Photos of the Decade: 2003

US-led bombing of Baghdad, March 2003 (Ramzi Haidar/AFP/Getty Images)

UPDATED Iran 18-Minute Video: Attack on Tehran University Dormitories (14/15 June 2009)

Previously unseen footage, taken by the attackers, of the assault on Tehran University halls of residence three days after the Presidential election and hours after the mass opposition rally:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F52wtg1BROk[/youtube]

Iran Special: Interpreting the Videos of the Tehran Dorm Attacks
The Latest from Iran (23 February): Sideshows and Main Events

BBC Persian Report

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGSn5Se3HHA[/youtube]

Iran Special: Interpreting the Videos of the Tehran Dorm Attacks

Mr Verde writes for EA:

For eight months now, there has been a steady stream of footage showing security forces beating up protesters. What sets apart the footage from the night of 24-25 Khordad 88 (14-15 June 09), shown by BBC Persian and disseminated by YouTube, is the cameraman. Almost all other videos have been taken by ordinary people on their cameraphones. (A few clips were taken by professional camera crews in the first days of the post-election protests in June, before they were expelled by the authorities.) This footage was taken by one of the attackers using a professional camera.

Latest Iran Video: The Attack on Tehran University Dormitories (14/15 June 2009)
The Latest from Iran (23 February): Sideshows and Main Events

Much of the amateur footage of the protests has shown security and intelligence agents filming the protestors. For the first time in eight months we are actually seeing one of these videos. In that sense, this is the first “official” footage confirming the brutality of the Islamic Republic’s security forces.


This footage confirms the allegations of extreme brutality by the security forces against the students on that night. It confirms the allegations that the police and plainclothes enforcers (referred to by Islamic Republic officials as “lebas shakhis”) work side-by-side. The attack was pre-planned and well-organized and carried out by uniformed police and these plainsclothesmen.

No one in the Islamic Republic accepts responsibility for the actions of the non-uniformed forces. Their actions are usually denied by officials or are attributed to unknown people (and sometimes blamed on foreign intelligence agencies). In the summer the Supreme Leader referred to the attack on the student dorms as crimes, but he added that the attacks were carried out by assailants who had not been identified (see video).

This video proves that either Khamenei, despite being the Supreme Leader, was not given the complete facts about the events or he was lying.

A few days ago, the Tehran Police Commander, Azizollah Rajabzadeh, was replaced. In his departing speech, he said that the police had not killed anyone in Tehran and that, after the elections, the police’s responsibilities and authority had been passed to the Seyyed-o-Shohada Command of the Revolutionary Guards, who are now in charge of Tehran. He was in effect defending himself and saying that the Guards were responsible for the violence against protesters.

The following day the commander the Seyyed-o-Shohada Command of the Revolutionary Guards was also replaced. Now this video was leaked to the press and public. Either this is an unauthorized leak, in which case the Islamic Republics security and intelligence services have serious problems, or this was officially sanctioned. If the latter, there could be different explanations:

* It could be an attempt to discredit the outgoing Tehran Police Commander and prove that the attack on the student dormitories was ordered by him (at one stage the cameraman is heard saying this). This could even set him up for prosecution.

* It could be an attempt to shift the blame for the post-election violence from the Revolutionary Guards into the police (at some points the plainclothes personnel, who could be assumed to be Ministry of Intelligence, Basij militia, or Guards operatives are seen asking the uniformed police not to beat the students).

* It could be an attempt to show that the police actions were coordinated with the Basij and the Guards (the Basij is now part of the Revolutionary Guards) and jointly carried out.

* It could be that someone from within the regime who is unhappy with the brutality has leaked the video, or it may have been leaked by someone or some group to gain political leverage within the establishment.

Whatever the motives behind the leak, the leaking of this video, the removal of two very senior security commanders of Tehran and the statement by the Tehran Police Commander may be an indication of problems behind the scenes. The past eight months have shown that there are serious rifts within the political leadership of the Islamic Republic, and these events may point to divisions within the security, military, and intelligence communities too.

Whatever the intention was for leaking this video, it has the effect of exposing the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic as either an uninformed figurehead or a liar. Neither of these two possibilities bode well for the regime.

The Latest from Iran (23 February): Videoing the Attacks

2145 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An activist reports that Layla Tavasoli and Mohamad Naeimpour of the Freedom Movement of Iran have been released from Evin Prison.

2130 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Another sign of the "conservative" push for changes within the system. The brother of former President Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani, has told Khabar Online that the Expediency Council will seek to remove "ambiguities" in Iran's election law. At the same time, Mohammad Rafsanjani denied that the Expediency Council will seek to remove the Guardian Council's monitoring of elections.

NEW Iran Special: Interpreting the Videos of the Tehran Dorm Attacks
NEW Iran Document: Karroubi Statement on 22 Bahman & The Way Forward (22 February)
UPDATED Iran 18-Minute Video: Attack on Tehran University Dormitories (14/15 June 2009)
New Jersey to Iran (and Back Again): The Activism of Mehdi Saharkhiz
The Latest from Iran (22 February): Karroubi’s Challenge

1840 GMT: WaPo'ed (definition: "declaring an opposition movement dead without evidence and with dubious motives). Just a quick note to folks at The Washington Post: in the past 72 hours, you have distorted a piece by your own Iran correspondent to portray the demise of the Green movement on 22 Bahman and you have run an Associated Press report which declares from thin air:


Opposition forces were left disillusioned Feb. 11 after police and hard-line militiamen snuffed out protest marches to coincide with the anniversary of Ayatollah Khomeini's 1979 revolution. Many opposition blogs and Web sites are increasingly questioning whether Mousavi or other pro-reform leaders have run their course.

Today you run not one but two opinion pieces which call for a "war of necessity" with Iran: Anne Applebaum's "Prepare for war with Iran -- in case Israel strikes" and Richard Cohen's pronouncement, "It may be time for Barack Obama, ever the soul of moderation, to borrow a tactic from Richard Nixon and fight crazy with crazy."

I do hope the poor editing/reporting and war whoops are unconnected, because there's the uncomfortable impression that you're trying to shove the opposition into the corner so you can have a bomb-bomb-bomb showdown with Tehran.

1835 GMT: Former President Mohammad Khatami has shown solidarity with a visit to Mehdi Karroubi's son Ali, who was taken away and beaten on 22 Bahman.

1830 GMT: The Tehran Dorm Attacks. We have a double special this evening with Mr Verde analysing the footage of the assault and with the full 18-minute video of the attack.

1750 GMT: Political Prisoner Update. Fereshteh Ghazi offers a useful round-up of news on detainees, "Constant Intimidation; Repeated Charges".

1745 GMT: A Clerical Voice Is Heard Once More. Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani has spoken up again about the abuses of the Government: “Power is a tool to defend people’s rights and, if rights cannot be defended based on that power, then that power will lose its legitimacy even if some would try to make up legitimacy for it.”

1740 GMT: Full-Court Press. As we predicted this morning, a big day for the regime's propagandists on the "foreign enemies" front: Press TV has another article on the capture of Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi, this time highlighting his "US-issued passport".

1735 GMT: Yah, Yah, Whatever. More spinning of rhetorical wheels in the uranium enrichment discussions. Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh, has submitted a letter that Iran is “still ready to purchase the fuel it needs for Tehran’s research reactor”. However, if buying is not an option, “Iran is ready to simultaneously exchange the fuel required for the Tehran research reactor with its low-enriched uranium within Iranian territory if the I.A.E.A. lacks the ability to fulfill its duties.”

In other words, Tehran has re-stated the position held since November, so no apparent breakthrough from the recent Turkish mission to Iran.

The Guardian of London has posted a copy of the letter.

1730 GMT: Karroubi Watch. Thanks to Khordaad 88, we've finally posted the English translation of Mehdi Karroubi's Monday statement on 22 Bahman and the way forward for the opposition.

1640 GMT: Going Off-Script (Economy Watch). But, in a break from regularly scheduled progaganda, Press TV has this surprise:

Iran needs to invest $24bn to $30bn per year in its oil industry to reach the 20-year goals of the country the Head of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) says....

[Seifollah] Jashnsaz stressed that Iran needs to attract more foreign investment to keep the oil industry alive. "If we do not make the necessary investment, the harm of the lack of timely investment in the oil industry will be irreversible to the country," he pointed out.

Iran faces an uphill effort to develop its oil and gas reserves because of credit concerns and issues stemming from sanctions backed by Western nations over its peaceful nuclear program.

1630 GMT: No Complications Here. Of course, for Press TV, there are no nuances in today's Rafsanjani statement (see 1335 GMT):

Head of Iran's Assembly of Experts Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani has criticized the head of the UN nuclear watchdog over his recent report on Iran's nuclear energy program.

Speaking at the opening of an Assembly of Experts meeting, Ayatollah Rafsanjani said the recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) repeated the previous US accusations against Iran....Ayatollah Rafsanjani said, “It seems all the Western countries were prepared for and informed about such a report, which they welcomed after its release.”

He further criticized the 'failed' US policies in the Middle East, including Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

1345 GMT: Before going on academic break, two important points from an EA source:

1. The BBC Persian video of the attacks on Tehran University's dormitories on 15 June is being seen inside Iran, and it is causing much comment and anger.

2. Jundullah Abdolmalek Rigi was captured last week by Iranian forces. Some believe that this morning's regime announcement of Rigi's detention is a reaction to divert attention from the BBC Persian video.

1335 GMT: Non-Surprise of the Day. So Hashemi Rafsanjani launches the two-day Assembly of Experts meeting with this not-very-provocative statement:

Our focal point is clear and that is the constitution, Islam, the principle of the office of the jurisprudent and supreme leadership. There are those who do not recognise these, but that is not the case with the majority of people in our society. It is very important for us to try to safeguard these.

OK, so that Rafsanjani's now-obligatory alignment with the legitimacy of the Supreme Leader. What will be significant is how he uses that to press for changes in the system. Here was a clue: acceptance of
responsibility by those who permitted or carried out post-election abuses:

The events that took place at Kahrizak [with the Supreme Leader's order to close the prison] and the consoling of those who were hurt in these events, or the release of those who were arrested, have been along this axis [of responsibility]. [The Leader] is vigilant that there should be no turmoil.

1330 GMT: Citizen Journalism Alert. It's a convenient coincidence, as we post our special feature on Iran and citizen journalists, that one of the most prominent activists on Twitter has used his/her 50,000th tweet to announce the launch of a new initiative, the Global Freedom Movement.

1200 GMT: Prediction Fulfilled (0645 GMT). Press TV plays out the propaganda line over the arrest of Jundullah leader Abdolmalek Rigi:

Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najar told reporters on Tuesday that Rigi was arrested outside the country as he was preparing for a new act of sabotage. He was consequently transferred to Iran.

In a news conference following Rigi's capture Tuesday, Iran's Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi shed light on certain details regarding Rigi's arrest as well as his links with foreign elements.

Moslehi said that Americans utilized an Afghan passport for Rigi, a declaration which adds to already existing evidence on Rigi's links with the US.

Moslehi said that Rigi had contacts with CIA and Mossad and had even met the NATO military chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Afghanistan in April 2008.

According to the minister, Rigi had also contacts with certain EU countries and traveled to them.

1055 GMT: Just before going on an academic break, we have posted a special feature, "In Praise of Citizen Journalists".

1050 GMT: No Comment Necessary. From Reuters:

"No power can harm Iran ... The Iranian nation will chop off the hands from the arm of any attacker from any part of the world," [Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech in eastern Khorasan-e Jonubi province.

0935 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Moussavi supporter Mohammad Estaki has been arrested in Isfahan. Journalist Kayvan Samimi has been moved back to solitary confinement in Evin Prison. Mohammadreza Razaghi of the Mousavi campaign and Asghar Khandan have been freed. Sara Tavassoli, daughter of the director of the Freedom Movement of Iran, has been released.

0933 GMT: "An Assembly with Eyes Wide Shut". Anticipating the start of the two-day meeting of the Assembly of Experts, Rah-e-Sabz has a lengthy analysis of the divisions between hardliners and moderates in the body.

0900 GMT: Karroubi v. Larijani Watch. Now to the serious news. The pro-Larijani Khabar Online takes Mehdi Karroubi's seriously enough to launch a full attack on it as "destroying the structures" (sakhtar-shekanane) of the Islamic Republic. Khabar then pretends that there's nothing significant at all, as Karroubi's declaration comes 11 days after the downfall of the Greens on 22 Bahman.

0855 GMT: Mars Attacks? It really is a banner day for headlines. The English service of Fars News contributes with "Sunni Scholars: Aliens Seeking to Sow Discord among Muslims".

0735 GMT: Later this morning, we're hoping to get out an analysis of the significance of social media and "citizen journalism" in this conflict. For now, just note (somewhat ironically, since the film was initially shot by the attackers) the impact of BBC Persian and YouTube footage --- shown in a separate EA entry --- of the assault on the Tehran University dormitories on 15 June. As with previous YouTube video, publicised by Twitter and Facebook, the anger over the video is likely to support the resurgence of opposition.

0730 GMT: Over-the-Top Headline of the Day (2). In The Huffington Post, "Iran Invites Israeli Bombers to Visit Its Nuclear Facilities".

0720 GMT: Full marks to Nazila Fathi of The New York Times (and to The Los Angeles Times yesterday) for valuable coverage of the Karroubi statement: "It was clear from Mr. Karroubi’s call for a referendum that he did not expect the government to take it seriously. But his ability even to make such a demand and spread the message over the Internet seemed calculated to frustrate the Iranian authorities."

0715 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has published a letter that it claims is from imprisoned student Seyed Zia Nabavi to the head of Iran's judiciary, Sadegh Larijani. Nabavi, jailed for 15 years, declares, "I have yet to see a document authorizing my arrest and stating the reason.”

The student was detained on 15 June, during the first mass marches after the election. His sentence claims he was conspiring against national security and associating with opposition group Mujahedin-e-Khalq.

0710 GMT: Over-the-Top Headline of the Day? The New Republic, featuring Abbas Milani's profile of Mir Hossein Mousavi: "Iran Finds Its Nelson Mandela".

0645 GMT: An interesting comparison emerges this morning in news from Iran. On the regime side, the headline is the announcement by the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence that the leader of the Baluch insurgent group Jundullah, Abdolmalek Rigi, has been captured in eastern Iran.

I suspect the news will be trumpeted loudly today. Jundullah's suicide bombing last October killed 42 people, including six Revolutionary Guard commanders, and shook up and distracted Iranian security forces. This turns around the political situation: Rigi's detention and the blow to Jundullah will be held up as a symbol of the regime's triumph over foreign-supported threats to the Islamic Republic.

On the opposition side, however, the news about Rigi will be irrelevant. Instead, Mehdi Karroubi's declaration yesterday turns another page in the post-22 Bahman rebuilding of the challenge to the Ahmadinejad Government. Following the two meetings between Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, which have promised significant news, i.e., a plan of action, for the Iranian people, Karroubi's call is doubly significant. It is immediately important because it offers a specific political focus in the demand for a referendum on the Guardian Council. Its wider importance, however, is that it indicates --- despite all the repressive measures and propaganda of the Government --- that the resistance is far from over.

The key here is that the two events don't match up. So while the Government puts out its victory message today, listen but also watch for any Green steps. There are dramatic and significanct sideshows, and then there are main events.

Iran Document: Karroubi Statement on 22 Bahman & The Way Forward (22 February)

From Khordaad 88:

I deeply appreciate the huge turnout on the rally for the 22nd of Bahman [11 February, the 1979 anniversary of the Islamic Revolution] despite all the security pressure and the restrained political atmosphere. The ceremonies this year were held at a time when all political factions, prominent figures, and Grand Ayatollahs had invited people to participate in the hopes of moving toward a resolution to the current crisis. Nevertheless, the brutal totalitarian forces are using state-run television, as well as official and unofficial media outlets to hijack the rallies, to present them as a show of their own supporters while unethically ignoring the brutalities and violence that occurred on the sidelines as well as the extreme security measures that were in place that day, thus offering an impression completely opposite to what had actually happened.


Those responsible for these brutalities want to use the rallies that would not have been possible without the widespread presence of the supporters of reformists and conservatives alike, to clear their record of [illegal] arrests, tortures, street killings and other crimes. They want to conceal their crimes, violence and cruelty with fallacies and misrepresentations.

This year, the police and armed forces had turned the streets of Tehran into a military base during the 22 Bahman rally. They severely attacked and silenced anyone who showed the slightest sign of nonconformity. Interestingly enough, not a single scene showing the presence of all those forces, their assaults with teargas, or their beatings was reflected in the domestic media! It seems as if their eyes were covered with a veil of [their] wrongdoings. How else could they think that they have succeeded in erasing the people’s collective memory and totally appropriating this national and religious ceremony for their own benefit, so they can continue “depriving people of their most essential rights”? This is notwithstanding the fact that were it not for the invitations of various political groups as well as the people’s [active] participation, 22 Bahman would have turned out to be an unenthusiastic rally of armed and paramilitary forces. Moreover, they would have had no opportunity for this political exploitation.

We all know that your participation in the 22 Bahman rally was not in support of the repressive policies that have taken so many political prisoners but a demonstration of your love of Iran, the Islamic Revolution, and Imam Khomeini. You good people of Iran did not attend the rally celebrating the anniversary of the Islamic Revolution to swear allegiance to those who beat people. My pious countrymen --- you know better than anyone that spilling the blood of the innocent is against your religion and your morals. Did [Imam] Ali (may peace be upon him) fill his prisons to strengthen his government? You, who have created martyrs, [cannot be] satisfied with the secrecy surrounding the crimes committed in Kahrizak, Sobhan Complex, and university dormitories, nor with the disrespect shown to senior religious figures. Your attendance on 22 Bahman is not [proof] of support for such villainy.

Regardless, those who have done their utmost to engineer the rally by utilizing hundreds of trains and buses to bring in supporters must explain why Azadi Square was so empty during the speech despite the use of so many resources and the engagement of police and armed forces. Is it possible to believe that intelligent people of Iran would not know the reason behind the presence of tens of thousands of police and armed forces? Do they think that people have been blind to the pressure being exerted by the police and plain-clothes officers who have used daggers, clubs, and pepper spray on the servants of Iran and the Islamic Republic to stop them from joining the crowd? Do they think that people have not noticed their fear and weakness?

Dear nation, your presence in the rallies of February 11 is beyond analysis unless it is looked at from the perspective of the dichotomy of the two currents organizing against one another. We have two political inclinations in our society. One is an inclination that is afraid of rights to gather in peaceful demonstrations, and rallies according to the Article 27 of the Constitution. It is this fear that motivates them to turn Tehran into a military base on the day of national rallies. This stream is the one that only tolerates its own supporters in rallies, and understands the nation as a set of groups who are advocates and supporters of its commands. It sees the rest of the people, even if the rest of the people constitute a majority, as "dirt and dust".

On the other side there is the other inclination which recognizes you regardless of your variety, colorful range of beliefs, and without favoring one gender, class, culture, or race. This is an inclination that calls people not only to attend the rallies in Azadi Square but also to sit together around the same table and share their freedom.

As such, based on the teachings of Imam Khomeini, I have two suggestions to take away the veil of ignorance that has blinded the sights of totalitarian currents. My first suggestion is that just like Imam Khomeini had asked: “The government should organize a meeting in Tehran in one of the big squares, and allow us to organize a meeting in the deserts close to Qom.” I want to ask for a permit to organize a rally based on the article 27 of the Constitution in one of the squares of Tehran so that we can see the minority and the majority.

We will provide security for the rally ourselves and guarantee that it will be conducted without any slogans directed at the regime. Once and for all, a demonstration free of threats and suppression to show the weight of each group in the society.

The second suggestion: while the authoritarian factions have turned the 22nd Bahman rally into a referendum to endorse their violent and anti-public policies , I propose a referendum based on the article 59 of the Constitution to solve this crisis and end the reign of the Guardian Council.

[The Council's] interfering with the rule of people in the name of supervision has even surpassed [their own definition]. It is these interventions that inhibit holding a free presidential election and forming an independent Guardian Council and parliament. In what sort of independent Parliament are members forced –--out of the fear of guardian council –-- to sign every statement against people who care for this country?

The record of the 10th Presidential election [of 2009] shows that only a referendum can free us from these difficulties. [Only] in presence of an independent Parliament will the principles related to interests of people and their fundamental rights such as freedom of press, fair trial and so on be observed. It is such a parliament, free from the rule of Guardian Council, that will clarify the weight of various political forces in the society not spending millions of dollars in government preparations and forcing a [pro-government ] atmosphere as we saw on 22 Bahman.