The Latest from Iran (23 April): Rounding Up the News

2000 GMT: Consolation and Persistence. Mehdi Karroubi has visited Mostafa Tajzadeh, the former Deputy Minister of Interior, at his home. Tajzadeh, formally sentenced to six years in prison last week, had been in intensive care because of serious health issues.

1800 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Green Voice of Freedom carries a summary from human rights activists of prison sentences, including death penalties, for 27 detainees.

NEW Iran’s Nuclear Programme: The US Strategy
Iran Document: Detained Nourizad’s Letter to Khamenei “We Have Lost Our People”
Iran Document: Ayatollah Sane’i “Some Want Islam For Their Own Agendas”
The Latest from Iran (22 April): This Isn’t Over

On the other side of the watch, journalist and human rights activist Davoud Khokarami was released on Monday after two days of detention.


Statement of the Day

Mir Hossein Mousavi has offered another statement in a meeting with the National-Religious Front.

Mousavi said that the only way for realising national interests an ideal society was through a Green Movement that "pursues goals which are a reflection of the values, will and demands of the Iranian people”. He asserted, “We should pursue the creation of an interlinked civil society through the use of all the available resources in the country.”

Recalling the rise of the protest movement within hours of the Presidential election, Mousavi said, “The events that took place last year in Tehran on 15 June and the compassionate and sympathetic presence of the people along with tolerance, patience and cooperation and the protesters’ civil action set an example and standard for an ideal society”.

Framing the political challenge as a long-term process, Mousavi said, "The task ahead is immense and the path of the Green Movement is a lengthy one with many twists and turns; even if the Movement succeeds in its goals sooner than what many people expect, we must have patience and perseverance and to live with the Movement in order for it to persist.”

He concluded, “It should become apparent for everyone that we are seeking our national interests; this is not a question of selfishness. We do not want to stand beside tyranny and the tyrant. We stand by the oppressed.”

Earthquake Watch

The regime's statement of the day comes from Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, head of the Guardian Council at Tehran Friday Prayers. He has repeated the certainty, offered at last week's service by Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi, that immorality such as provocative dress and adultery causes natural disasters: "We can avoid earthquakes if the faithful and devoted people pray to God."

Not sure everyone is taking this as seriously as they should, however. A "Boobquake" group has been established on Facebook to "prove boobs don't cause earthquakes"

Denial of Day

Members of Mehdi Karroubi's camp have dismissed rumours that the cleric is in ill health.

Warning the Reformists

Mohammad Abbaszadeh Meshkini, the Secretary General of Parliament's Article 10 Commission, has said that if the Mojahedin of Islamic. Revolution party and the Islamic Iran Participation Front continue their activities, "they will get trouble".

Iranian authorities have denied, however, that there are restrictions on the overseas travel of former President Mohammad Khatami. Last week Khatami cancelled an appearance at a disarmament conference in Japan, claiming he was pressured not to fly.

The Nuclear Front

Diplomats say Iran has agreed to more extensive monitoring of its nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

A Ringing Endorsement. As President Ahmadinejad visits his country, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has backed Iran's "just cause" in pursuit of nuclear power.

Economy Watch

Alireza Marandi, the former Minister of Health, has asserted that only 15% of the Ahmadinejad Fourth Plan's health projects have been realised.

Political Prisoner Watch

A death sentence has been handed down to Habibollah Golparipour, an Iranian Kurd, because of "mohareb" (war against God).

Rah-e-Sabz notes that in the month of Farvardin, which has just ended, a total of almost 73 years in prison sentences were handed down for supporters of the Green Movement.

Culture Ups and Downs

Maziar Bahari, the Iranian-Canadian journalist detained for months during the post-election crisis, has been honoured by a German organisation. He will collect the award on 7 May.

Forough Farrokhzad, one of Iran's most distinguished writers, has been banned from the country''s Book of Poets.

Comments

[Catherine]

Responses to Calls to Dissolve Reformist Parties

The issue continues to sow controversy in the country:
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/april/22//responses-to-calls-to-dissolve-reformist-parties.html

[Catherine]

Iranian teachers issue a nationawide rally to hunger protest

Coordinating Council of Iranian Teacher Trade Associations has issued a statement to announce that a group of its members will go on a hunger strike in protest to “illegal execution and imprisonment sentences” handed to a number of teachers.

The statement says that the executive members of the Teachers Association and a number of associated labour activists will start a hunger strike on May 2 and called on all Iranian teachers to join this effort on National Teacher’s Day, May 2.
More: http://www.zamaaneh.com/enzam/2010/04/iranian-teachers-issue-a.html

[Catherine]

Student political prisoner Behrouz Javid Tehrani writes another letter from Rajai Shahr Prison in Gohardasht, Karaj to Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations who reportedly has been invited by Iranian regime officials to visit the country.

Student Prisoner Behrouz Javid Tehrani Urges Ban Ki-moon to Visit Rajai Shahr Prison
April 22, 2010

Execution & Torture | Follow-ups | Human Rights | International | News Topics | Prisoners & Their Families | Protests & Police Brutality | Students

Student political prisoner Behrouz Javid Tehrani writes another letter from Rajai Shahr Prison in Gohardasht, Karaj (Iran). This letter is addressed to Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations who reportedly has been invited by Iranian regime officials to visit the country. In his letter, Behrouz Javid Tehrani urges Ban Ki-moon to visit Rajai Shahr Prison during his possible visit to Iran.

"I have been detained as a political prisoner for the past ten years in Rajai Shahr prison (Gohardasht, Iran), one of the worst detention centres in Iran. I have not committed any crime and there are no charges against me.

I have witnessed all forms of human rights violations including interrogations and illegal trials. I have been a witness of crime, torture, injustice, death, corruption, death due to lack of treatment, prisoner suicides, and more for ten years."

Read his letter: http://persian2english.com/?p=9716

[Catherine]

Two more examples of the absolute dysfunction of how current judicial system in Iran is handling political cases now that the Evin Prison Court has been established to review the cases of political prisoners, largely taking over from the Revolutionary Courts.

Even Emaddedin Baghi’s Lawyer Can’t Access His File
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/apr/21/1728

Lawyer Mohammad Mostafaee: Judge Moghiseh Has Violated Many Suspects’ Rights
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/apr/21/1727

[Catherine]

On the economic front:
(warning: this article contains official IRI statistics ;-) )

No Refineries, Self-Sufficiency is a Joke

While “financial resources for the construction of Bandar Abbas’s petroleum facility have run out” and the CEO of Persian Gulf Refining Corp has announced that “only 32 percent of the refinery has been physically built,” right-wing media is now questioning “how Iran can possibly become self-sufficient in petroleum by the year 2011 or even export petroleum, as claimed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.” As such, Ahmadinejad’s claim that, “If sanctions are put on petroleum, we will produce it within a week or two,” is more of a joke. Knowing that, senior Islamic Republic officials have placed petroleum at the tope of the list of items imported from abroad.
More: http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/april/21//no-refineries-self-sufficiency-is-a-joke.html

[danial]

RE: Boob talk...

"Ayatollah Jannati at Tehran Friday Prayers. He has repeated the certainty, offered at last week’s service by Hojatoleslam Seddiqi, that immorality such as provocative dress and adultery causes natural disasters..."

Why, Why do they do this? The women who dress in an "un-Islamic" way don't listen to these friday sermons anyway so why make such statements?

I imagine they're going to bring an "expert" on state TV associating tight dresses with shifts in tectonic plates.

[Arshama]

Danial,

RE: Boob talk...

In its analysis of today's FP, mostly repeating that misery comes from immorality, loose women and music, Jaras assesses this chatter as a preparation for a new round of stricter repressions of Iranian youths: http://www.rahesabz.net/story/14217/

As usual Friday prayers are abused for announcing the regime's new strategies on how to handle its disobedient subjects. With this regard it is the IR regime that has been waging a "soft war" against its own citizens for 31 years.
The essentials of this "soft war" are: the world is bad, "we" (i.e. the system) and our Islam are good, beware of the rotten West, defend the poor Palestinians etc.
This soft war is updated to taste with "our nuclear rights", earthquakes, "soft war" by internet and other "actualities".

Add IRIB (National Radio and TV) and Keyhan to this, and you have a perfect propaganda machinery, which has been hammering these crazy ideas into people's heads during the past 31 years, following the regime's master plan to isolate Iranians from the rest of the world (except for China, Zimbabwe and other "friendly" nations) and to stage a "soft war" against it in case of disobedience.

Speaking of seditious internet, I stumbled upon this cute comment from Patrick Disney today: "every tweet made Ahmadinejad sweat a little more."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/patrick-disney/changing-course-on-iran-s_b_548825.html

Arshama

[Bill]

Regarding Boob talk just google Boobquake for a funny rebuttal to the whole earthquake issue. Boobquake has been a top news items stateside since it was uncovered today. The mission of Boobquake is to call for a rally of women to once and for all see if "boobs" can actually cause a quake. Boobquake is also on facebook and has close to 18,000 fans despite only being up one day. Here is the FB link: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Boobquake/115608248460905

[pessimist]

Just discovered this, and am amazed at the speed that this has gone all over the place (there are even t-shirts and mugs for sale !), It makes me think of a couple of things : how quick the 'western' (hate that term), world takes on things and how slow in Iran, meaning that lack of freedom of expression is really taking it's toll there.
- that this sort of thing (or this thing, who knows?) could do a hellova lot of more harm to the regime than all the years of debates over sanctions etc

- that unfortunately iranian women won't be able to take part at all, although they could, with risks, but...

- that it would be useful to remind some folks on those numerous blogs that iranian women can be flogged for showing too much hair let alone cleavage, so please include them in your thoughts

- that I'd love to know how iranians are reacting