The Latest from Iran (25 June): The Important Issues

1650 GMT: Imprisonment and Abuse. RAHANA publishes the story, which we have been following for 24 hours, on an attack on Zoya Samadi, the daughter-in-law of imprisoned labour activist Mansour Osanloo.

Intelligence Ministry agents reportedly accosted Samadi in public view, pulling off her headscarf, beating her, and dragging her by the hair. Handcuffed and blindfolded, she was taken to an undisclosed location for four hours and questioned for four hours, allegedly being told, "You must guarantee that if Osanloo is released from prison, he will never remain in Iran and that he will cease all activities.”

According to Osanloo's wife, Samadi was then left under a Tehran bridge. Her assailants warned, "You are not to inform anyone about this incident, nor are you allowed to file any form of complaint.”

NEW The Real Race for Iran: Human Rights v. Tehran’s Defenders (Shahryar)
Iran Special: Mousavi, Karroubi, and the Strategy of “We Are Still Standing (for the Revolution)”
The Latest from Iran (24 June): Persistence

1535 GMT: The Divergent Tale of Two Political Prisoners, Two British Universities. Ian Black in The Guardian has an interesting profile of the cases of Mohammad Jalaeipour, an Oxford University Ph.D. candidate re-arrested on 14 June, and Ehsan Abdoh-Tabrizi, a Ph.D. student at Durham University who was imprisoned in January and has spent more than 50 days in solitary confinement. Black compares the very different approaches taken by Oxford and Durham officials to publicity over the treatment of the political prisoners.

1525 GMT: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Philosopher of Our Time. No, if you like your philosophy simple and to the point, then it might be best to leave behind today's Friday Prayer with global bodies that do not really exist and an Iranian unity that must be present even if it is not obvious. Instead, let's get our 21st-century Renaissance from the President via the Iranian Labor News Agency:

A long and black chapter in the history of humanity is coming to a close and an age of enlightenment is about to start. The arrogant powers have stood against the divine force throughout history and today the arrogant regime in the United States is the biggest obstacle against the cause of the prophets.

1500 GMT: Your Friday Prayer Summary. Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi --- our favourite "women's breasts = earthquakes" cleric --- took the podium today.

No references to dangerous females this morning, however, as far as we know. Instead, Seddiqi was preoccupied with the recent UN sanctions against Iran, or rather, he was interested in the pronouncements of an invisible organisation: "This approach showed that the United Nations does not exist and that the Security Council is an 'anti-security' council."

If that's a bit too metaphysical to grasp --- ""It appears that you have yet to know the Iranian nation" --- Seddiqi was ready to use the international situation to whip up his own realities out of the Tehran air: "[The] Iranian nation will not only show resilience in the face of such sanctions but will also develop more resistance and solidarity."

0830 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Photojournalist Majid Saeedi, arrested last June, has been sentenced to three years in prison.

Shiva Nazar Ahari, human rights activist and member of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters detained since June 2009, has written a letter to her father: "You taught me not to break."

The families of detainees held in Gohardasht Prison, have written to Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabi: "Don't allow more injustices against our beloved."

The Iranian Teachers Trade Association has issued a statement protesting the continued detention of its leading members.

0825 GMT: The Attacks on the Clergy. The five daughter of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri have issued a statement challenging the recent assault on the Montazeri house by pro-regime activists.

0755 GMT: We begin today with an analysis from Josh Shahryar, "The Real Race for Iran: Human Rights v. Tehran's Defenders".

"Western" headlines are likely to be on last night's US Congress vote for stricter sanctions --- the Senate by 99-0, the House of Representatives by 408-8 --- aimed especially at Iran's financial and energy sectors. Meanwhile....

Khamenei Tries to Hold It Together

Writing for Rooz, Mohammad Reza Yazdanpanah takes a look at this week's statements by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sees a Supreme Leader struggling to keep his flock together.

The website also sees a continuing challenge to the legitimacy of Khamenei's leadership in a year of statements by clerical and opposition figures.

The Battle Within

The Vice Speaker of Parliament, Mohammad Reza Bahonar, has given a speech warning of the danger to the establishment from "radicals" --- and he doesn't mean "radicals" of the Green Movement.

Mostafa Pourmohammadi, former Minister of the Interior, is worried about the threat to Iran from "lawlessness" --- but whose lawlessness does he mean?

Defending Political Parties

It looks like there is a twist in the tale of the attempt to ban Iran's reformist political parties such as the Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Mohajedin of Islamic Revolution.

Mostafa Pour-Mohammadi warns against lawlessness as one of the country's biggest dangers.

The conservative Morteza Nabavi has noted that President Ahmadinejad himself came to power through a political party, and key judiciary official Mohammad Javad Larijani has argued that party activities should be developed beyond elections, as they guarantee the future of the Islamic Republic.

Parliament (and  a Cleric) v. President

Ayatollah Mahdavi Kani has denounced this week's demonstrations by Basij and students in front of Parliament, challenging the Majlis attempt to defy President Ahmadinejad and assert its control of Islamic Azad University.

Meanwhile, we have gotten information of how heated the debate was inside the Parliament, with heated exchanges and heckling, insults, and even reports of a "fist fight".

Iran Analysis: 22 Khordaad --- What Happened and What It Means (Shahryar)

The people of Iran today yet again proved that intimidation, imprisonment, torture, rapes, shootings and deaths were not going to deter them from continuing to oppose the Islamic Republic’s brutality and unjust policies. In that sense, it was a clear victory for the Green Movement. They managed to land people on the streets on the day that they wanted and the government –-- even though it employed thousands of security forces –-- was unable to stop them. This is despite the fact that opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi had cancelled the plans for the protest.

The reason for the success? It is likely that the protesters caught the government off-guard and showed incredible resillience. Instead of publicizing their intentions of protesting or declaring their routes of procession beforehand, they quietly let the government feel like they were not going to show up. Then they did.

Latest Iran Video: Protests of 22 Khordaad (12 June)
The Latest from Iran (12 June): 22 Khordaad

Through my sources, I can fully confirm protests in the city of Tehran. I have partial confirmation of protests in Shiraz, Mashaad, Isfahan, and Zahedan. Reports of protests have come in for Tabriz, Sari, Kerman, Sanandaj, Ahvaz and Aryashahr, but I have not been able to confirm any of them yet.



What is clear is that in Tehran people took to streets after 4 p.m. for protests in different parts of the city. The students of Tehran University staged a gathering with anti-government chants and the popular slogan, “The student dies but does not accept humiliation!”

Security forces clashed with the protesters and arrested at least six students. Tear gas was fired at protesters. There were also unconfirmed reports of shots, though no claims of injuries from gunfire. Students were injured, though, when they were beaten with batons, kicked, and punched by riot police and plainclothesmen who had surrounded the campus.

A second group of protesters tried to converge from different parts of Tehran upon the university to try and break the siege, but security forces managed to hold them back by blocking major streets with thousands of policemen, riot police, and plainclothesmen.

Other groups formed at Vali-e Asr Square where at least three were arrested and several were injured in clashes with security forces. Tear gas was used, as well as at Vanak Square where more protesters gathered and chanted “Death to the Dictator” and “Death to Khamenei”. (no reports of arrests confirmed as of yet from there). At the same time, students at Sharif University gathered inside their campus and chanted “Ya Hossein; Mir Hossein” and “Allah o Akbar” but were prevented from coming out by security forces.

By far the bloodiest clashes took place in Enghelab Square, which --- with adjoining streets --- was filled by at least 5,000 members of Iran’s security forces. At least 12 protesters were detained.

People also managed to gather in Taleghani Square, Palestine Square, Ferdowsi Square, Hafez Bridge, Laleh Park, Argentine Park and other areas. So far, the confirmed number of arrests stands at 21, but the actual number is almost certainly higher.

Due to the small numbers of videos available, the estimated number of protesters is anyone’s guess. However, it looks like today the streets had at least 10,000 security forces patrolling them, though I cannot confirm this number I can confirm.

There were two unconfirmed reports that merit a mention. The first one claimed that shots were heard from the government-owned broadcasting agency IRIB and that several of its staff members were held hostage by security forces inside the building. The second report claimed that some protesters had managed to break into security forces’ vehicles and managed to take their helmets and other equipment.

As for other cities, reports are few and far between. There are no videos of protests in these cities so far, although in the next few hours --- given the pattern from Tehran --- there probably will be.

Considering the fact that the Iranian government had amassed an army of security personnel to stop protesters from gathering, today’s events are a clear sign that the government is failing, as it has failed in the past, to quell the uprising. Whether the future holds more victories for the government or the Green Movement is as yet uncertain, but protesters returning from gatherings in Tehran were very optimistic and cheerful. Some indicated on blogs that it was a “great day” while others called it “the day we learned that we really are countless.”

So although a lot is still not certain today, there is one certainty. The successful protests, despite the government’s pressure, is going to give a strong morale boost to the Green Movement and is likely to make another dent in the cracking walls of the Islamic Republic.