(That is, peace on his terms, for those who agree with him. Torture, rape, murder, and assorted brutality for those who don't. I hope all of the delegates wear green that day and walk out on the bastard...)

Sept. 21 (Bloomberg) -- Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who sparked outrage last week by again calling the Nazi Holocaust a “myth,” will bring a message of peace to the United Nations General Assembly, an aide said.

Ahmadinejad’s “most important message this year is to have peace and friendship with all nations and exchanges that are based on justice and mutual respect,” Mohammad Jafar Mohammadzadeh, an information deputy in the president’s office, told the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency.

The Iranian leader will leave Tehran tomorrow to attend the General Assembly meeting at the UN in New York, the aide said.

Ahmadinejad was re-elected in the June 12 election, which the opposition says was rigged. The president and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who endorsed him for a second term, deny the allegations.

Ahmadinejad disregarded today anger over his comment on the Holocaust, according to an IRNA report. “The anger against us of nations who commit crimes in the world is a source of pride,” he was quoted as saying.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aFQbzOfNjqT8

Ahmadinejad proud of holocaust denial.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090921/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

The Quds (Jerusalem) Day rally, in support of the Palestinian people, is observed on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan. This year, the rallies were particularly tense, following the unrest over Iran's disputed presidential elections in June.

Near Tehran University, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad addressed a crowd gathered for Friday prayers, opposition supporters faced off against pro-government groups and chanted competing slogans just a few feet away from one another, witnesses said.

Opposition supporters chanted "death to the dictator," witnesses said. Others shouted "liar" as they listened to his anti-Israel speech.
( Read more... )
Early reports from reliable sources say there were dozens of arrests, and isolated incidents of beatings.

The internet has been very unreliable in Iran today, so the news is coming out slowly. I'll post more when I have more details.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090918/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

A cleric who worked on Ahmedinejad's campaign was assassinated after leading Friday prayers. This comes immediately after a failed assassination attempt on a Revolutionary Court judge.

http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=106055§ionid=351020101

By Paul Richter
9:27 p.m. CDT, September 10, 2009

Reporting from Washington - The State Department rejected Iran's latest proposal for international talks Thursday in another sign of trouble for the Obama administration's top-priority effort to engage Tehran in nuclear negotiations.

A five-page Iranian proposal distributed to foreign diplomats Wednesday "was not really responsive to our greatest concern, which is obviously Iran's nuclear program," said P.J. Crowley, the senior State Department spokesman.

At the same time, Crowley said, "We remain willing to engage Iran."

The administration faces an approaching deadline on whether to pursue a diplomatic opening with Iran, which was one of President Obama's trademark foreign policy ideas during his presidential campaign.

U.S. officials say Obama will decide by the end of the year whether to continue his offer of negotiations or withdraw it, and step up sanctions to force the Islamic Republic to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

In the letter, Iranian leaders pledged to "embark on comprehensive, all-encompassing and constructive negotiations," but did not name the nuclear program as an issue for the talks. A copy of the letter was obtained by the nonprofit news organization ProPublica.

Tehran insists it has the right under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty to process uranium as part of a peaceful nuclear energy program, but U.S. and European officials allege Iran seeks to develop atomic weapons.
( Read more... )

The government flexed their muscles today by seizing and closing Mehdi Karroubi's office. Officials from Tehran's Attorney General's office entered the building during the day, forced Karroubi and his staff to leave and confiscated documents, CDs and computers. Until further notice, Karroubi’s office is currently under government control.

The office of Karroubi's newspaper, Etemaade Melli was also raided and closed. Documents, computers, films and CDs were confiscated and the office was locked down. All staff members were forced to give their names, addresses and other information and then sent home.

This comes, as the planned protest for September 18 is gaining a lot of support amongst the populace. Karroubi today, yet again confirmed that he would be participating and invited all Greens to participate.
( Read more... )

Join us in New York City, September 23rd and 24th, as we raise our Voices for Iran and demand Ahmadinejad be held accountable for crimes against the Iranian people. We call upon the international community to support human rights in Iran and reject the policies of military aggression and economic starvation.

Say no to torture, killings, and rape. Say yes to freedom of speech and assembly. End the show trials. Free all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and hold the real criminals accountable. Remember Neda and Sohrab, and all the victims of state violence. Oppose war and economic sanctions. Shame Ahmadinejad.

We aim to have the single biggest international action ever in support of Iranian rights in one location. We encourage everyone to come to New York City September 23rd and 24th. Together we can send a message that is heard loud and clear!


http://standbyiran.org/

So...Ahmadinejad's cabinet was (mostly) approved today.

Ahmad Vahidi was confirmed as Defense Minister. Vahidi is on Interpol's most wanted list for bombing a Jewish center in Argentina which killed 85 people.

Interpol has stated that even if Vahidi travels on a diplomatic passport, he will still be arrested and prosecuted if he leaves Iran.

As far as Iran's nuclear program, Ahmadinejad was as defiant as ever Thursday, saying "no one can impose sanctions on Iran anymore."

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hasan Qashqavi also took a tough stance, proclaiming Iran would not bend to Western deadlines set by "threat and pressure."

I'm really losing hope that this will all end in less than a bloody revolution. I don't see any other possibility at this point. The Iranian government has gone too far in its brutality and extremism to change in any meaningful way. The people of Iran have been pushed too far to back down.

The future of Iran will be written in blood.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090903/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

All along Khameni et all have sworn that none of the protesters arrested were raped in prison. Finally, Khameni caved in and called for an investigation, due to pressure from both the reformists and the conservative clerics.

Several of the rape victims spoke up on the record. They have now disappeared, so their testimony cannot be confirmed.

From TehranBureau:
Mehdi Karroubi, Secretary-General of the National Confidence Party, has issued a communiqué charging that three of the jail rape witnesses have gone missing.

The communiqué, which has been carried by Saham News and other Reformist websites, blames any “regrettable” incident for an individual or family member on Saeed Mortazavi the former Tehran prosecutor.

Karroubi went on to say that he issued the communiqué to inform the nation of having taken several of the jail rape victims and a separate witness to meet with Judge Moqaddami upon Mortazavi’s referral.

Karroubi said the witness had told him that ‘the questions asked were not intended to seek out justice. Rather efforts were made to have events lead to his trial or to have him accept that he had been used as a tool by politicians.’

Karroubi’s communiqué went on to claim that certain judiciary officials did not seek to bring about justice for the victims, but to eliminate them.

The report of secret mass burials of protesters on the nights of July 12-13 has been partially confirmed.

The numbers of the dead have never added up...the Iranian government claims 20 protesters were killed. Mousavi et all claim the number of dead is 69. Reliable sources have posted lists of 89 confirmed dead and the names of hundreds of people still missing. Human rights organizations in the west report the number of the dead is likely in the hundreds.

So, where are the bodies? Apparently, they were frozen and stored for a few weeks, then buried secretly in mass graves.

This has been reported in many places, and an investigation is underway, but it appears to be true. Here are the two articles I have found that seem most detailed, but I have no way at this time to verify the situation.

Let's call it "partially confirmed, deemed reliable".

http://www.roozonline.com/english/opinion/opinion-article/article/2009/august/26//on-reports-of-secret-burials.html

http://www.rferl.org/content/What_Really_Happened_At_Behesht_Zahra_Cemetery_On_The_Nights_Of_July_1315/1809540.html

Hello, my dears.

I'm still in a fairly deep depressive funk, which, going by past experience, will probably last at least another couple of weeks...Katrinaversary+birthday=blechh

I'm taking a break from covering Iran for a little while, unless something really changes dramatically. I just can't cope with it right now.

In the meantime, here are some excellent sites you can use to stay on top of the ever-changing situation there:

I can't praise this site highly enough...the "news and current events" threads are always interesting and insightful. NiteOwl's Green Brief is always cogent, well-organized, and pertinent. One stop shopping for all of your Iran needs!
http://iran.whyweprotest.net/

This link is for a live-blogger in Tehran:
http://shooresh1917.blogspot.com/

On Twitter:
iran_translator, oxfordgirl, onlymehdi, and most especially sp4rrowh4wk have proven to be very reliable sources with good information

Time.com and Huffington Post have been fairly good at keeping up with the situation and reporting consistently.

If anyone wants to add any links, please do so in comments.

Thank you everyone, for being so understanding. I probably won't be reading LJ much or commenting for a bit...see y'all on the other side.
xoxoxo

A member of staff of a Tehran cemetery told Norooz that on both 12 July and 15 July, the bodies of tens of protestors were brought in without any identification, secretly and under strict security. Staff were forced to issue compulsory burial licences, and the bodies were interred in Section 302 of the cemetery.

From here: http://enduringamerica.com/

Confirmed reports indicate the police violating people’s right to privacy in Iran. According to these reports, the police are frequently entering homes forcibly and break down the doors if no one opens the door to them. Most of the time, these operations take place without any warrants – a clear violation of the Iranian constitution.

The graffiti says "marg bar Khameni" (Death to Khameni)


Mahmood Ahmadinejad today in his speech said that the Ministry of Intelligence had not done its duty, thus, the unrest took place. He didn’t blame Mohseni Ejaie – the former Intelligence Minister – personally. He also added that change was needed in the ministry. He added that “God willing we will get to a 70-million strong intelligence system.” (Gestapo anyone?)

Another friend of mine in Iran, a poet whose words have been posted here many times just wrote this after hearing of Fayah's death.

For Fayah

a tragedy
another martyr
a senseless killing
the death of a nation

another martyr
adds her soul's water
to the well of souls
whose water condemns the damned

a green well could become red
were we to fill it with tears or with blood
but we have filled it with souls
to draw upon again and again

a well of souls
to make us thirst for freedom
to water the seeds planted by our ancestors
another martyr to fill a well of souls

when we are free
from the abuse and oppression
we will remember the souls
who have filled the well

when we are free
and lift ourselves from oppression
we will forget those
who will burn in hell

i am so very sorry for your loss, Gwyndyn, and all the losses and heart breakings suffered by this young woman's family. i pray there will be justice and peace for all of us soon

I'm sorry, my dears, but I don't have the heart for much today. Thank you for your support and your condolences.

Here are some excerpts from NiteOwl's Green Brief about yesterday's events.

In anticipation of the protest planned in front of Etemaade Melli’s office, in support of Karroubi, dozens of security forces were stationed in the vicinity of the newspaper office from early in the day. Dozens more were in the streets leading to the office, which is located near Karim Khan Bridge

Hundreds tried to gather in front of Etemaade Melli’s office, in defiance of the government. Women outnumbered men during the protest. People chanted “Allaho Akbar”, “Noble People of Iran; Support Us!”, “Down With the Deceitful Government” and “Death to the Dictator”, as they tried to get closer to the office’s gates. They also made the victory sign.

Security forces started beating protesters as soon as they got close to the main gate and dispersed them. Riding motorbikes, Basijis also joined the security forces, herding protesters away from the main gate and onto the streets. This forced many people to move towards Valiasr Square. Many abruptly stopped midway and chanted slogans again.

( Read more... )

I heartily wish I didn't have to report this. I just found out that Fayah was one of the women who led the protests on July 30th at Neda Agha Soltan's gravesite.

She was beaten severely by several Basij militiamen with batons, and struck repeatedly on the head.

Her friends carried her away from the cemetary to a friend's house. She died on August 2nd, having never regained consciousness.

Fayah Azadi was 23 years old, a student at Tehran University, studying art. She was a talented painter, and a staunch supporter of democracy and women's rights.

Nothing I can say can do justice to her courage and dedication and resolve, so I am reposting her last email to me. Her words are the best epitaph I can imagine.

Please note, if you are one of the people who abhors martyrdom and the very concept of dying for a cause, I respect your opinion but this is not the place to state it. I am deeply distraught right now, and I fear I would not give your opinions the thoughtful response that they deserve. Thank you.

"I love life. I love to laugh and be with my friends. There are so many books I want to read, movies I want to see, people I want to meet. I want to marry, to be a good wife and mother. I want to grow old with the people I love, to feel the sun on my face, to see the ocean, to travel.

My country is in a terrible state. People have no jobs. There is no money. People have no freedom. Women must hide themselves from the world, and we have no choices.

Our people--we are not terrorists. We hate terrorists. And that is what our government has become. They kill our people for no reason. They torture us in their prisons because we want freedom. They make our country look evil, they make our religion look evil.

We are fighting for our freedom, for our religion, for our country. If we do nothing while injustice abounds, we become unjust. We turn into the ones we hate.

I have to fight. I have to go back on the streets. I will make them kill me. I will join Neda, with my friends, and then maybe the world will hear us.

I never thought I would become a martyr, but it is needed. The more of us they kill, the smaller they become, the more strength the people will have. Maybe my death will mean nothing, but maybe it will buy my country freedom.

I am very sad that I will never be a mother, that I will never do the things I love, but I would rather die than do nothing and know that I am to blame for the tortures, the murder, the hatred.

Please tell the world how much we love life. That we are not terrorists. We just want to be free."

The two big questions asked were about the intelligence ministry and the economy. There was another question about the status of Iranian women, but I haven't yet received an answer to that one.
Here's what my friend had to say:


hello Gwyndyn, thank you so much for your kindness, i hope i am able to continue to receive such generosity.
( Read more... )
If any of you have further questions you'd like answered by one of my sources, please ask. With sporadic internet access over there, I can't guarantee they'll be answered in a timely fashion, but they will get answered, so just be patient.

Here is the condensed Green Brief from August 16th. The full article can be found here:

http://iran.whyweprotest.net/green-brief/33324-green-brief-56-august-16-mordad-25-a.html
( Read more... )

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/middle_east/article6796583.ece

Despite nine weeks of savage repression since Iran’s hotly disputed presidential election, opponents of the regime refuse to accept defeat. They accuse the Government of torturing political detainees. They spread samizdat DVDs, use paintball guns to obliterate government posters, and attack government websites.

Mehdi Karroubi, one of the defeated presidential candidates, kept up the public pressure this week by claiming that male and female detainees have been raped in the Evin and Kahrizak prisons in Tehran, and that political prisoners were being tortured to death.

( Read more... )

Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Higher Council of the Cultural Revolution in Iran, is planning on closing down universities across the country, to stop university students from protesting. University students – especially those who live in dorms – have been very active in the protests and this could confine them to the provinces and have an impact on the number of protesters

Yadullah Javani – the director of the political office of the IRG – said that Mousavi should be brought to court. He added that information suggested that reformists were planning on gaining power at any cost – whether it was by forcing their way into the government again or by getting help from foreign countries to topple the regime.

Khamenei’s representative in the Basij force, Ali Mohammadi today said that it was their duty to destroy the secular thoughts and plans of the enemy – in a clear reference that the establishment was not going to yield to reform. He condemned the ‘enemies’ of the regime for what he called, their ever-continuing attempts at toppling the regime and said that the Basij were an effective deterrent to such schemes.

A group of former reformist lawmakers appealed to a powerful clerical body in Iran to investigate Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's qualification to rule in an unprecedented challenge to the country's most powerful man over the postelection crackdown.

The call came as controversy heated up Friday over allegations that protesters detained the crackdown were tortured. Hard-line clerics across the country demanded that a senior reform leader be prosecuted for claiming that some detainees were raped by their jailers.

The former lawmakers' appeal was to the Assembly of Experts, a body of clerics that under Iranian law has the power to name the supreme leader and, in theory, to remove him — though such a move has never been attempted.

Mahdi Karroubi is soon to present Ali Larejani with evidence about the instances of the rape of detainees. Larejani said he will review the evidence. It has also been reported that witnesses are also willing to testify about these incidents to the parliament.

Karroubi further said that detainees had been tortured to death at Evin and other detention centers. He also added that some prisoners had been forced to take off their clothes and were ‘ridden’ by the guards. This is like riding a horse or a donkey and is considered an act of extreme disrespect in the Middle East.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090814/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran

The Iranian "president" Ahmadinejad will be speaking at the United Nations Assembly on September 22nd. Many groups are trying to organize for massive demonstrations in from of the UN on that day.

If any of you in the New York area can take the time to attend the protest, it would be a wonderful thing. The larger the crowd, the more the mainstream media will pay attention, the more people will see that it's not over.

Many people in Iran are paying close attention to the international protests, please, please let's give them something to boost their morale.

I would give anything to be there, but we are brokebrokebroke, and there's no way I can even think about getting a plane ticket. If you're in the NY area, please attend for me. Wear green and take lots of pictures.

Those of you NOT in New York...could you please help get the word out to any friends or relatives you have in the NY area? It would be very much appreciated...


UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon congratulated and invited Ahmadinejad to UN Assembly on September 22ND, 2009.

united4iran.org has organized mass demonstration for that day in NY. We will show the "DICTATOR" we are still alive and well fighting for our brothers and sisters in IRAN. For more info you can contact united4iran.org and in northern California, you can contact norcal4iran.com.

First, from wyjoe:
This Iranian government web site wants to identify protesters pictured.

http://gerdab.ir/fa/pages/?cid=422

Protesters are fighting back; they provide a link to Google to declare that site a phishing site.

http://www.google.com/safebrowsing/report_badware/
Please take the time to click the link and report that site.

Second:
I know a lot of you hate 4chan and Anonymous and all they stand for. I want you to know that back in June, Anonymous created this web site:
http://iran.whyweprotest.net/

It is an exemplary source for news about Iran, information on how we can help the protesters, a 24 hour newsfeed linking every news article from around the world. With very few exceptions, everyone on that board is well-informed and provides thoughtful analysis. There are many, many Iranians reading and posting on the site.

Please go take a look around. You won't be sorry.

Here's another good link for...ummm...really good links. ;)
http://www.realityisfree.com/secular.html

Third:
How you can help.

Austin Heap has created the Haystack project, that provides secure anonymous internet access for Iran, bypassing the government filters and blocks. They need money. Even if you can only afford a dollar or two, every bit helps.

http://blog.austinheap.com

I think we all need something a little less grim today, so here's a nice article from Time about the Iranian skate punks, graffiti artists, and underground musicians.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090813/wl_time/08599191534200

That is not to say these musicians, artists and skater punks have been cowed into silence; rather, their influence in a country where 2 out of 3 are under the age of 30, with many hungry for Western cultural imports, has perhaps never been greater. In the run-up to the presidential election, many young voters were eagerly trading CD mix tapes featuring underground artists - practically all working under pseudonyms - campaigning for the leading opposition candidate, Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

My friend Ali who was arrested a couple of weeks ago has been released.

He was beaten severely, multiple times, and is in the hospital. He has a serious infection, but is expected to live.

He will, someday, need reconstructive surgery...they beat his face so badly his parents almost couldn't recognize him.

He has many broken ribs, a broken arm, both collarbones are broken. One of his kidneys was severely damaged and must be removed. He was not raped.

I am in tears, shaking with rage. I feel so damned helpless and frustrated and there is not a single damned thing I can do to help him.

Please, my friends, keep Ali and his family in your thoughts and prayers, and also Fayah and Rashid, both of whom are still incommunicado.

In the words of another Iranian friend:

on the roofs we are singing and dying,
on the streets we are walking and dying,
in the prisons we are screaming and dying
we will sing and walk and scream and die again

Please, keep listening. Keep helping their voices to be heard. These are our brothers. These are our sisters. Don't let their sacrifices go unlamented.

The letter from Mahdi Karroubi to Rafsanjani that has caused huge controversy, detailing the apalling abuses of the protesters and the extremely brutal rapes occuring in the prisons to those detained.
http://enduringamerica.com/2009/08/10/iran-the-karroubi-letter-to-rafsanjani-on-abuse-of-detainees/#more-15034

The government has apparently contradicted itself, again, over the number of protesters who have been detained. Alireza Jamshidi, a spokesperson for the country’s Judiciary – today stated that four thousand people had been arrested of which 3,700 had been already been released and the remainder were in detention. A few weeks ago, the commander of IRG Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, had announced that the government had detained just over a thousand people and most of them had been released.
( Read more... )