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Entries in Mehdi Karroubi (221)

Thursday
Aug042011

Iran Interview: Ahmadinejad on Mousavi and Karroubi "There are Prisons in Every Country"

Euronews has posted an extract from an interview with President Ahmadinejad on the fate of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, the possibility of a similar uprising in Iran, and the strict house arrests of opposition figures Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi:

Ahmadinejad: We should express our sadness that some leaders have such a bad relationship with their people that they end up at this point. I voice my disappointment over the global management which separates some governments from their people to the point that the people, for the sake of reaching a degree of freedom, have to ask for the trial of their leaders.

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Thursday
Aug042011

Iran Analysis: Thoughts on Resistance and the Green Movement (Salim/Nasiri)

In the end, it is important to note that every Iranian person is entitled to the inherent right of self-defense under international law. This right is clearly provided in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international instruments.

The uprising in Tunisia and Egypt teach us that one need not ask for permission from oppressors when fighting for fundamental transformations. It is rather the spontaneous and mass presence of civilians on the streets that can change the balance of power to the advantage of the population. These experiences also teach us that one should not direct oneself to the oppressors to guarantee fundamental rights. Instead, people should clearly recognize their strengths and potential, and pursue their struggle with self-confidence. Because where danger is, the power of salvation also grows.

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Thursday
Jul282011

The Latest from Iran (28 July): An Opposition Move on the Elections?

2045 GMT: Politics Watch. A move within the Iranian establishment today, as clerics and former Government officials have announced their "Islamic Constancy Front". Those involved include Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi, his clerical ally Morteza Agha-Tehrani, former Government spokesman Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, and former Minister of Interior Sadegh Mahsouli.

Mehr has no less than four stories emphasising the Front's declaration that it strengthens the unity of conservatives and principlists.

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Tuesday
Jul262011

The Latest from Iran (26 July): Ahmadinejad is a "Repair and Maintenance Project"

2000 GMT: Economy Watch. Despite US-led sanctions, foreign direct investment in Iran rose to a new record in 2010 of more than $3.6 billion dollars, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

UNCTAD's "World Investment Report" found that the foreign direct investment increased around 20% in 2010. FDI has soared from $1.6 billion in 200.

Global FDI flows grew 4.9% in 2010 to $1.24 trillion, but were 15% below the rate of $1.472 trillion before the 2008 financial crisis and nearly 37% below their peak in 2007 of $1.971 trillion.

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Monday
Jul252011

Iran Analysis: Is a Political Compromise with Reformists Possible? (Afshari)

President Ahmadinejad & former President KhatamiAccording to this scheme devised by the ruling regime, reformed reformers would be allowed to play a peripheral political role in the body politic. Through negotiations, media operations and repeated dispatch of messages, a fake and yet optimistic picture would be presented to reformers so that they would move to a position where the regime wants it to be: away from openly challenging the regime while remaining harmless.

In fact, the Iranian regime has a successful track record of pulling reformers and the left into the political electioneering field and then checkmating them.  This is what has repeatedly taken place from the election days for the second Assembly of Experts till today. The regime has lost this game only in two instances: elections that resulted in Khatami’s presidency (1997-2005) and those for the sixth Majlis (2000-2004).

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Thursday
Jul212011

Iran Special: Revisiting the Horrors of Kahrizak Prison --- The Guilty, the Victims, and Their Families

A Memorial to 3 Who Died at Kahrizak“Kahrizak” ---- Although familiar to locals, the word was only elevated to heights of infamy, in the most bitter, painful and tragic ways, in the disputed 2009 Presidential election.  The public --- both domestic and foreign --- learned about a place called Kahrizak Prison, a detention centre where those protesting the election results were subject to mistreatment, beatings, abuse, torture, and, in some cases, death.

Kahrizak is located on the south side of Shahr Ray, a small town south of Tehran.  Under a plan introduced in 2004, with the pretext of “collecting the gangs and thugs”, the Islamic Republic’s security forces began using Kahrizak as a holding place for  those arrested.  Shortly afterward, scores of journalists, human rights activists, and the Prisoners Rights Defense Committee (PRDC) began objecting to the mistreatment of the detaineds.  The journalist and human rights activist, Shiva Nazar Ahari, and PRDC member Mehdi Mahmoudian were among the activists raising public awareness about the dire conditions. 

But the efforts of Mahmoudian and other journalists and human rights activists fell short of drawing local or foreign attention to the real magnitude of the catastrophe.  Many of those protesting the 2009 election were transferred to Kahrizak where, according to eyewitnesses, they ended up in groups of 30-40 shoved inside containers with a maximum capacity of 10 people.  The detainees were kept in the worst possible physical and sanitary conditions, in the scorching summer heat, inside these containers.  They were repeatedly tortured.  Many of them, according to other prisoners and former officials, were raped.  

This is why the word Kahrizak is now intertwined with and reminiscent of several people’s names: from those in charge of this prison, to those beating and torturing the prisoners, to the whistleblowers of the place, and finally to the victims of the unspeakably brutal violence inflicted in the centre.

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Monday
Jul182011

Iran Feature: 43 Stories of Those Who Died After the 2009 Election (Alinejad)

Amir JavadifarA committee was appointed by [opposition figures Mir Hossein] Mousavi and [Mehdi] Karroubi during the early days of the protest marches. The committee's job was to collect statistical news and information about the victims of the aftermath.

The same committee released more than 70 names of victims who lost their lives during the protests. Security forces and judicial officials have not yet commented or cooperated on this issue.

On September 7, 2009, security forces arrested committee members in an office raid. All assets and documents were confiscated in the process.

Afterward, the state-run media and other publishing networks close to the government launched a campaign to deny the allegations.

Despite denials on the number of deaths, this report is based on my personal interviews written for Rah-e Sabz (Jaras) and some of my colleagues employed by or working for Kalemeh, Saham News, Rooz Online, the Iranian Teachers' Association, the Mourning Mothers website, Radio Farda, Voice of America (VOA), BBC, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, and the follow-up committee for the victims.

The interviews, some in-person, were conducted with the family members of 43 victims.

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Saturday
Jul162011

Iran Special: An Open Letter to the Authors of the "New Green Manifesto" (Lissnup)

What has always been missing is a clear understanding and definition of what the Green Movement is, and an accepted goal. The initial declaration of pluralism and the rejection of leadership in the classic or accepted sense created a dilemma: protecting individuals with actual authority, but leaving the movement vulnerable to manipulation by insinuation. The original unifying goal of reclaiming stolen votes has not been successfully replaced. All attempts to redefine the movement on an intellectual level – as being for reform, or for secular democracy, or regime overthrow, etc, have dissolved into disagreement. The good news is, it can be achieved, through careful planning, consultation, and constructive organisation.

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Wednesday
Jul132011

The Latest from Iran (13 July): The Opposition Re-Marks Its Ground

1700 GMT: Economy Watch. Ayande News reviews the increasing price of basics, from 350% for oil to 180% for food.

An EA source said today that, in some parts of Tehran, the price of sangak flatbread has risen from 100 tomans (less than 10 cents) to 1000 tomans (about 90 cents). He confirmed that both unemployment and inflation were rising sharply.

1655 GMT: Supreme Leader Brother's Watch. Seyed Hadi Khamenei, the reformist brother of Ayatollah Khamenei, has asked, "How do you expect us to participate in elections?" He said there had been thousands of hours of insults against reformists which had not been possible to answer.

1650 GMT: Supreme Leader Watch. Ali Saeedi, the representative of Ayatollah Khamenei to the Revolutionary Guards, has said that people can change government but not the system of velayat-e faqih (clerical supremacy) --- "If they choose what God wants, it's OK."

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Wednesday
Jul132011

Iran Document: Former President Khatami Pulls Back from 2012 Elections

We should not have participated in any elections since [the presidential election of] 2005. Unfortunately, this was our mistake. If this time the conditions are not right, we will definitely not participate. This is my own personal view, and we should make a collective decision after consultation.

How can we ignore the people's rights? Even if the families of all those who have been killed in these events [since the 2009 presidential election] come forward and say that they forgive those who spilled the blood of their children, how can we ignore the legitimate rights of the people?

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