq is in no condition to challenge him and his armed forces. "The government has no interest in rocking the boat by supporting one side or the other in Iran," says Joost R. Hiltermann of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group. "They still have to live with whatever emerges there." For now, senior Iraqi officials are just waiting quietly to see how things shake out in Tehran. Still, says a Western adviser to the Baghdad government, who declines to be identified commenting on sensitive issues, the Iraqis aren't all that sorry for Ahmadinejad and Khamenei: "Some are secretly gloating because they don't like the way the Iranian regime has behaved in the region."
I'm liveblogging the latest Iran election fallout. Email me with any news or thoughts, or follow me on Twitter. Send me instant messages at nico.pitney@gmail.com or njpitney on AIM. Scroll down for news related to the front-page headlines. Local Iran time is 8 1/2 hours ahead of Eastern time.
"I'm not going to speculate on, you know, what happens with their internal regime," the top US diplomat said.
"Obviously, they have a huge credibility gap with their own people as to the election process, and I don't think that's going to disappear by any finding of a limited review of a relatively small number of ballots," Clinton added. [...]
"We're going to take this a day at a time. We're going to watch, and carefully assess what we see happening," she said.
"This is a historic moment for Iran and for the Iranian people, and I don't want to, you know, speculate on how it's going to turn out," Clinton added.
6:37 PM ET -- Mousavi being blocked from appearing on TV. From the National Iranian American Council's great blog:
Amir Kabir newsletter (Amir Kabir Polytechnic University) reports that several supporters of Ahmadinejad in the parliament are trying to prevent Mousavi from attending a live TV program. According to this newsletter, one MP has reported that several Ahmadinejad supporters are writing letters to the IRIB, the Guardian Council and the Secretary of the National Security Council of the Islamic Republic of Iran to prevent Mousavi's appearance on TV. MPs such as Gholamali Haddad-Adel, Hussein Fadaei, and Ruhollah Hosseinian are trying to collect signatures for this letter.
6:21 PM ET -- "Allah-o Akbar!" Many reports tonight of people reacting to the evening news of Ahmadinejad's "official" victory by heading to their roofs and chanting. It's "like the stars were calling out Allah-o Akbar," one person told me earlier, relaying a comment from Iran.
3:58 PM ET -- Clinton condemns Iran's treatment of British envoys. AFP: "US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Monday decried Iran's 'deplorable' treatment of British embassy staff arrested on accusations they stoked post-election unrest. Clinton said she was carefully monitoring the situation and condemned Iran's 'harassment' of the diplomats. 'We are following the situation with great concern,' Washington's top envoy said. 'We have noted the statements from the (European Union). We find that the harassment of embassy staff is deplorable and we will continue to support the (United Kingdom) in calling for their release,' she said."
3:54 PM ET -- Police out in force in Tehran. ABC's Lara Setrakian reports on Twitter, "Clashes reported in Tehran after people take to the streets protesting the Guardian Council's ruling on #Iranelection." More from the AP:
Iranian police were out in force across the capital Tehran on Monday as the authorities upheld the official results of this month's fiercely-disputed presidential election over opposition protests. [...]
Witnesses said hundreds of policemen and Basij militiamen carrying sticks were deployed in Tehran's main public squares to prevent any recurrence of the opposition protests over the conduct of the election that have broken out since the June 12 poll.
They said security forces were also randomly checking the boots of cars and vehicles, and checking the identification cards of drivers.
2:09 PM ET -- Egypt shuts down Iran solidarity march. "An attempt by Egyptians to march in solidarity with Iranian protesters and to honor Neda-Agha Soltan -- whose death earlier this month made her the icon of Iran's opposition movement -- was halted by security forces in Cairo over the weekend."
1:55 PM ET -- 'US forces attempt to hijack Iranian oil field.' An anonymously sourced story out today by Iran's state media, via reader Jenny.
1:35 PM ET -- Reaction to the Guardian Council's election ruling. Iranians on Twitter say people have begun protesting news that Iran's main election body had affirmed Ahmadinejad's victory. People have "come out on the streets... [they] are in the various city squares," one writes.
1:26 PM ET -- Military officials push Khatami to intervene. An interesting report in state media, sent by a reader, about how the government is trying to get reformist former president Khatami to help alleviate tensions.
Alaeddin Boroujerdi, Head of Iran's Majlis National Security and Foreign Policy Commission told ISNA that the committee's governing board held a meeting with former president Mohammad Khatami on Sunday and discussed the latest situation in the country.
According to Boroujerdi, officials attending the meeting expressed grave concern about the political damages brought about on a domestic and international scale in the course of recent protests in Iran.
"The lawmakers asked Mr. Khatami to help resolve the current issues and he vowed support," the Majlis official said.
1:18 PM ET -- EU envoys may be pulled from Iran. "European Union states are considering recalling their ambassadors from Iran in an attempt to secure the release of the British embassy employees being held in Tehran. EU diplomats said the envoys could be recalled temporarily in solidarity with locally engaged staff from the British mission in Tehran who have been accused of involvement in post-election rioting. The British government insists the accusations are false."
1:10 PM ET -- Guardian Council certifies election results.It's official, according to Iran state media. Here's a very rough translation:
The Guardian Council...in a letter to Interior Ministry announced that the council. after studying the presidential election, has confirmed the accuracy of the results. A full statement by the Guardian Council will be released shortly.
The secretary general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, is trying to break the deadlock by suggesting the "freeze-freeze" formula again. Under this formula, Iran would freeze enrichment in return for a freeze on any further sanctions.
Mr ElBaradei is arguing that Iran now has the expertise to enrich anyway so it would not lose anything by a suspension.
He said on 15 June: "With the new overture coming from Washington, why can't we go for a freeze-for-freeze? Why is there a rush now for Iran to build its enrichment capability in terms of industrial capacity? ...And there is also, if we are going into a negotiation, no reason to have additional sanctions applied."
12:42 PM ET -- Today in Tehran. The latest posts from a reliable Iranian online:
# On Parkway right now people are beeping their horns, and basij has responded by smashing their windscreens and slashing their tires
# People had announced that they will form a human chain from Tajrish sq to Railway Today
# The cellphones are down in Valieasr street and surronding area.
# Police and plain clothes forces are settled across the Valiasr street to disallow the protesters to make a human-chain.
# Daneshju Park is full of Basij and special gaurds and militia forces are being organized in the park for dealing with the possible protest or human chain.
# Students of Science and Technology university put a photo of martyr Kianoosh Asa on the university's academic staff board..
12:40 PM ET -- "So far from me as a normal Iranian girl..." The site NYC For Iran publishes an interview conducted over Skype with a 28-year-old Iranian.
"The situation itself is strange for me," she notes. "I was here every summer. I have never seen this situation. There are military people and police on the streets. You really don't know who they are. They are divided into four groups, with different clothes and ideas about how to behave with people. I really don't know who are with the people and who are against."
Gina has also seen things that no one should ever see.
"Yesterday they were carrying around a half of one of the victims," she said. "They start shooting people again. They don't let families have funerals for their children and people who are dying, because they think they are calling people to come again in the streets. I'm afraid of walking in the street after 4 or 5 p.m. Tehran wasn't like this two years ago - it was like a modern city."
But this is not normal for the Tehran of 2009 either.
"I just can't believe that this is happening in Tehran," she said. "This is normal for Iraq and stuff, so far from me as a normal Iranian girl. Now I'm seeing it in front of my eyes and I can't believe it. Everyone is in shock. It isn't finishing. I don't know how its going to end but its not finishing at all."
11:46 AM ET -- Debate reportedly turns physical in Iran's parliament. The news site Baztab reports that Iranian MP Pezeshkian was physically confronted while urging the regime to show tolerance towards critics.
11:24 AM ET -- Mousavi camp says he didn't give in. We noted reports earlier that Iran's Guardian Council, "a 12-member clerical panel charged with vetting and authenticating the June 12 vote, said on Monday that Mr. Moussavi had offered proposals to 'rebuilt public trust' after more than two weeks of rallies and protests by the opposition that have drawn a broad and violent crackdown from government security forces."
No results in meeting between Mousavi's representative and the guardian council, he didnt give up to them: 'Mir Hossein Mousavi is not under house arrest, he is not about to leave the country, he is under strong pressure to end this. but he always said he will stand for the people's will to the end ! He is from and with the people ...'
10:50 AM -- Adventures in propaganda: Basiji "impostors." From Iran's state media: "Iranian police officials have reportedly arrested the armed imposters [sic] who posed as security forces during post-election violence in the country. Iran's Basij commander, Hossein Taeb, said Monday that the imposters [sic] had worn police and Basij uniforms to infiltrate the rallies and create havoc."
10:40 AM ET -- Mousavi's choices. I don't think this analysis in the Washington Post offers the full range of options open to Mousavi, but it does highlight the extremely difficult choices Mousavi now has in front of him.
"Everything now depends on Mousavi," said Amir Mohebbian, a political analyst. "If he decreases the tension, politicians can manage this. If he increases pressure, the influence of the military and security forces will grow."
Should he continue to fight, other analysts say, Mousavi and many of his advisers could be jailed, which would mean the end of their political influence within Iran's ruling system. The exclusion of such a large group would end Iran's traditional power-sharing system. Authority would rest in the hands of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Ahmadinejad, and his supporters, leaving the parliament as the lone outpost of opposition voices.
On the other hand, accepting defeat might allow Mousavi to create a political party that, although unable to challenge the rule of Khamenei, could give him an opposition role during Ahmadinejad's second term. Mousavi's supporters, who are still enraged over post-election violence that they blame on the government, would be extremely disappointed by such a move.
10:17 AM ET -- Iran protests at CNN headquarters. Some excellent photos here.
10:04 AM ET -- Raising funds to help Iranians get online. The global online activism group Avaaz.org, which was co-founded by MoveOn.org, is holding a fundraiser:
One small donation of $15 can fund enough bandwidth for Iranians to send hundreds of secure emails. If 5,000 or more of us can donate, we can scale up these services massively -- with more servers, bandwidth and advanced technical support. The next two weeks will be crucial -- donate now to break the blackout.
9:53 AM ET -- Iran extends deadline to investigate voter fraud again. Also, the Guardian Council says Mousavi has offered some "positive" proposals:
As officials began a limited recount of Iran's disputed presidential ballot on Monday, authorities in Tehran said they had extended by five days their deadline to investigate opposition claims of electoral fraud. The move could postpone the final certification of the ballot, which Iranian leaders insist was fair.
The Guardian Council, a 12-member clerical panel charged with vetting and authenticating the June 12 vote, said on Monday that Mr. Moussavi had offered proposals to "rebuilt public trust" after more than two weeks of rallies and protests by the opposition that have drawn a broad and violent crackdown from government security forces.
Press TV, the English-language state satellite broadcaster, said the council had found Mr. Moussavi's proposals to be "positive." It did not say what they were. Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, the council spokesman, was quoted as saying the panel has "given another opportunity to Moussavi" to substantiate his grievances about the election.
Reuters notes, "In a sign that the process would not put into question Ahmadinejad's victory, IRNA news agency said recounting so far in one Tehran district gave him more votes" than in the original count.
9:30 AM ET -- Iran releases 5 British embassy officials. "Iran has said it has freed five local British embassy staff arrested on accusations of stoking post-election unrest, a move that further threatened tense ties with London and the West. ... Intelligence Minister Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie accused the British embassy of sending its staff to 'escalate the riots'... British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said London had protested strongly over the arrests, which he described as 'harassment and intimidation' and dismissed as baseless the claims the embassy was behind the unrest."
9:20 AM ET -- Ahmadinejad looking for Neda's real killer. Oh brother. "President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad...asked a top judge Monday to investigate the killing of Neda Agha Soltan, who became an icon of Iran's ragtag opposition after gruesome video of her bleeding to death on a Tehran street was circulated worldwide. Ahmadinejad's Web site said Soltan was slain by 'unknown agents and in a suspicious' way, convincing him that 'enemies of the nation' were responsible."
9:14 AM ET -- Iran: Soccer players weren't punished. From Iran's state media:
Iran's manager Afshin Qotbi says no player has been punished for sporting green wristbands during a recent World Cup qualifier with South Korea.
A number of foreign media outlets, spearheaded by CNN, claimed that the four footballers -- Ali Karimi, Mehdi Mahdavikia, Hosein Ka'abi, and Vahid Hashemian -- were banned for life over showing 'a display of political support' for Mousavi.
In an e-mail message sent to The New York Times, the team's manager Afshin Qotbi rejected the media reports as "false and rumors."
"The IFF (Iranian Football Federation) has not taken any official stand on this issue. We only saw the story in the international media," he said on Friday.
8:39 AM ET -- More focus on the Revolutionary Guard. We noted some analysis yesterday pointing to the key role of Iran's Revolutionary Guard in the post-election unrest. Crooks & Liars has video of Fareed Zakaria speaking on the topic (posted below). And Bloomberg News looks at the Guard's consolidation of power under Ahmadinejad:
Eight of the 21 posts in the president's cabinet are held by former members, according to Ali Alfoneh, an analyst at Washington's American Enterprise Institute. Among them are Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli, whose agency ran the election, and Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar.
Another five places are occupied by past Basij commanders. The state broadcasting arm is headed by Ezzatollah Zarghami, a former guard. At least one-third of Iran's parliament members are former guards, according to Nader.
Under Ahmadinejad's predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, 65, only three ministers had belonged to the guards or Basij.
A smart Iranian expat I speak to repeatedly presses the important role that the Guard now plays in the economy, a point that Bloomberg's piece makes as well: "Under Ahmadinejad, the government has favored the guards by offering its companies no-bid contracts, especially in oil and natural-gas extraction, pipeline construction and large-scale infrastructure development."
2:17 AM ET -- Video from inside the mosque rally yesterday. We posted several videos yesterday of the vibrant demonstration outside Tehran's Ghoba mosque -- this was the scene inside:
1:53 AM ET -- Touring Tehran. This fascinating, sometimes eerie compilation of scenes from Tehran, apparently shot yesterday, has an almost cinematic quality.
In background conversations last week, several [U.S. officials] cautioned that it was not clear what the Iranians had in mind. "The students in Tiananmen wanted real democracy, the Poles wanted regime change, but the Iranians might be looking for something in between," one of Mr. Obama's top advisers said. "But the more the supreme leader cracks down, the more radicalized the opposition may become."
Robert Litwak, the author of "Regime Change," a study of how modern regimes have fallen, said last week: "The truth here is that a soft landing for Iranian society is not a soft landing for the leadership." So far, he observed last week, "the Iranians are not as sufficiently united against the regime as the Poles were in the late '80s." Moreover, the Polish regime was more fragile: Because it was considered a Soviet tool, the opposition could play to nationalist emotions.
Not so in Iran. The clerics may be repressive hardliners, but they are authentically Iranian. And so far, the Revolutionary Guard seems completely on the side of the supreme leader and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
1:20 AM ET -- California to seek Iran investment data from insurers. "California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is initiating a review of insurance companies doing business in California to determine their level of Iran-related investments." I'm unfamiliar with this
1:16 AM ET -- Rights group suggests at least 2,000 arrests. From the AP: "The Paris-based International Federation of Human Rights said its information suggests at least 2,000 arrests have been made -- 'not just (people) arrested and later released, but who are locked up in prison,' the group's vice president, Abdol Karim Lahidji, told the AP. He said his information came from members of human rights groups in Iran and other contacts inside the country."
1:07 AM ET -- Solidarity. HuffPost reader James Stevenson sends along these images from a demonstration in Westwood, California on Sunday:
Thousands more rallied in Paris yesterday. A bunch of excellent photos are here, and more video (including of Bernard-Henri Levy's speech) is here.
1:05 AM ET -- Decision day? "Iran's powerful Guardian Council is due to give its verdict on the result of the disputed presidential election, two weeks after the poll was held."
1:03 AM ET -- Wall Street Journal op-ed calls for U.S. to topple Iran's government. In the Journal, conservative writer Gabriel Schoenfeld advocates a CIA-led regime change effort, opining that "In a better world, toppling this vicious regime and altering the tide of history would be a primary objective of U.S. foreign policy." Because that worked so well for Iran when the United States did it the first time.
As for legality, Schoenfeld scoffs. "As a matter of law, the critics are right. Such covert action is indeed illegal. But legality is beside the point."
12:45 AM ET -- "Allah-o Akbar!" Their voices are still being heard from the rooftops... this video was apparently taken on Saturday evening:
June 3, 2010