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Sunday
Aug092009

Iran: Ayatollah Sistani Intervenes 

The Latest from Iran (9 August): Once More on Trial
How Not to Help Iran: The Folly of US Sanctions

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SISTANIAfter two months, Ayatollah Sistani, the Iranian-born clerical leader in the holy city of Najaf in Iraq, has intervened, albeit in an oblique fashion, in the post-election controversy. He did so through answers to "questions from the faithful"

1) What is your eminence's opinion about [Iran's] religious supreme leadership (velayat-e-faqih)?

"Leadership in what Islamic jurists call "everyday affairs" exists for any qualified expert in Islamic jurisprudence. However [leadership] in public affairs that play a crucial role  in the order of the Islamic society, depends both upon personal qualifications of the expert and also upon other issues  including the fact that the expert must be acceptable for the public."

2) If a pronouncement  of another Marjaa [senior clerical leader] opposes that of a Supreme Leader what must be done?

"In general the pronouncement of a person that has religious supreme leadership in public and society affairs etc. supersedes all (including other Marjaa) unless the pronouncements are proven to be wrong or the pronouncements are proven to be against what is in the Koran or in Religious Tradition."

Interpretation? Sistani just told Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that he is not untouchable. Whether or not Sistani meant his reference to "personal qualifications" to flash back on Khameni's rise to Supreme Leader, even though he was not a marjaa, there will be those in Iran who immediately see the context. And "acceptable to the public" and "proven to be wrong" do not need even that level of analysis.

Beyond the intervention, here's a question to ponder: it was widely reported that, before agreeing to lead Friday prayers in Tehran on 17 July, Hashemi Rafsanjani had gone to Najaf to see Sistani. So, given the Iraq-based Ayatollah's continuing influence amongst many Iran faithful, has the former President --- due to lead prayers again this Friday --- received another boost?
Saturday
Aug082009

Iraq: It's "Their" Country Now

IRAQ FLAGWe have argued since 2007 that the politics of Iraq were well beyond its US occupiers. The myth of the "surge" might obscure that reality, but it could not displace it. Gareth Porter, who has always been one journalist who could see beyond the US military, offers another compelling case for the ascendancy of the manoeuvres between Iraqi parties. Doing so, he also shatters the far-from-constructive storyline that Iran was responsible for American troubles in Iraq.

The article was originally posted by Inter Press Service:

Shi’a Unity Deal Explodes U.S. Proxy War Myth

The agreement announced Monday between Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and a Shi’a resistance group called the "League of the Righteous" (Asa'ib al-Haq) formally ended the group’s armed
opposition to the regime in return for the release of its leader and eight other Shi’a detainees. This deals a final blow to the U.S. military’s narrative of an Iranian "proxy war" in Iraq.

The U.S. command in Iraq has long argued that Iran was using "special groups" of Shi’a insurgents who had broken away from cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army to destabilise the U.S.-supported Iraqi regime --- but pro- Iranian groups were weakened by U.S. military pressures throughout 2007 and defeated by the al-Maliki regime in 2008.

The history of the new agreement confirms what was evident from existing evidence: the "League of the Righteous" was actually the underground wing of the Mahdi Army all along, and the Sadrist insurgents were secretly working closely with the al-Maliki regime against the Americans and the British --- even as it was at war with armed elements within the regime.

The contradictory nature of the relationship between al-Maliki and the Sadrists reflects the tensions between pro-Sadrist elements within the regime --- including al-Maliki’s Da’wa Party --- and the anti-Sadrist elements led by the Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

The relationship between al-Maliki and the U.S. was also marked by contradictions. Even through he was ostensibly cooperating with the U.S. against the Sadrists in 2007 and 2008, the al-Maliki regime was also cooperating secretly with the Sadrist forces against the Americans. And al-Maliki --- with the encouragement of Iran --- was working on a strategy for achieving the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq through diplomatic means, which he did not reveal to the Americans until summer 2008.

Meanwhile, the Iranian Qods Force commander was playing the role of mediator between al-Maliki and the Sadrists, encouraging the latter to reach ceasefires with the government on the promise that he would get American troops out of the country.

Representatives of the "League" have said their reconciliation with al-Maliki is based on a common aim of expelling the U.S. military influence from Iraq.

One of the insurgent group’s representatives, Abdul Hadi al-Daraji explained the reconciliation with the government this week by observing that the government "is working to regain Iraqi sovereignty, and that is what the resistance was aimed towards".

But al-Maliki made it clear that the group had not renounced violence against the American troops. "We are only fighting the United States," he told the New York Times.

Underlining the lack of distinction between the "League" and the Sadristmovement, both of the main negotiators for the Shi’a insurgents on the agreement are among Moqtada al-Sadr’s most loyal lieutenants.

Salam al-Maliki was the head of the bloc of Sadrist members of parliament in 2006. Abdul Hadi al-Daraji was a senior aide to Sadr when he was arrested in Baghdad in Jan. 2007 by Iraqi Special Forces working closely with U.S. forces. Sadr complained to al-Maliki about the arrest, however, and al-Maliki adviser Sadiq al-Rikabi pledged that al-Daraji would be released.

Read more.
Saturday
Aug082009

How Not to Help Iran: The Folly of US Sanctions

The Latest from Iran (9 August): Once More on Trial

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Throughout the Iran crisis, we have referred to US-based efforts to manipulate the conflict for a much different objective: confronting Iran over its nuclear programme.

Part of our annoyance is that this objective --- whether cynical or disingenuous --- demeans the issues of importance to Iranians. There is potentiIran-Sanctionsally, however a damaging economic costs. US Congressmen and other politicians, and behind them pro-Israeli lobbies, are pressing for expanded sanctions. In particular, they are hoping to cripple Iran by limiting its imports of refined petroleum products.

In an analysis for The Huffington Post, Patrick Disney of the National Iranian American Council argues that this move would not punish the Iranian regime but those "ordinary" Iranians whom US political activists claim to support:

When All You Have is a Hammer, Every Iran Problem Looks Like a Nail

For most of the month of August, Congress will be on recess. Consider this the calm before the storm.

Most in Washington are aware that September will bring with it the biggest push for Iran sanctions in years. AIPAC has been lobbying for months on the Iran Refined Petroleum Sanctions Act (IRPSA), and on September 10 the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations will kick off a massive nationwide lobbying effort, which they compare to the "Save Darfur" movement. All of this will culminate at the end of the month when, conveniently enough, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrives in New York for the UN. General Assembly.

Yes, right around the time Ahmadinejad is at the podium in the UN, Congress is expected to impose what it calls "crippling sanctions" on Iran's economy. The plan is to blockade Iran's foreign supplies of gasoline, hoping that an increase in the price per gallon at the pump will cause the Iranian people to rise up and demand a halt to Iran's nuclear program.

But this plan has number of obvious flaws.

First, the Iranian people have already risen up against the government's hardline leadership. What we have witnessed in Iran for the last two months is unprecedented. To think that marginally higher gas prices will mean anything to a population willing to risk their lives for freedom and democracy is at once naïve and hubristic. According to Juan Cole, imposing broad sanctions on Iran will likely only destroy Iranian civil society and bolster the state's repressive apparatus--as it did in Iraq.

What's more, even if the Iranian people were to demand that the government halt its enrichment program--which they wouldn't, since the vast majority of Iranians support Iran's right to peaceful nuclear technology--does anyone think that the government will actually go along with it? Has Tehran been particularly responsive to the wishes of its citizens lately? No, in fact, that is what these people are fighting for each and every day: to have their voices heard.

Read more....



Saturday
Aug082009

The Latest from Iran (8 August): Regrouping

The Latest from Iran (7 August): The Opposition Bounces Back

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IRAN TRIALS

0800 GMT: Among the Defendants Today. Clotilde Reiss is a 23-year-old French national who was a politics student and assistant teacher at Isfahan University. She was detained on her return to France after five months in Iran.

0610 GMT: The Iranian Students News Agency is reporting on the resumption of the Tehran trial in the Revolutionary Court, with the prosecution promising "justice and fairness" and declaring that the defendants have been able to meet with their lawyers.

0605 GMT: Confirmation? The website www.hashemrafsanjani.ir says that the former President will lead Tehran prayers on Friday.

0600 GMT: Mowj-e-Sabz says that lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah has been moved out of solitary confinement in Evin Prison after more than three weeks in isolation.

0525 GMT: Press TV's website has been almost desperate to contain Mehdi Karroubi. A couple of weeks ago, they mis-reported one of  his call for "far-reaching party reforms" as a termination of protest against the result of the Presidential election. (In fact, Karroubi was pointing to possible long-term alliances with other opposition movements.)

Yesterday Press TV insisted that "Karroubi says he will accept the new circumstances and move on". The only problem for this interpretation is that the quotes offered indicate no such thing. Karroubi told  members of his party Etemade Melli, “We should not allow the new circumstances to dispirit us. Our political activities should continue according to plan and within a legal framework."

The insistence on "legal framework" is standard rhetoric for Karroubi, who wants to avoid any impression that he and the opposition are upholding rather than undermining the Republic. And his views on protest were confirmed in the statement, “We should continue to work hard no matter how difficult the circumstances have become.”

0520 GMT: The wife of Abdollah Momeni, spokesperson for the Iranian Alumni Association, reports that her husband, detained in Evin Prison since his arrest almost seven weeks ago, is now "unable to move or speak".

Fatemeh Adinevand, who visited her husband on Thursday, said:
My children did not even recognize [him]....He would have fallen down if his brother and I hadn't held him up. He couldn't walk even one step....Abdollah's voice was severely shaking, and he couldn't even talk. The children were traumatized to see him like that and only cried, constantly asking, 'What happened to Dad?'....The person who we saw today wasn't [him] at all; he was just skin and bones who had lost his mental and psychological stability.

0500 GMT: A quiet start to the day (indeed, one of the quietest 24 hours in Iran since the start of the post-election crisis), but there are two events of note.

The first is about to begin in Tehran, with the resumption of the trial for almost 100 detainees. The hearings, which started last Saturday, were supposed to reopen on Thursday but were delayed for reasons never explained.

After last weekend's "confession" of former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, it is hard to see what showpiece the prosecution will feature today. Nor is it yet clear how the regime's persistence in featuring these "ruffians", amidst accusations of abuse and torture, will affect its political fortunes.

Those fortunes are at stake in the second development. 

Salam News reports:
According to tradition, the prayers [in Tehran] of Friday, Mordad 23'rd  [14 August] will be led by Ayatollah Rafsanjani, the head of the Assembly of Experts, in the presence of a large number of people from many backgrounds and many officials....Hopefully in this coming week, the public and the officials will benefit again from Ayatollah Rafsanjani's wise and prudent words and apply his advice for resolving the current problems.... 

Some unofficial reports have indicated that pressures from certain hardline groups upon the committee responsible for Friday has led to the postponement of Ayatollah Rafsanjani's slated speech. However, according to the tradition  of many years, this week the position of the speaker of the Friday prayers belongs [our emphasis] to Ayatollah Rafsanjani. Only if Ayatollah Rafsanjani agrees shall a replacement be found for him.
Saturday
Aug082009

Iraq and Beyond: Oh, Blackwater, Keep on Killing?

PRINCEThe 2003 Iraq War may be yesterday's headline news, but the repercussions continue.
On Monday, the trial of Erik Prince,the former boss of Blackwater, the private security company that left its mark on Iraq with allegations of corruption, violence, and murder,
finallly began.

Accusations against Prince, made by two former employees, include manslaughter; the murder of employees co-operating with federal authorities; destruction and hiding of incriminating videos, e-mails, and documents from officials; authorisation of the use of mind-altering drugs and steroids; authorisation to use child prostitutes; smuggling of illegal weapons into Iraq on his private aircraft; permission to use illegal exploding bullets “to inflict maximum damage on Iraqis"; racketeering and tax evasion.

All these acts, according to the former employees, were underpinned Prince's imposition of a "crusade mentality" in which he encouraged Blackwater personnel to wipe out Muslims in Iraq, One of the affidavits states:
Prince views himself as a Christian crusader tasked with eliminating Muslims and the Islamic faith from the globe. Mr. Prince intentionally deployed to Iraq certain men who shared his vision of Christian supremacy, knowing and wanting these men to take every available opportunity to murder Iraqis. Mr. Prince operated his companies in a manner that encouraged and rewarded the destruction of Iraqi life. For example, Mr. Prince’s executives would openly speak about going over to Iraq to “lay Hajiis out on cardboard”. Going to Iraq to shoot and kill Iraqis was viewed as a sport or game.

The former employee continued, “It appears that Mr. Prince and his employees murdered or had murdered one or more persons who have provided information, or who were planning to provide information, to the federal authorities about the ongoing criminal conduct”.

The affidavits of two former employees are a part of an action started by lawyers representing 60 Iraqi civilians who are suing Blackwater for alleged crimes. Farid Walid, who was shot in Nisour Square two years ago during a massacre that killed 17 Iraqis in September 2007, told The Times of London: “Everybody here knows of cases where Blackwater guards shot innocent people without a second thought... They are a symbol of the occupation. Nobody will forget but Iraqis might think at least a little differently of America if the killers are put in prison.”

A statement from Blackwater responded: “It is obvious that plaintiffs have chosen to slander Mr. Prince rather than raise legal arguments or actual facts that will be considered by a court of law. We are happy to engage them there. We question the judgment of anyone who relies upon and [reiterates] anonymous declarations.”

The affidavits and motion can be found on the website of the Center for Constitutional Rights.