The Latest from Iran (28 June): Remembering 7 Tir?

1835 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. In a decree issued on Monday,the Supreme Leader gave amnesty to 708 prisoners,based on the recommendations of the Iranian judiciary. No indication that any of those whose sentences were commuted were political prisoners.

1800 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Finally, information arrives of French oil company Total's cessation of supplies to Iran (see 1020 GMT). "I can confirm that we have suspended [gasoline] sales to Iran," said spokesman Paul Floren.

1745 GMT: Loss of Expertise in State Department? Laura Rozen reports that John Limbert, the first ever Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Iran Affairs, is leaving his post in July.

NEW Thinking Human Rights: Citizens, Technology, and the “Right to Protect” (Mazzucelli)
Shanghai Power Politics: China Shuts Out Iran (Shan Shan)
The Latest from Iran (27 June): Grumbles

Limbert was distinctive in the Department because he was a fluent Persian speaker and held a Ph.D. in History and Middle Eastern Studies. He was one of 52 Americans held in the takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1979-81.

Limbert is saying that he is stepping down because he has only a one-year leave of absence from his academic job at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.

1435 GMT: Karroubi's 7 Tir Moment. Meeting families of those killed in the 1981 bombing, Mehdi Karroubi dec;ared, “Recent events and the attacks on the members of the Parliament and other senior and prominent political figures prove that those who are in power today are after eliminating and isolating the figures and revolutionary fellows. [They are after] not only a certain political party but even the independent individuals from the country and the scene of the Revolution."

Karroubi added, "Unity will never be achieved by words and slogans. Unity will never be achieved by applying pressure and force, arrests, long detentions, insults and disrespect of senior religious figures, intimidation and threats, unjust disqualifications, shutting down the press, preventing the activities of political parties, and using these kinds of ridiculous methods. Unity will not be achieved by calling the great nation of Iran 'dust and dirt'."

Karroubi concluded, "Comforting the families of victims, release of political prisoners, identifying and firm and legal confrontation with those who use violence against the people, lifting the ban on media and legal activities of the political parties, freedom of speech, tolerance and listening to the opposition as long as they don’t use weapons, and the return to the principles of the Constitution and the high values of Imam [Khomeini] and the Revolution can be the essential steps toward establishing unity in the society.”

1430 GMT: Larijani the Nationalist. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani may be feuding with the President, but he is also trying to match Ahmadinejad phrase-for-phrase for Iranian defiance of the West. He has used a speech to a crowd in western Iran to address "the West": "You will have to bury your wish for shutting Iran's nuclear activities. The era that you could change conditions in Iran has ended. Today the (Iranian) people protect their national achievements and lay emphasis on them."

1325 GMT: The Universities Row. Rooz is claiming that, at the first meeting of Azad University trustees since the Parliament v. President argument over control, Ahmadinejad's appointed representatives were not allowed into the meeting. And Mir Hossein Mousavi was an invited guest.

Javan Online, linked to the Revolutionary Guard, is claiming that Rafsanjani and Mousavi have met to plot over the issue.

1310 GMT: Ahmadinejad "We Will, We Will Punish You". Unsurprising news of the day --- the President has chosen on 7 Tir to devote his attention to foreign challenges.

In an announcement which will no doubt bring much gnashing of teeth in Washington (or not), President Ahmadinejad told a news conference that Iran was prepared to return to uranium enrichment talks but only by late August, during the second half of the Muslim festival of Ramadan.

"It's a punishment to teach them a lesson to know how to have a dialogue with nations," he said. And he added the chest-pumping frosting on the cake with a warning to any power thinking of inspecting Iranian ships: "If they make the slightest mistake we will definitely retaliate."

Ahmadinejad's most notable reference to the internal situation was to claim, in the face of tougher US and UN sanctions, "If we decide today, we can halve our gasoline consumption overnight without damaging our economic growth."

1150 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. RAHANA reports that heavy prison sentences have been handed down to four student activists in Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign.

1040 GMT: And Now Khamenei.... The supposed highlight from today's statement by the Supreme Leader: "One of the big dangers is that political propaganda by various parties, newspapers, and foreign media will affect the right channel of judgment and legal proceedings."

1030 GMT: Posing for 7 Tir. Ahh, here we go. "Hundreds" of Iranians have gathered outside the French Embassy in Tehran in response to a demonstration in Paris last week by the National Council of Resistance of Iran.

The NCRI is the overseas political committee for the People's Mohajedin Organization of Iran and the "terrorist" Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO). The MKO carried out the bombing on 7 Tir (28 June) in 1981 that killed 73 leading officials of the Islamic Republic.

1020 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. A spokesman for Spain's largest oil company Repsol has confirmed that it is withdrawing from a contract to develop part of the South Pars gas field in Iran. Repsol's partner, Royal Dutch Shell, has declined to confirm whether it is withdrawing, although a spokesman said it will comply with any international trade restrictions.

(This is all window-dressing. Repsol and Shell suspended plans months ago, and Iran has already moved to give the projects to Iranian companies, including firms connected with the Revolutionary Guard.)

Britain's Financial Times is also putting out a report that France's Total is halting gasoline/petrol sales to Iran but, curiously, has no source for the claim.

0854 GMT: In Case You're Wondering. Why have I not been posting updates on the on-again, off-again, maybe-someday statements about an Iranian aid flotilla to Gaza? Well, because I never thought this was an initiative likely to come off, amidst the politics of Tehran and other countries.

For those keeping score, the latest report is that the Iranian Red Crescent has cancelled the sailing of a ship, blaming Egypt as well as Israel for preventing passage.

0850 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch (cont.). More on Hashemi Rafsanjani's statement for 7 Tir (see 0720 GMT). ...

The pro-reformist Radio Zamaneh publishes extracts and has no doubt that Rafsanjani is aiming at those in power: “The enemies have diversified and enemies disguised as friends have infiltrated our ranks....Divisiveness is called honesty, insult is called candour, lies are called tact, slander is called boldness and slogans are called insight.”

0745 GMT: The Regime and 7 Tir (So Far). There are no significant headlines in Fars News marking the 1981 bombing, and the Islamic Republic News Agency's reference is defensive, to say the least: a "member of the Assembly of Experts" says that the memory of Ayatollah Beheshti, slain on 7 Tir, does not belong to any one group.

0730 GMT: Economy Watch. Iranian state media are headlining the opening of a new phase of a major steel complex in Natanz, with President Ahmadinejad attending the ceremony.

Not-so-happy news, carried by Iranian Labor News Agency, is that malnutrition amongst children has risen 3 percent during the Ahmadinejad Government.

0725 GMT: Larijani Watch. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, continuing his manoeuvres against President Ahmadinejad, has asserted that "the independence of judiciary"" has not yet been seen.

Larijani's brother Sadegh is the head of the judiciary.

0720 GMT: Rafsanjani's Statement. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani has said, in a meeting with the families of the martyrs of the 1981 bombing, that today anyone who causes division among the people --- even if it claim good intentions --- is making a great and strategic mistake: “Today in a situation that we need unity more than before some visible and invisible hands are playing the division drum.”

As always, those who cause division are not specifically identified by Rafsanjani; however, he did give an important signal by strongly condemning the attacks against senior clerics and the family of the late Ayatollah Khomeini by pro-government groups.

0700 GMT: Today is the 29th anniversary of the bombing in Tehran that killed 73 leading officials of the young Islamic Republic, including the head of judiciary, Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.

We'll be having a look to see how the day is commemorated, but early signs are that it will be accompanied, if not overshadowed, by the tensions within the current Republic. The Beheshti family, in a pointed protest, have already cancelled a memorial ceremony, and reformist groups and opposition groups have pointed to 7 Tir as a reminder of the betrayals of the Government. As the family of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri declare today, "It is not the Revolution that eats its children, but rather the opportunists that were opposed to the Revolution in the past, who change colour and destroy the children of the Revolution.”

Meanwhile....

Comments

[Catherine]

Kurt,
You've taken the words right out of my mouth. It's a shame Limbert's leaving, but I don't get the impression the Obama admin/State Dept. made that much use of his expertise in the first place!

[Catherine]

Arshama,
Are the Moulavi Hall and Rudaki the same place? We visited the former Rudaki Hall in 2008 because my husband once worked there when the Nederlands Dans Theater toured in Tehran back in 1978. We even located the sound engineer he worked with! But in 2009 we visited another very different theatre, circular in shape and located in a large park with long rectangular pools of water that spray jets of water. I thought the latter was the Moulavi Hall.

Anyway here's more info:
Director cancels play’s run over Molavi Hall management change
TEHRAN -- Iranian stage director Nasser Hosseinimehr has withdrawn his play from the schedule of the Molavi Hall in protest over the new official changes that occurred at the theater last week.
http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=222205" rel="nofollow">http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=...

[SmileIran.Com]

Arshama, which Iranians have you spoken to that WELCOME sanctions? Most Iranians I met in a day to day business are unhappy about it and no one I have ever spoken to goes, "hurray! sanctions!"

[Ange-Paris]

SmileIran
All the iranians ! sanctions are nothing compare to putting up with that regime because they know that those sanctions will kneel down the leaders of Iran ; look at VOA and you will see; they were boosted, after the resolution of UN, coming out on their rooftops chanting Allah Akbar; now they know that all the world is with them especially Obama ( ya ba ouna ya ba ma ); we have to smile ! smileIran :-)

[Ange-Paris]

SmileIran
And certainly you have not to blame the West; all the sanctions are because of the mismanagement of short-sighted leaders that we have in Iran !!!!!!!! instead of thinking for the sake of people, they have been thinking how filling their pockets with the wealth of the country and how they can suffocate more and more thye innocent people; please blame"your"leaders, it's their fault !! but don't forget, our people are so 'najib", that they take sanctions as a providential gift, they know that the fall of this merciless regime is near !! sorry !

[Arshama]

Kurt,

You're welcome.
I don't know far better than you, what's going on in Iran, otherwise I wouldn't have asked my friend, who called yesterday from Tehran by chance.
He also said that he was lucky to pay no rent, and that business is down.
He was as depressed about the situation as I am, but when this regime terrorises and surrounds its own citizens from all sides, politically, economic and in daily routine, what else is to be expected than an approval of sanctions?

This regime will either crumble on time, or there will be war, that's all.

Arshama

[Arshama]

SmileIran,

My very good friend A. called me yesterday from Tehran by chance. He was very depressed about the fact that no prospects are in sight, apart from this actual misery.
Even if you don't believe me, have a look at Khabar Online, which reported that 30% of Tehran's population are depressed and rising. Or just count the labour strikes throughout Iran during the past 12 months (not to mention the past 4 years). Or read the reports about local industries on the verge of collapse, be it tee plantations (Caspian Sea), leather and hides (Mashhad), pottery (Hamedan) or agriculture in general...
Do you really think Iranians welcome a regime that wants to reduce them to beggars?

Day to day business does'nt work not because of sanctions, but because a completely irresponsible, predatory and merciless mullah-IRGC mafia has taken over control, sucking national revenues to the last drop of oil. A bunch of corporate raiders, destroying the country to its own profit!

Nevertheless you are obviously free to behave as the three monkeys ;-)

Arshama

[Arshama]

Catherine,

Bebakhshid, I mixed it up with Vahdat Hall (former Talare Rudaki).

Thanks for the link, but Hosseinimehr is not the only stage director affected. Hayedeh Haeri was forced to cancel her play "Catch The Moving Bus"
http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=10315" rel="nofollow">http://www.chnpress.com/news/?section=2&id=10315

Arshama

[Ange-Paris]

We have to remember every day :
- Armed militia on the rooftops shooting unarmed people in the streets
- deaths of our young people like Neda, Sohrab and others ( beyond 100 people)
- rapes, tortures, and murders in prisons.
- people getting run over by the security ! forces cars when fallen down in the
streets
- security forces beating up people during demonstrations.
- people doing their jobs, atorneys, journalists, human rights activists being in
prisons as "mohareb"
- harrassements of detained people 's families
- not to forget that all criminals and thieves are outside the prisons ( for the sake
of nezam) and all innocents are inside in harsh conditions : lack of medecines,
hygiene...
- all the wealth of nation, in the pockets of leaders, hezbollahs and hamas, when
people inside are starving
- our mosques, the houses of "god" becoming the places of tortures, rapes and
insults ( you can see the video posted today by EA with Karroubi or hos son
tortured during the events in a mosque)
- and so on ............
Where are you the representatives of our religion ?; how could you bear this kind of behavor ?
God is our strenght, thanks to rigged elections, ( it was our chance ) we will get rid of this merciless regime and it's "velayate faghih"; Smile Iran don't forget all events cited above ; people of Iran, with their empty hands, can't do anything alone !

-
-

[SmileIran.Com]

Your economic argument is something different and needs a whole different repute (such as, why didn't anyone call for a regime change in Iceland when it went bankrupt? or regime change in USA when GM & banks closed down? Or Dubai where it was forced to be bailed out by billions of Abu Dhabi money?)

But I am talking about sanctions. I have met no Iranian that welcomes sanctions. Because even the people who are against the government are smart enough to know that sanctions will not force their hand and it only negatively impacts their own lives

[Ange-Paris]

Dear Smile
Did I speak about the bankruptcy of Iran ?? I spoke about human rights abuses with their people inside ; I spoke also about their lack of respect regarding their responsabilities vis a vis the foreign countries, respect of laws , respect of signatures of treaty.......two lacks of respect, inside and outside, hence : "sanctions"!!
The bankruptcy, is the outcome of how they have led the country so far; AN has said that people of Iran are "dust and dirt"; unfortunately this dust is in his whole brain !! hence : "bankruptcy"!

[Arshama]

SmileIran,

If you don't accept, what I have heard with my own ears, no need for further discussion...

Arshama

[SmileIran.Com]

You went from sanctions, to economic problems, to "human right" abuses. Arguing with a greeny is like holding a wet soap, just keeps slipping out of your hand.

[Ange-Paris]

I know, it's very "hard" for pro AN people to understand relations between all those subjects causing this miserable outcome inside the country; if there was not this amount of "dusts" in the brains, we would not have all the problems inside and outside the country !! enjoy your last days dear, for us " andaki sabr sahar nazdik ast"; and be sure, we are patient !
You imagine "soap", I imagine "dust" :-) ; Smile !

[ScottLucas11]

SmileIran,

We don't "go from" sanctions to economic problems to abuses of human rights (without the quotes) --- we cover all of them thoroughly. I'm sorry that, faced with this, you can't stop slipping....

S.