Iran Election Guide

Donate to EAWV





Or, click to learn more

Search

Sunday
Dec272009

Latest Iran Video: Attack on Jamaran Memorial/Khatami Speech (26 December)

Sunday
Dec272009

Iran Uncovered: The Top-Secret Obama-Ahmadinejad Relationship

After EA's super-spies hacked into President Ahmadinejad's G-mail account, we took our investigation a bit further. If you look carefully, you will see a message from President Barack Obama at 9.36 am, "Stop sending me this s***! We are not friends. It is not "LOL" yo..."

So what was Obama referring to? Our intrepid investigators trotted the globe, or at least checked out a couple of dubious Internet links, and reached back 15 years....

Iran Top-Secret: The President’s Gmail Account



Here is the picture from a Harvard University conference on civil and transport engineering in 1994. At that time, Obama was teaching constitutional law at Harvard while Ahmadinejad was a Visiting Scholar in Rhetoric and Global Ethics.

obama-ahmad

A friendship started at the canteen of the Harvard Law School but now apparently broken. No wonder, as our source from President Ahmadinejad's local fitness centre has confirmed, that Mahmoud has been working out his disappointment on the treadmill (apparently to the music of a Miss Miley Cyrus).

warninglabel2
Saturday
Dec262009

Latest Iran Video: Eve of Ashura Protests (26 December --- The Jamaran Videos)

Jamaran

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IprT-Tthwv0[/youtube]

Tehran

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__K33t5G4sY[/youtube]

Khatami's Entrance into Jamaran

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xnm9degwuLo[/youtube]

"Montazeri, Sane'i Are Real Clerics"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0U2qrkpTZ3E[/youtube]

Isfahan

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTsf-3eCtAw[/youtube]

Inside Hosseinieh, Jamaran

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YSmaaLOwi0&feature=youtu.be&a[/youtube]

Gunfire in Tehran Tonight

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfPEJDhv-Jk[/youtube]

Jamaran

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgFTOYUqi_8[/youtube]

Tehran, Vanak Square

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZ849WhQ9xk&feature=youtu.be&a[/youtube]

Tehran, Bahonar Square

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qvSxEQd27s[/youtube]

Jamaran, northern Tehran

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lch-QFntSiQ[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw3C2aJNo9M[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS5_hpzbW9Y[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/user/hamidnaser#p/u/0/XtYCA0EIlhY[/youtube]
Saturday
Dec262009

Enduring America's Coverage of Ashura (27 December)

MOHARRAM3We'll be LiveBlogging from about 0630 GMT (1000 Iran time) with all the developments of the day. We'll begin with an analysis considering the significance of Saturday's protests (in short, a huge boost for the opposition, but one which raises the stakes for Ashura even higher) and the possibilities for all the key actors --- the Supreme Leader, President Ahmadinejad, figures like Mir Hossein Mousavi, the senior clerics, and of course the Green Movement.

We look forward to spending the day with you tomorrow, benefitting from all your information and comments.
Saturday
Dec262009

The Latest from Iran (26 December): The Eve of Ashura Demonstrations

MOHARRAM22245 GMT: It's Going On Outside Tehran. Norooz reports that 20 people were arrested in demonstrations in Isfahan. Video is also out of tonight's protests in that city.

2220 GMT: Night Update. Not much new to report in last few hours. After the crowd for the Jamaran ceremony was prevented from attending the memorial and/or forcibly dispersed, there were further clashes with reported arrests and injuries in Niavaran.

Reports also came through of Ayatollah Dastgheib's speech in the Qoba Mosque in Shiraz, scheduled for 11 a.m. local time tomorrow.

1825 GMT: Tonight's Memorial. BBC Persian reports that the Jamaran ceremony and former President Khatami's speech was indeed interrupted by "government supporters" and turned violent before it was abandoned.


1725 GMT: We are checking out the latest stories around the disruption and cancellation of the Jamaran service, including the claim that plainclothes "thugs" invaded the gathering and halted the Khatami speech.

1705 GMT: Latest Rumours. Claims circulating that the memorial service, with former President Khatami's address, in Jamaran has now been cancelled.

1645 GMT: Peyke Iran is now carrying a report of the harassment and beating of the Mothers of Martyrs in Laleh Park this evening.

1630 GMT: Tonight's Events. Conflicting rumours are flying about the gathering for the memorial at Hosseinieh Jamaran. One report is that the Hosseinieh (religious institute) is packed, another is that the crowd (and former President Khatami) have been prevented from attending and are moving toward Qods Square.

There are also reports that the Mothers of Martyrs, whose children have been killed and detained, and supporters have been surrounded by security forces during their weekly protest in Laleh Park.

1620 GMT: Today's Protests. It has been a day of frustration for us, as a major failure from our host service kept us off-line until now.

Since our 1200 GMT update, the streets have been quieter with the notable except of this evening's events at Jamaran in north Tehran (see 1630 GMT), where former President Mohammad Khatami was to speak at a memorial for Grand Ayatollah Montazeri. Security is still tight, with agents reportedly searching personal items at some metro stations, checking cell phones and confiscating some of them. It is also reported that plainclothes security and Ansar Hezbollah wearing black clothing were present around Tehran University although no clashes were reported. We are checking out other stories of attacks on women and children and the arrest of passengers on a bus for shouting anti-Government slogans.

1200 GMT: Here is what we have been following:

The pattern this morning was of running clashes between demonstrators (how many? thousands? tens of thousands? Activists went as high as 50,000 in estimates) and security forces who tried to keep them from congregating. The most serious confrontation was at Imam Hossein Square, with reports of tear gas being used.

There were also reports of clashes near the Mosque of Shahmirzadiha, at Pol-e Choubi, in and around Ferdowsi Square, Enghelab Square and at Val-e Asr near Daneshjoo Park. Security forces tried to contain and divert protesters, who were moving in loudly-honking cars as well as on foot, by setting up one-way systems and closing bridges. A later report claimed that security forces had stormed the Iranian Students News Agency building in pursuit of protesters sheltering there.

Reported chants included, "This is the month of blood - Khamenei will be toppled", and "Tehran is Karbala Today!" (a reference to Imam Hossein's death at Karbala, which is commemorated by Ashura tomorrow). It has also been reported that Mohseni Square was renamed Rahnavard Square by protesters.

There are reports, mostly unconfirmed, of protests in Mashhad, Isfahan, Qom, Shiraz, and Najafabad

0645 GMT (1015 local time): Today is Tasua, the fast day before Ashura, when the death of Imam Hossein is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims. So far it is also a day of quiet and uncertainty: despite talk of the opposition turning out in advance of the mass demonstrations and memorials planned for tomorrow, little has come through on any gathering.

The rumblings continue, however. It is now reported that Hosseinieh Ershad will not hold any Ashura ceremonies. The religious institute is noted for its opposition to the Shah in the years before the 1979 Revolution, including the passionate speeches of Dr Ali Shariati, a hero of the movement. On Friday it was announced that the Khomeini mausoleum would also refrain from any commemoration of Ashura.

An EA reader notes an article by Navid Minayi on the “men in hejab” movement that is protesting the arrest and attempted humiliation of student activist Majid Tavakoli. Minayi compares the hejab to apartheid and criticises Nobel Prize laureate and women's rights activist Shirin Ebadi, who defended the veil in her open letter to students. Significantly Minayi's opinion appears in Rouydad News, an indication that the refomist movement is slowly opening up to social debates such as the wearing of the hejab. Mowj-e-Sabz, the prominent Green movement website which has relaunched with the vow to publish “different ideas”, is also considering the issue.
Page 1 ... 7 8 9 10 11 ... 49 Next 5 Entries »