The Latest from Iran (31 August): Unity? What Unity?

2005 GMT: Execution (Stoning) Watch. The Los Angeles Times, citing Human Rights Activists News Agency, reports that Iranian courts have handed down two more sentences of death by stoning for adultery. The verdict was issued on Saturday to Vali Janfeshani and Sariyeh Ebadi, convicted of having an extramarital affair.

The developments follows international protests over the death sentence given to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani for adultery. Ashtiani's execution by stoning has been suspended by Iranian authorities, although there has been no clemency over capital punishment.

1905 GMT: Economy Watch. Deutsche Welle offers an article on the growing economic influence of the Revolutionary Guard, "Iran's largest employer".

1855 GMT: Karroubi, Qods Day, and A Nervous Government. James Miller, at Dissected News, offers a concise overview of latest developments from the "siege" of the Karroubi house to the Government's stumbling propaganda ahead of Qods Day this Friday.

NEW Iran: Ahmadinejad's Trash Talk (Theodoulou)
NEW Iran Witness: Activist Mahboubeh Karami on Six Months in Detention
NEW Iran: The Latest on the Karroubi “Siege” and the Qods Day Rally
Iran: The Regime Feels the Pressure on Stoning
Iran Special: Political Prisoners, Election Fraud, & The Regime’s Backfiring Propaganda
Iran Breaking: Karroubi on Election Fraud; House Surrounded by Pro-Regime Crowd
The Latest from Iran (30 August): Khamenei Slaps Down Ahmadinejad

1640 GMT: MediaWatch. Arshama3's Blog has posted a useful list of websites for Iran news and analysis.

1635 GMT: The Protests Are Not Over (Says the Regime). Ali Fazli, commander of the Basij militia, has said that last year's fitna (sedition) is like fire under the ashes; "when we let it go loose, it will start again".

Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi explains: from 1991-2010 Iran's enemies have spent $17 billion to topple the regime through "soft war", with the money handed over by several foreign embassies in Iran, European parties, "Western" foreign ministries, US-connected Iranian organisations, and dozens of foundations.

(If you're in one of these locations, you could be in for some money from "US Bureaus", according to Moslehi: Baku in Azerbaijan, Frankfurt, London, Istanbul, and Dubai.)

1630 GMT: We have updated on the "siege" of Mehdi Karroubi's house by a pro-regime crowd with an interview with Karroubi's wife Fatemeh Karroubi.

1400 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. A bit of a twist with the arrest of Hamid Hassanzadeh, President of the Council of Ahwaz....

Hassanzadeh, whose home was raided and whose belongings and computer were seized, is not a Green or a reformist. He was the Ahwaz campaign manager for the conservative Mohsen Rezaei in the 2009 Presidential election.

1330 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kurdish detainee Rahim Rashi has ended his hunger strike after 43 days.

1320 GMT: Parliament v. President (cont. --- see 1310 GMT). From the reformist wing, Qodratollah Alikhani has said, that as the government refuses to allocate funds for the Tehran Metro, it also obstructs other laws, as workers go without pay. Alikhani also criticised Minister of Science Kamran Daneshjoo for his statement warning of "flattening" universities that do not adhere to Islam.

Dariush Ghanbari said he was concerned about new restrictions on the press, suggesting that the Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance should be summoned to Majlis. Ghanbari made the sharp comment that the dispute over the Family Protection Bill, now sent back to committee, obscured critical issues such as control of inflation and unemployment and stimulation of economic growth.

Meanwhile, MP Mohammad Khoshchehreh has made a conciliatory statement by claiming that the common base of conservatives and reformers is revolutionary principles and anti-imperialism, and any movement to overcome divisions is important.

Which gives us the excuse to publish this not-so-conciliatory photograph of another MP, Mehdi Kouchakzadeh, and Ali Larijani (hat tip Tehran Bureau from Mehr):



1310 GMT: Parliament v. President. Almost two weeks since the Supreme Leader's intervention, let's see how the call for unity is faring....

The President's spokesman Ali Akbar Javanfekr has accused the Majlis of "misunderstanding laws" and "making laws against Constitution", leading to dictatorial behaviour.

On the other side, key member of Parliament (and ally of Speaker Ali Larijani) has denounced Ahmadinejad's "rowdy" statements. Another member of the critical bloc, Ali Motahari, says the government is fleeing from laws and has established a "half-suffocating" situation: "Ahmadinejad refusing to implement laws is a sign of dictatorship."

Expediency Council member Dorri Najafabadi insists that laws approved by the Council are laws of the Islamic Republic and complains that Ahmadinejad is "not too friendly". Fellow Council member Mohammad Hashemi declares that the government is not the interpreter but executor of laws.

Leading conservative Morteza Nabavi has repeated his criticism that the President has been absent from Expediency Council meetings, saying the Supreme Leader expects Ahmadinejad to attend.

And in an intriguing statement, Habibollah Asgarowladi, leader of the Islamic Coalition Party, says that a principlism with former President Hashemi Rafsanjani on one side and Ahmadinejad on the other is "not desirable".

1240 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Heidi Hautala, the head of the European Parliament's Human Rights Commission, has called for the immediate release of activist Shiva Nazar Ahari.

Ahari has been detained since July 2009. She is due in court on 4 September, reportedly to face charges that include "mohareb" (war against God), which carries the death penalty.

Intellectuals, academics, activists, and family members have issued a statement calling for the freeing of Azeri political prisoners.

1110 GMT: The Battle Within. Monavar Khalaj of the Financial Times is on the case with "Iran's Warring Factions Reignite Tensions": "Iran’s radical and conservative fundamentalists have ignored the orders of the regime’s supreme leader and begun exchanging recriminations once again."

1105 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The court hearing for Emad Bahovar, a member of the reformist Freedom Movement of Iran and of Research Supporting Khatami and Mousavi, has been postponed again.

Bahovar has been detained since March.

1100 GMT: All the President's Men. Of Iran's 290 members of Parliament, 216 have signed a statement supporting the suspension of Presidential aide and former Tehran Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi, ordered by the judiciary because of Mortazavi's alleged complicity in the post-election abuses at Kahrizsak, and hoped for a quick end to the case.

1034 GMT: The Supreme Leader Slaps Down Ahmadinejad. The website of Ayatollah Khamenei has published the English summary of his Monday meeting with the President and the Cabinet, including the rebuke of Ahmadinejad for carrying out a parallel foreign policy.

However, Khamenei has offered public support for the Government subsidy reduction plan.

1030 GMT: Execution (Ashtiani) Watch. The members of Parliament of Portugal's ruling party have joined the call for clemency for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery.

1015 GMT: It's All About Me. I would not dare to call the President's Chief of Staff, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, self-centered; however, for the record, here is the banner from his personal website:



1010 GMT: Endorsing the Supreme Leader's Slapdown of the President. The Iranian Foreign Ministry, given cover by Ayatollah Khamenei's criticism of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday, has said that it is essential to avoid "parallel work" in foreign policy.

Last week Ahmadinejad appointed four special representatives for international affairs.

1000 GMT: We have posted a separate feature, written by Michael Theodoulou, on the language being used by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Iranian media about internal and international disputes, "Ahmadinejad's Trash Talk".

Already there have been further developments. The Iranian Foreign Ministry has said that it does not agree with insulting another country's officials and specifically denounced the description, offered by Keyhan, of French President Nicolas Sarkozy's wife Carla Bruni as a "prostitute".

Keyhan, however, does not seem to be listening. Today it wrote, "Studying Carla Bruni's record clearly shows the reason why this immoral woman is backing an Iranian woman who has been condemned to
death for committing adultery and being accomplice in her husband's murder and, in fact, she herself deserves to die."

Bruni had spoken out for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the Iranian woman sentenced to death for adultery.

0850 GMT: We have posted an interview with women's right activist Mahboubeh Karami, freed on bail this month but facing a four-month prison sentence, about her six months in detention.

0710 GMT: Shutting Down Information. A reader's comment to Tehran Bureau says that the site is now blocked in Iran.

0700 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Reports say Arjang Davoudi, on Day 49 of his hunger strike, is in a coma. Davoudi, a poet and teacher, is detained in Gohardasht Prison.

The detention order for blogger Hossein Ronaghi (Babak Khoramdin), who has been imprisoned for 10 months, has been extended for another month. He is reportedly being held in solitary confinement.

0655 GMT: Execution Watch. For days now, we have followed stories on the Internet that hundreds of prisoners have been put to death in Mashhad. Rah-e-Sabz is now posting the claim.

0650 GMT: In a separate entry, we post the latest on the "siege" of Mehdi Karroubi's house and, via a Deutsche Welle interview with his son Hossein, his declaration that he will not be prevented from rallying on Qods Day this Friday.

0600 GMT: A busy, tense, and dramatic Monday --- from the surrounding of Mehdi Karroubi's house by a pro-regime crowd to the Supreme Leader's slap-down of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to uncertainty in the Iranian establishment over its image on the stoning issue --- and today offers the prospect of more.

Khamanei Slaps Down the President on Foreign Policy

Very cute (and telling?) approach by Press TV to the Supreme Leader's criticism of Ahmadinejad in a meeting with the President and the Cabinet's. The website does note, from Khamenei's official website, the Leader's statement that "Iran's Foreign Ministry is in charge of leading all matters related to the country's foreign policies and affairs".

What Press can't bring itself to say is the rest of the Supreme Leader's rebuke, where he denounced "parallel" structures for foreign policy. That, of course, refers to Ahmadinejad's appointment last week of four special representatives for international affairs.

Indeed, the Press headline is all happiness: "Leader praises Govt. 'Diplomatic Spirit"

Iran: Ahmadinejad's Trash Talk (Theodoulou)

Michael Theodoulou writes for The National:

Within the space of a few weeks, Mohammad Reza Rahimi, an Iranian vice president, opined that the British were “inhuman” idiots saddled with a dunce of a prime minister, and the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, scoffed that the Americans should “pour water where it burns”, a vulgar Iranian expression that refers to people who are so angry that their buttocks catch fire.

A hardline Iranian newspaper joined the fray by branding Carla Bruni, France’s first lady, a “prostitute”.

It is nothing new for the Iranian regime to lambast the West in robust terms. But these various diatribes raised eyebrows at home and abroad because crudity rarely features in Iran’s political discourse.

Analysts say that while Mr Ahmadinejad’s earthy rhetoric against the West upsets educated Iranians and reformists, it is a populist attempt to appeal to his working-class supporters as a man of the people possessing a common touch.

“The language used by Ahmadinejad may not be deemed proper for the president of a country, but it brings him closer to his base, who find him affable and to be one of them,” said Farideh Farhi, an Iran expert at the University of Hawaii.

Mr Ahmadinejad’s invective against the United States is also an attempt to deflect attention from bitter political in-fighting between Iran’s conservatives and does not mean he is slamming the door on nuclear talks, other analysts say.

“Despite his tough language against Washington, Ahmadinejad is on the record as supporting unconditional talks with the five-plus-one powers on the nuclear issue,” Scott Lucas, an Iran specialist at Birmingham University in England, said in an interview.

The P5+1 is shorthand for the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France – plus Germany.

The vicious slur against Ms Bruni, the wife of the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, came last week in Kayhan, an influential ultra-hardline daily close to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who appointed its managing editor.

Kayhan targeted the “infamous” Ms Bruni after she penned a passionate open letter of support to Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, the 43-year-old Iranian mother of two sentenced to death by stoning for alleged adultery.

Read full article....

Iran Witness: Activist Mahboubeh Karami on Six Months in Detention

Women's rights activist Mahboubeh Karami was arrested on 2 March after security forces. She was freed this month on bail of $500,000, but still faces a four-year prison sentence. Interview by Change for Equality:

What happened on March 2, 2010?

On that night I was at my home along with my father and brother. Around 11 pm someone rang the door bell. When my brother answered, the person behind the door explained that he was a technician from the electric company and asked him to open the door. My brother went to the front yard, and I could see from the window that three men approached him and showed him a piece of paper. They entered our home along with my brother. As soon as they entered our home one of them began to search the premises. Another asked to see my computer.

What was on the piece of paper they showed your brother?

It was a summons giving them the right to search the premises, to seize my personal property, such as books and papers and my computer and to arrest me. But these security officials did not only search my personal property, they searched the entire house, including my brothers belongings.

After your arrest, where were you taken?

They asked that I go with them. In response to my brother’s repeated inquiries about why I was being arrested, they kept saying that it’s not an important issue and they only want to question me. But these three men who had come to my house in the middle of the night intended to arrest me. The fact that they were three men and there was no woman with them was worrisome for both myself and my family.

They took me to the car and gave me a blindfold and pushed my head down to the ground and in the end they took me to Evin Prison to Ward 2. Of course, at first I didn’t realize that this was Ward 2, which is managed by the Revolutionary Guards. Anyhow, I was taken to solitary confinement. The following day, my interrogations began.

Prior to the start of the interrogations, did they explain to you why you had been arrested?

Unfortunately no one explained anything to me. The first time they took me to the interrogation room, I noticed that the walls were mirrored. Later I found out that they referred to that room as the mirrored interrogation room.

The female prison guard who had taken me to that room left me there and I sat on the chair in the room. After a few minutes, a man entered the room abruptly while yelling and screaming at me. He was very violent and from the minute he entered the room, he yelled “GET UP! Who has allowed you to sit?” I got up, but he continued his constant shouting “Stand up straight! Don’t lean on the wall!” He was cursing. I became very anxious and nervous. He kept yelling, “Tell me the password to your e-mail!” and he continued cursing at me. Finally I realized that the reason for my arrest was my association with the “Human Rights Activists Group” because all his questions were related to this.

You said that the room they took you to was the mirrored interrogation room. Why did they call it the mirrored room?

The walls were covered in mirrors. Later I found out that when they left me alone in the room and even when I was being interrogated, there were people behind the mirrors watching.

What happened next?

After the first interrogation, another interrogator was sent. He tried to have a more pleasant approach. I was interrogated on an almost daily basis and remained in solitary confinement. This continued for several weeks. I was under a great deal of pressure emotionally.

One day, I asked the prison guard to bring me my scarf. I explained that the blanket they had given me had a lot of hairs on it and that I wanted to use my scarf as a sheet between my body and the blanket. She brought me the scarf. I tied the scarf around my neck tightly. I was tired and extremely weak. I was crying constantly and my emotional state was extremely poor. I pulled on the knot of the scarf so tightly that eventually I passed out. When I came to, there were two guards standing over me, and they were rubbing my neck. After that they took me to the interrogation room again. The first interrogator came to the room and began explaining that all that was happening to me was actually my own fault and a result of my own wrongdoing.

Despite having attempted suicide in prison, they didn’t take you to a doctor?

They took me to the prison infirmary and there they didn’t do anything in particular for me. More than anything, I needed a psychologist or psychiatrist or a therapist, not a general doctor.

Were you provided phone privileges during your imprisonment?

Yes. Almost every other day I was allowed to call my brother or my aunt, who has been very worried about me since the passing of my mother.

How long were you in Ward 2 of Evin managed by the Revolutionary Guards?

Approximately 80 days. Of course during this time, I was transferred also to solitary confinement in the women’s ward. I would be taken from there to Ward 2 for my interrogations.

Last March (2009), you were also in prison during the Iranian New Year’s holidays, is that true?

Yes . Last March, I was in prison and arrested for no reason. My mother was extremely sick with cancer and I missed out on being with her during her final days. This year for the New Years, despite all their promises, they did not allow me to attend the memorial services for my mother. They didn’t even give me the clothes my family had delivered to the prison in the hopes that I would be allowed to take part in her memorial service on the anniversary of her passing.

Where did they send you after Ward 2?

After 80 days I was transferred to the quarantine section of the female ward. I spent another 18 days in solitary confinement there and did not have the right to make any phone calls. My lack of communication worried my family greatly. After that they transferred me to the public women’s ward. I spent all my days in the public ward in one room along with 25 other prisoners. We were in a room that is called the political prisoner’s room.

Did you feel better after going to the public ward?

Naturally, I felt much better than when I was in solitary confinement. But I had become very weak and extremely depressed. I was crying constantly.

Did you receive any medical care during this time?

After I submitted a written request I was taken to the medical examiner, who determined that I was suffering from depression. Of course he has also determined that my emotional state and my depression would not prevent me from serving any prison sentence that may be handed down in my case. Except for this, no other action was taken to provide me with treatment in prison.

During your imprisonment, there were news reports that you had to go for a nose operation in Taleqani hospital, but you did not agree to the operation. Can you explain about this?

I have had problems with my breathing since I was a child. For this reason I am a difficult sleeper. In prison I made a lot of noise while sleeping as well. Sometimes I would snore, but at times I would scream while sleeping. My screaming was so bad that my cell mates had to wake me up. They took me to the hospital for this reason and the doctor suggested that I have an operation which would allow me to breathe more easily. I did not agree to the operation because prison conditions are not suited for a recuperation after operation. Also, my problems were much more serious than just breathing difficulties.

During this time, your court date has been changed on two occasions. Can you explain about that?

My first court date was scheduled for the 29th of June, but was postponed because on that day most court officials were on holiday and there was no one present to respond to our inquiries either. The second time, the judge was not present in his chambers and as such the date of my hearing was postponed again.

What were the charges brought against you in court?

I was charged with holding a position of responsibility in an illegal organization (the human rights activists group), accepting responsibility of the women’s committee in this group with the intent of disrupting national security, spreading of propaganda against the state, collusion, and gathering with the intent to commit a crime against national security and the publication of lies.

Did the court find you guilty of all the charges against you?

I was acquitted on the charge of spreading lies but was found guilty on all other charges. I was sentenced to two years for membership in the human rights organization and two years for collusion and gathering and spreading of propaganda against the state. In total I received a four-year mandatory prison sentence.

So, you have been sentenced to four years. What will you do next?

I will appeal the ruling. Currently because of my poor emotional state and on doctor’s orders I will have to be hospitalised. [It was reported yesterday that Karami is now in hospital.] But my lawyers will appeal the ruling in the time frame allotted by the courts. I do not accept any of the charges brought against me and have denied them.

Israel: A Rabbi's War on Palestinians (Yenidunya)

Last week, the leader of Israel's Shas ultra-orthodox religious party reiterated his position that there should be no extension of moratorium on settlement construction when it ends on 26 September.

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's provocative words fell like a bombshell on Sunday. Army Radio reported that Yosef calling for Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas to "perish from this world". Yosef said Palestinians were "evil, bitter enemies of Israel":

Gaza Latest: Cairo Intercepts Missiles, Mossad’s Flotilla Testimony, and Hamas on Direct Talks

God should strike them with a plague, them and these Palestinians. It is forbidden to be merciful to them. You must send missiles to them and annihilate them. They are evil and damnable.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denounced Yosef's remarks and claimed these statements advocated genocide of Palestinians. Erekat criticised West Jerusalem's silence:

Is this how the Israeli government prepares its public for a peace agreement? It is an insult to all our efforts to advance the negotiations process.

On the same day, U.S. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley commented:

We regret and condemn the inflammatory statements by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. These remarks are not only deeply offensive, but incitement such as this hurts the cause of peace.

As we move forward to relaunch peace negotiations, it is important that actions by people on all sides help to advance our effort, not hinder it.

China Economy Weekly: Southeast Asia’s Robust Trade; High-Speed Railways; China Becomes Hydro Superpower

China-ASEAN Trade Rises:  Trade value between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) rose 49.6% year-on-year in the first seven months to $161 billion, with ASEAN enjoying a surplus of $7.54 billion.

High-speed Railways in South China to:  China will complete 5,000 kilometers of high-speed railways in the mainland's southern region by 2012 to accelerate ieconomic integration with Hong Kong and Macao.

The railways, to be laid in the sprawling pan-Pearl Delta region of eight provinces and an autonomous region of the mainland, will account for nearly 40& of the country' total in the next three years.

Chinese Coal Mines:  The Chinese Government has stressed the need for the country's coal mine enterprises to continue with mergers and acquisitions for the healthy development of the industry.

The statement was issued following an executive meeting of China's State Council, chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao.

The government will also introduce preferential measures on finance and taxation to support the upgrade of safety technologies of the merged enterprises, and it said it will protect workers and investors' rights by law during the merger and acquisition process.

Government Expenditure up 134%:  China's government expenditure surged 134.3% in the first seven months of 2010 as compensation for land purchases grew rapidly.

From January to July, the spending was 1.32 trillion yuan ($194 billion). Total revenue reached 1.8 trillion yuan, up 146%.

Chinese Economy to Stabilise?:  The Chinese economy will start to stabilise in the fourth quarter after the recent marked slowdown due to government measures, but it might face risks next year as external demand weakens, Ben Simpfendorfer, chief China economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has.

China's purchasing managers' index (PMI), a leading indicator of economic health, has fallen for two consecutive months to 51.2% in July, barely above the expansive baseline of 50%.

State Enterprises to Hire Overseas Managers:  More than a dozen State-owned enterprises will hire new managers by the end of the year after a worldwide recruitment campaign, the States Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) announced.

Four general managers and eight assistant managers will join during the eighth and largest global hiring programme.

The new hires are part of the nation's "1,000-talent" initiative offering high salaries and attractive funding to overseas employees who want to work in China.

China Becomes Hydro Superpower:  As all generating units began running at Xiaowan Hydropower Station in the southwestern Yunnan province, China's capacity became the world's largest.

The new 700,000 kilowatt-unit at Xiaowan sent China's installed hydropower capacity just above 200 million kilowatts and marked the completion of the 4.2 million-kilowatt project, China's second-largest hydropower plant after the Three Gorges.

With a total investment of 40 billion yuan ($5.86 billion), Xiaowan can produce 19 billion kWh of electricity every year.