The Latest from Iran (15 April): Accepting Authority?

1315 GMT: We'll be on extended break today, as I'll be lost in the wilds of Georgia in the US. While I make my way back, EA readers --- as they did yesterday --- will be keeping the news and chatter going.

1300 GMT: The Oil Squeeze (cont.). This time, it's exports rather than imports (see 0920 GMT) causing an issue. Khabar Online reports, "From the early 2010 Iran’s oil export has dropped by 378,000 barrels a day compared to 2009 and it will cause a $9.5 billion deficit in the country’s oil revenues this year."

NEW Iran: A View From Tehran “The New Year Challenges”
NEW Iran: A Note About the Voice of America, NIAC, and the “Journalism” of The Washington Times
Iran’s Nukes: Can Tehran and the US Make A Deal?
The Latest from Iran (14 April): Ahmadinejad’s Struggle

Still, Iranian officials maintain a positive line:

Iran's Oil Minister says US-led sanctions against Iran have failed as the country has managed to become self-sufficient in oil production and products.

"International sanctions are not a new issue and we have no problem in dealing with them," Masoud Mirkazemi told reporters on Wednesday after a cabinet session.

1105 GMT: We've posted a separate analysis, "A Note About the Voice of America, NIAC, and the 'Journalism' of The Washington Times". And we also open a window on analysis inside Iran with a piece from Iran Review, "The New Year Challenges".

1055 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. RAHANA claims that Mottahareh Bahrami, currently detained in Evin’s women’s ward, has been sentenced to death, pending appeal, for alleged links to the Mujahedin-e-Khalq "terrorist" organisation. Bahrami was arrested on Ashura (27 December 27), along with her husband, her son and 2 friends.

1050 GMT: The Subsidy Battle. More back-and-forth over the Ahmadinejad fight with Parliament on subsidy reductions and spending. Mohammad Reza Khabbaz of the Majlis' Economics Committee has reiterated that the Government must implement the Parliament-approved subsidy plan; however, Ahmadinejad backer Ali Asghar Zarei has insisted that implementation is up to the President.

On another front, Fereydoun Hemmati of the Supreme Audit Committee has insisted that the budget report for last year cannot be altered. The report has a number of provocative claims, including the "loss" of oil revenues by the state.

1035 GMT: The Corruption Allegations. As the charges of corruption by prominent MP Elyas Naderan against First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi resonate, the "hard-line" newspaper Kayhan has called for an end to fighting amongst "fundamentalists".

1025 GMT: Rumour of Day. Khabar Online suggests that former President Mohammad Khatami will be attending a global disarmament conference in Japan next week. The Japan event comes after this week's nuclear summit, led by President Obama, in Washington and Iran's own gathering this weekend.

0930 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims news of an "unknown" prisoner, student and Mousavi campaigner Yasser Yousefzadeh, who has been held incommunicado for more than a month.

Baha’i photographer and musician Artin Ghazanfari, released last week on $50,000 bail, has been re-arrested.

Human rights activists, via A Street Journalist, offers a full summary of developments, including the report that almost 30 detainees across Iran are now on hunger strike.

0920 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Another intriguing report this morning, and one arguably with far more significance than the Iran Parliament's reported retreat....

A company spokesman has said that Malaysia's Petronas is halting oil shipments to Iran. Petronas, one of the largest suppliers to Tehran, has not made any deliveries since mid-March.

0910 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Meanwhile, back to immediate everyday concerns....

Kalemeh claims that the renewed detention of Abdollah Momeni, the leading student activist, was caused by his refusal to cooperate with security and intelligence agents while on temporary release. Other activist and Momeni’s wife, assert that Momeni was pressed to denounce Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, and his organisation, Advar-e Takhim Vadat. Momeni was also asked to participate in a series of staged student gatherings.

Momeni's return to prison followed a meeting last week of Mousavi and Advar-e Takhim Vahdat.

0900 GMT: We return from an extended break to find the headline-grabbing story, as framed in The New York Times, "Iran’s Parliament Limits Its Power as a Watchdog".

Nazila Fathi's story, drawn from state media but with no details, claims, "Parliament’s decision...limited lawmakers’ ability to review regulations adopted by the Guardian Council, the Assembly of Experts, the Supreme National Security Council and the Expediency Council." Fathi evaluates, "The decision seemed to be an acknowledgment of the reality that the elected Parliament was often blocked from fulfilling its role as a watchdog over the institutions of state."

It is, to the say the least, a most curious report. Parliament has been embroiled in a heated dispute with President Ahmadinejad over his economic proposals, and the corruption allegations against First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi offer a possible showdown.

We'll look for developments, but for now, is this a Parliamentary retreat or a bit of mischief by some state media "reporters"?

Comments

[Catherine]

Panahi’s Crime: Supporting Peace
Interview with Shirin Ebadi

Shirin Ebadi told Rooz on Monday that the reason prominent film director Jafar Panahi was arrested and remains behind prison bars is that he is against war. .... that one of the charges against Panahi was that he was a member of Iran’s National Peace Council and that he had working relations with the Center for the Defenders of Human Rights.
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/april/14//panahis-crime-supporting-peace.html

[Catherine]

Here are a couple of posts that actually belong in this thread, but which I put in the April 14 thread because this one wasn't up yet, See posts 26, 27 and 28:

http://enduringamerica.com/2010/04/14/the-latest-from-iran-14-april-ahmadinejads-struggle/comment-page-1/#comment-39542

[Arshama]

VoA = Voice of the Mullahs?

Washington Times Editorial attacks NIAC, especially Trita Parsi for "various odd positions". The last sentence is revealing: "Meanwhile, if VOA is telling Iranians struggling for freedom that resistance is futile, we hope Tehran keeps jamming it."
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/apr/14/voice-of-the-mullahs/

Objections, Your Honour! Not without my VoA!

Dear American readers, could you please explain what is going on?

[Catherine]

The Sanctions Game

The Obama administration signaled Wednesday that the United States would accept weakened United Nations sanctions against Iran as a way to quickly assemble a broad international coalition against Tehran's nuclear program.

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said adoption of a new sanctions resolution by the U.N. Security Council is more vital than the actual measures taken.

He said a Security Council resolution "provides a new legal platform" for individual nations or groups, such as the European Union, to take more stringent action. In that way, the U.N. resolution acts as a "launching pad" for economic strictures that are much tougher than those adopted by the world organization, he said.

Full story: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-iran-sanctions15-2010apr15,0,3513831.story?track=rss

[Catherine]

Not all of AN's interview where he said: “Mr. Obama has only one chance [for political survival] left and that is Iran" was reported. Here is another interesting tidbit:

Part of yesterday’s live broadcast revolved around other issues such as the economy and population control. Ahmadinejad emphasized that it was God’s responsibility to provide for the Iranian people, and he criticized the clerics for not rejecting anyone who claims otherwise. Ahmadinejad said, “I said this once and a lot of people made fun of me. I am against having only two children. I have scientific reasoning for this. Population growth is 1.2 percent. Our families are under four persons. This means that when two people get married, the average number of children in every family is fewer than two! To maintain the population, two people must reproduce at least two more people. A nation must be saved! And there are fatalities. There is disease, accidents. Of these two children, a lot of them die in the next forty or fifty years. Not everyone is going to reach eighty.”
http://www.insideiran.org/media-analysis/ahmadinejad-u-s-must-change-its-behavior-for-engagement/

[Arshama]

Catherine,

Thank you so much for your post # 5! Reminds me so much of Nazi Germany with the notorious "Mutterkreuz" (Cross of Honor of the German Mother) http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutterkreuz
Here some details for the IRI planning commission:
3rd grade for mothers with 4 or 5 children,
2nd grade for mothers with 6 or 7 children,
1st grade for mothers with 8 children and more.

Well, that surelys needs 'Double ambition, Double endeavour', as the SL already noted in his Nowrooz speech. And then, each new baby in 2010 will also be rewarded with 1 million Tuman, as recently promised by AN, commented by cartoonist Kowsar already: Mahmoud, come and let us make a double endeavour to benefit from the 1 million... http://tinyurl.com/y62yayq

Arshama

[ange paris]

Arshama post 3
Do you remember a movie called "the invaders", strange creatures coming from space that wanted to live on the earth and by touching the earthlings they transformed them in invaders ,( with their curved little finger) ? I have noticed that even here you can see this kind of transformation ! we have to fight like David Vicent ! :-)

[pessimist]

re #5

>Ahmadinejad emphasized that it was God’s responsibility to provide for the Iranian people, and he criticized the clerics for not rejecting anyone who claims otherwise. Ahmadinejad said, “I said this once and a lot of people made fun of me. I am against having only two children. I have scientific reasoning for this.

Of course there is a scientific reason. They are no doubt in the similar situation of some other countries that need more children to pay for the pensions of their parents.

From what I've learned, Iran's population soared in the seventies (didn't Khomeini say that 5000 executions were nothing as there were 'n' millions being born every year ?), and now there are more young than old. The problem is not therefore at the moment but for the next generation. Like our babyboomers

However, surely the biggest problem is providing work for all the young people, not making more children ? How can young couples have lots of children if they don't have work ?

As for god providing for the people, I don't quite see the relation with demographics. Does he mean that people shouldn't be using contraceptives ?

[pessimist]

Arshama

wasn't that to compensate for the losses of the 1WW ? There used to be medals for big families in France too. I think Germany has the same problem today ?

As for France, they have had a good family policy for some time to encourage three or more children, lots of incentives, family allowances, nurseries and free schooling at 3. In fact, that is one of the things behind certain immigration policies, they don't need so many.

As for Iran, maybe AM should say that they will loosen up on the sexual practices, allowing young people to hold hands, just for beginners :-)

[Arshama]

Pessimist,

Re your post #9

Definitely no! The Mutterkreuz was meant to built up a young and strong army in order to invade the whole world. Because at the same time or somewhat later the equally infamous slogan of "Volk ohne Raum" (people without enough space for living) was brought up by the Nazis as a pretext to assault Poland, England, France, Yugoslavia etc. Fortunately they were stopped!

The same goes for AN, who is dreaming of an Islamic Empire, supposedly by starting to invade neighbouring Arab countries -- and Israel of course -- to bring them all his wonderful achievements, as quoted by EA yesterday: the President’s advisor, Somreh Hashemi, has told university students that “world discourse” has changed because of Ahmadinejad’s statements — therefore it now has culture, science, and ethics.

For all these happy nations here a short definition of AN's concepts:
IR Culture = imprisoning distinguished film makers (Panahi), beating up distinguished poets (Simin Behbahani) and banning all acclaimed artists from national media
IR Science = destroying the environment (Urumiyeh lake, Sivand dam, Mazanderan forests), and sending worms to space
IR Ethics = killing, raping and torturing protesters; promoting prostitution (sigheh) and paedophilia (marriage laws)

Whenever and wherever a politician promotes such birth policies, be sure that it is not meant for good...

Arshama

[Pirooz]

Former president Khatami kept from leaving Iran?!

Parleman News just reported.

[Catherine]

Let me add to Arshama's list:

"actions against national security through propagation against the Islamic Republic of Iran regime,” and “insulting the founder of Islamic Republic of Iran"

=

“belief in feminism,” “activities in the human rights area,” and “membership in organizations such as Islamic Students Association of Hamadan University and One Million Signatures Campaign, as well as cooperation with Hamadan University News Web site, Bou Ali Sina News Bulletin, and publishing some items in Amir Kabir University News Web site.

http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/apr/06/1622

[Arshama]

Ange post 4

Pardon, I missed your entry. Unfortunately I do not remember the series, but a very similar film (don't ask me its name). In any case we all have to beware of the invaders. A very good repellent is the colour Green. Whenever they see it, they escape - like vampires from garlic ;-)

ma bishomarim

Arshama

[pessimist]

Ok Arshama, I get it, i wasn't sure, if it was for a future army or before he actually planned that.

As for AM's intentions, maybe he dreams, but I doubt that in todays context, he can do much more.

I'm a bit uneasy in equating everything with prewar nazi germany.

[Barry]

I am very worried about those worms that were sent into space -- what are they doing up there???

Barry

[Arshama]

Barry,

The IR worms were sent into space to investigate all conquests made by arrogant western Imperialistic astronauts and to undermine their efforts on the moon in order to establish "culture, science and ethics" ;-)

Arshama

[rezvan]

No Arshama & Barry, the worms are baseejis they have been sent up there to spy on you guys . Do you see the power of the IR, it has even got baseeji worms!

[Barry]

@Rezvan

Your posting got a little garbled on my computer - did you say that baseeji are worms?? I couldn't agree with that - worms are friendly and usefull creatures.

Barry

[Megan]

Rezvan post 23:28

Rezvan,

So they are like you except you are the worm that lives in soil (Kerme Khaki).

I think you have got it wrong again. Basiji are not just any worm; they are parasitic worms just like tapeworms. Tapeworms do not have any intelligence and therefore cannot spy. Tapeworms live at the expense of their hosts in this case Iranian people. You and your Basiji brothers do not have any intelligence to sustain life on your own.

Parasitic tapeworms were called rozeh khoon in the past now they have mutated and have become Basiji.

[Catherine]

RE Former president Khatami kept from leaving Iran?!

Many websites and some news agencies like the AFP are carrying this story, but the best report I've read on it so far is by Homylafayette:
http://homylafayette.blogspot.com/2010/04/former-president-khatami-prevented-from.html

[Megan]

Arshama,

In response to your post # 3 and your call for American readers.

Thank you for the link to the Washington Times article regarding VOA.

I have not personally listened to programs referenced in Washington Times article but last Tuesday (April 13) in a program called Tafseer Khabr (News Talk) a guest with the name of Ali Reza Namvar Hghighi appeared to be pro regime. I tried to be objective and listen to him. I knew it was time to click him off when I found myself screaming at my PC as he blamed U.S. for breakdown of talks between Iran and U.S. I said to myself if I wanted to hear pro regime rant I logon to EA and read cyber Basiji posts. At least there I could talk back and tell them to take a hike.

Due to time constraint I am not a viewer of VOA programs except one. Since last February every evening as I eat dinner I logon to VOA News Talk archive and listen/watch to a one-hour program that had been broadcasted earlier that day. News Talk invites guests and discuses News of that day. Iranian guests are economists, political experts, political activists, attorneys, Human Rights activists, families of political prisoners, members of press, etc. Guests from inside Iran speak via phone. Topics are Iran economic and political crisis as well as human rights abuses. Some guests are very smart and competent in their fields and some are not. Since February 2010 that I have been watching News Talk only one person, the person mentioned above, has been pro regime. All other guests have been decidedly against regime. Hosts are also not regime sympathizers.

Presence of Ali Reza Namver Hghighi on Tuesday April 13 had evidently irritated many viewers. On Wednesday April 14 VOA mentioned that it had received calls and e-mail regarding Ali Reza Namver Hghighi’ and his comments. News Talk host explained that the VOA tries to be balanced. That prompted me to send an e-mail to my Senator mentioning that VOA was funded by my tax money and must operate within its charter and asked for oversight. I also plan to get an e-mail to the five U.S. Senators who put forward a resolution authorizing additional funds for VOA last summer.

VOA charter is to provide news in countries where there is no free press and opposition voice cannot be heard. In Iran it is the opposition voice that is silenced and not pro regime voice. It is the opposition press that is shut down and not pro regime press. The broadcasting outfit like VOA needs to strike a balance by giving voice to opposition and promote democracy per its charter. I intend to remind the five senators that is the minimum I expect from my tax contributions to VOA.

On another topic, pro regime people who did not agree with my definition of Green on EA may want to listen to Wednesday April 14 News Talk (Tafseer khabr) and hear Kian Amani, a news photographer who has left Iran 45 days ago. He had been arrested twice, had been stabbed by plain clothes thugs and finally has fled Iran. He gives eye witness account of protests and the meaning of Green for him and people in the heart of protest. His interview starts at minute 37. The link is http://www1.voanews.com/persian/programs/tv/60778742.html. The 7-day archive is at the bottom of the page. Need to click on 56K or 254k to listen to the program without down loading it.

Ali Reza Namvar Hghighi is on Tuesday April 13 program.

I really liked this week Monday guest Mansour Farhang who is a professor at Bennington College in Vermont. You can listen to him by clicking on Monday April 12. Here is his credentials http://www.bennington.edu/index.cfm?objectid=24CB6154-5056-BA14-23FC9AA69F673F23&Faculty_Member_ID=1006020225

The Archive is over-written so if you want to listen to Monday April 12 you need to do it before next Monday arrives.

[rezvan]

Thanks Barry, you have really taken words out of my mouth. The average Baseeji just like you say are like worms friendly and useful creatures , even the parasitic ones, Megan are there for a purpose- they help to cleanse up the system! BTW they send their love to you all the way from Tehran not LA.

[Barry]

@REZVAN

I recall that there was another paramilitary group , similar to the Baseeji - who also thought that their cause was good, like you.

http://www.historyonthenet.com/Nazi_Germany/images/stormtroopers.jpg

They were replaced by their own regime when their usefulness came to an end.

Barry

[Megan]

Rezvan,

These worms are not cleansing the system they are steeling food form their hosts. When hosts do not have enough to live on they will die and so would the parasitic worms. So I stand firm on my assessment; Basiji worms lack intelligence – they cut off their own nose to spite their face.

Please convey my utter disregard to all of your comrades from Planet Earth to Planet Ape where they live.