The Latest from Iran (15 June): Another Anniversary

1850 GMT: Claimed video of today's gathering at Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery, apparently at the grave of Sohrab Arabi:

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

NEW Iran’s Green Communications: Beyond Twitter to “Small Media” (Enayat)
NEW Iran Analysis: Missing the Important Story?
Iran: The Attack on Montazeri, Sane’i, Karroubi
Iran Analysis: The Regime’s Next Push Against “Nothing Special”
The Latest from Iran (14 June): The 2nd Year Is Underway….

1730 GMT: The Cemetery Protest. Reports coming in that at least eight people, six of them women, have been arrested in Beheshte-Zahra. One woman was detained as she talk to the mother of the slain protester Sohrab Arabi.

1725 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. HRANA reports that Sadra Aghassi and Naem Ahmadi of Tabriz University's Islamic Student Association were arrested on 14 June, 2010.

Allameh Tabatabei University student Koroush Jannati was arrested on 12 June by intelligence agents after reporting to the university’s security office.

1715 GMT: The Mousavi Charter. The Los Angeles Times has an interesting reading of today's declaration by Mir Hossein Mousavi of objectives and strategies for the Green Movement.

The website notes that most of Mousavi's statement points to reform within the Iranian system with statements such as....

The Green Movement reaffirms its commitment to human, moral, religious and Iranian principles and values and feels obliged to refine and reform the behaviors of the Islamic Republic of Iran....The Green Movement is in continuation of Iranian people's efforts to attain freedom and social justice and national sovereignty...These objectives had already been pursued in the Constitutional Revolution, Oil Nationalization Movement [of 1951] and the [1979] Islamic Revolution.”

However, the Times notes one passage in the PDF version of the statement, but omitted from the version on Mousavi's website Kalemeh, that points to a separation of state and religion: "Maintaining the independence of religious and clerical bodies from the regime is the only option to preserve the exalted status of religion in the Iranian society and it will be one of the main principles hitting high on the agenda of the Green Movement.

1703 GMT: Today's Demonstrations. Dissected News reports from a source (see comments below) that about 200 family members of "Detainees of 12 June" gathered in front of Evin Prison, demanding the freedom of their relatives. The gathering lasted until dark.

Activists are reporting, and opposition websites are carrying the story, that about 300 people have gathered in Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery to pay their respects to those slain in post-election clashes, including Sohrab Arabi and Ramin Ramezani. Two people who were taping the ceremony have reportedly been arrested, and security presence is high.

1700 GMT: Khordaad 88 have posted an English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's Monday statement, which hailed the Iranian people's fortitude over 22 Khordaad (12 June) and condemned the weekend attacks on clerics.

We are still awaiting a full translation of Mousavi's declaration today of a "charter" for the Green Movement.

1650 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Labour activist Behnam Ebrahimzadeh was arrested during Saturday's demonstrations. It is claimed that Ebrahimzadeh, beaten during his detention, suffered two broken ribs and multiple injuries.

1645 GMT: Propaganda of Day. This line, set out by Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi, may be just a bit too blatant to work.

Moslehi said Tuesday that several people linked to the "terrorist" People's Mujahedin of Iran had been arrested over plans to carry out bombings on 22 Khordaad (12 June), the anniversary of the election: “Two terrorist teams of hypocrites were identified and their key members were arrested” The alleged plan was to “carry out bombings in several Tehran squares" (i.e., the squares where the regime put out security forces on Saturday to deter gatherings).

Britain, France, and Sweden were the foreigners accused of “backing” the PMOI (Britain, of course, as the "Little Satan", France for its recent anti-Iran rhetoric, but why Sweden?). And one of the suspects had been arrested “in a student dormitory” (i.e., a student dormitory like the one that security forces attacked last 14-15 June, killing several people).

1625 GMT: Attack by the Clerics. Rooz Online in English has an overview, covering many of the events we have noted in the updates, of the criticism by clerics of the treatment of Seyed Hassan Khomeini at the 4 June ceremony for his grandfather.

1315 GMT: Mousavi's Charter. The first English-language report on Mir Hossein Mousavi's charter for the Green Movement, posted this morning (see 0940 GMT), comes from Agence France Presse. The article leads with Mousavi's call for "a fair trial of those who committed the election fraud, tortured and killed protesters" and mentions his demand for an "end to the involvement of police and military forces in politics, the independence of the judiciary, and prosecution of those in plainclothes".

1240 GMT: Concluding and Pronouncing. Yet another sweeping assessment of the Green Movement, this time from Karim Sadjadpour.

Most of Sadjadpour's piece consists of recommendations such as "Go Beyond Street Protests", for example, with strikes, "Organize Abroad", and "Reach Out to 'Ali The Plumber'" --- and he does conclude with hope, "The path to democracy is both delicate and daunting, and not guaranteed. A pessimist might argue, however, that a far more daunting task will be for the Islamic Republic to indefinitely sustain a politically repressive, socially restrictive, economically floundering theocracy in the 21st century."

Still, it's the opening of the piece, issued as truth even before Saturday had concluded, that sets the tone and catches the eye: "The anniversary of Iranʼs tainted presidential elections came and went without much sign of life from the opposition Green Movement. Aside from scattered protests, activists were understandably cowed by governmental intimidation and heeded the advice of opposition elders to preserve their powder for future battles."

1115 GMT: Beyond Facebook. Amidst the current discussion on new and social media and the Green Movement, an interesting contribution by Mohammad Sadeghi, the organiser of the Mir Hossein Mousavi and Zahra Rahnavard Supporters' Networks on Facebook: "The Green Movement is crafting a new and nonviolent political discourse that holds tremendous repercussions for a region in which the vast majority of civil actors are anything but peaceful. This movement is the culmination of more than 100 years of struggle by the Iranian people to secure their basic rights and liberties. Let's use this opportunity to remind ordinary Iranians of the amazing and very real victories they have already won, and not lecture them about their inefficacy and inefficiency, which is wholly imagined and miscalculated."

0940 GMT: A Charter for the Greens. It was promised, and now it's published: Kalemeh has posted Mir Hossein Mousavi's statement of objectives and strategies for the Green Movement.

Inconveniently, I have to go to an academic meeting, so I'll hand over to readers for perusal and comment.
0935 GMT: Beyond Green Tweets. We've published an analysis by Mahmood Enayat, "Iran's Green Communications: Beyond Twitter to 'Small Media'".

0930 GMT: Remembering. Rah-e-Sabz publishes names and details of 29 people killed on 25 Khordaad (15 June) last year.

0855 GMT: The Battle Within. Khabar Online --- have we mentioned that it is the website linked to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani? --- assesses that President Ahmadinejad's televised interview on the anniversary of his "victory" will upset "even the hardliners".

There's a bit of evidence for that assertion from Kayhan, which analyses that some people have "given wrong advice" to Ahmadinejad, "incompatible with his Islamic revolutionary thoughts". Looks like the President's criticism of "morality police" for pressuring people over "bad hijab" and other transgressions is not going down that well....

On another front, Hamid Reza Fouladgar, who oversees privatisation matters in Parliament, has commented about the dispute over implementation of Majlis laws by Ahmadinejad: "After 1 week of discussions, we were met with his silence, hopefully a good sign/"

0845 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The father of student activist Mohammad Reza Jalaiepour, of the Third Way Movement, has described his son's re-arrest: those carrying out the raid "told us Ahmadinejad will stay for a third term".

0840 GMT: The Attacks on the Clerics. Writing in Rah-e-Sabz, analyst Mohammad Javad Akbarein claims that there is a circle of regime politicians and clerics, including Hojatoleslam Ruhollah Hosseinian, formier Minister of Intelligence Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejeie, Mohammad Golpayegani, and Hamid Rasaie, who have been organising attacks against "opposition" marja (senior clerics) and their followers for years.

0835 GMT: Where's Mahmoud? President Ahmadinejad is returning to Tehran after a visit to Assalouyeh in the Persian Gulf province of Bushehr to sign contracts to expand Phases 13, 14, 23, 22, 19 and 24 of the South Pars oil and gas fields.

The story behind Ahmadinejad's trip is that the contracts have been rewritten after the withdrawal of foreign companies, including Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol, from development. The work was re-allocated to Iranian firms, including some allegedly connected with the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps.

0830 GMT: We've corrected an oversight by posting President Obama's official statement, emphasising human rights, on the anniversary of Iran's election.

0620 GMT: As Iran marks another anniversary --- this one of last year's mass protest against the outcome of the Presidential election --- we post an analysis considering latest developments and media coverage, "Missing the Important Story?"

Meanwhile....

Getting Around the Energy Squeeze?

Iranian state media is giving big play to the signature of a $7.5 billion "peace pipeline" deal between Iran and Pakistan for delivery of natural gas to Islamabad by 2014.

Which is fair enough, but still does not quite cope with the issue of if Tehran can maintain both its exports and imports of energy supplies over the next four years.

Shutting Down the News...And Literature

We have an update on Iran's filtering of news sites. Meanwhile, Rah-e-Sabz reports that there is widespread filtering of Persian literary blogs and the philosophical magazine Rokhdaad.

Rumour of Day

Tahavole Sabz claims that the word is being sent out to Iran's parents: come out and greet President Ahmadinejad or your kids won't be enrolled in school.

The Latest from Iran (14 June): The 2nd Year Is Underway....

1955 GMT: The Sting in Mousavi's Statement. While making the obvious moves over 22 Khordaad, stressing opposition resilience and the Government's struggle for legitimacy, Mir Hossein Mousavi used Sunday's attacks on the homes of prominent clerics to extend his challenge:

More than ever before, the people in government need to create 'incidents' that enable them to conceal the consequences of the misfortunes they have brought about for the country. Attacking the office of an eminent cleric and an admired student of Imam Khomeini [Grand Ayatollah Sane'i] is entering a new phase in creating such crises.

Have they forgotten that it was attack against the house of Imam Khomeini which paved the way for liquidating the roots of tyranny on 6 June 1963 and laid the foundation for [the revolution of] February 1979?

Have they still not learned their lesson?

NEW Iran: The Attack on Montazeri, Sane’i, Karroubi
Iran Analysis: The Regime’s Next Push Against “Nothing Special”
Iran Document: Karroubi “Greens Stronger & More Mature Than Last Year” (12 June)
Iran Special: EA Gets Highest Award from Tehran Government!
Iran: The US State Department’s Comment on the Election Anniversary
Iran Result: The 22 Khordaad Cup “Greens 1, Darks 0″ (Lucas)
The Latest from Iran (13 June): And So It Goes On….

1810 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Mohammad Reza Jalaiepour of the Third Wave Movement has been re-arrested.

Jalaiepour was detained in June and held for 88 days.

1745 GMT: Mousavi Speaks. In a brief statement, Mir Hossein Mousavi has praised the fortitude of the Iranian people and the Green Movement o on the anniversary of the election and asserted that the unprecedented security deployment shows how the regime has failed to convince the public of its legitimacy.

Mousavi has promised a statement tomorrow outlining the objectives and strategies of the Green Movement.

1740 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Behzad Heidari, a student activist from Amir Kabir University, was arrested on 12 June during a protest near Enghelab Square.


1735 GMT: No, I Didn't. Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has denied that he issued an order blocking detainees' visits with their families (see separate analysis).

1720 GMT: Human rights and women's rights activist Saba Vasefi has regained consciousness after being in a coma for two weeks. Vasefi was struck by a motorcyclist who fled, hitting her head on the curbside.

1550 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. Reformist member of Parliament Darius Ghanbari has demanded that the security forces who carried out the attack on Grand Ayatollah Sane'i's house be held accountable.

1445 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. We've published the most concise account we've seen so far --- from Saham News --- of Sunday's attack by a pro-regime crowd on Grand Ayatollah Sane'i, the family of Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, and Mehdi Karroubi in Qom.

1255 GMT: The Attack on Ayatollah Sane'i. The Facebook site supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi has posted 33 photographs of the damage caused by the crowd that surrounded the house of Ayatollah Sane'i on Sunday.

1225 GMT: Assessing 22 Khordaad. There is still a siege of ill-informed pieces on Saturday's events in the Western media, as well as high-brow discussions of the "Green Movement" which ignored the latest developments.

In this context, the report of Michael Theodoulou --- who has excellent sources in Iran --- takes on added importance:

Thousands of Iranians, defying regime threats, staged a silent and peaceful anti-government protest in Tehran on yesterday’s anniversary of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s disputed re-election a year ago, witnesses told The National.

“There were many women, some veiled in black, and many men, people of all ages,” one Tehran resident said....

One witness, who has proven consistently reliable in the past, said that there were at least 100,000 protestors....“There was little chanting but once in a while you could hear ‘down with the dictator’,” he said. Security forces beat some with batons to break up gatherings....

“This can well be considered a success for the opposition,” said an analyst in Tehran who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They [the protestors] managed to make the government admit its fear and weakness by bringing so many forces to the streets,” he said. “And by remaining silent, most of the time, they managed to suffer the least beatings and arrests – so far.”

NEW Iran: The Attack on Montazeri, Sane’i, Karroubi
Iran Analysis: The Regime’s Next Push Against “Nothing Special”
Iran Document: Karroubi “Greens Stronger & More Mature Than Last Year” (12 June)
Iran Special: EA Gets Highest Award from Tehran Government!
Iran: The US State Department’s Comment on the Election Anniversary
Iran Result: The 22 Khordaad Cup “Greens 1, Darks 0″ (Lucas)
The Latest from Iran (13 June): And So It Goes On….

1205 GMT: Iranian Embassy in London "Hosts" Protest Film. HomyLafayette reports on how demonstrators projected a short film, documenting the post-election unrest and crackdown, onto the facade of the Iranian Embassy in London on Saturday night.

1200 GMT: Another Attack on a Cleric. Khabar Online reports that an "unknown person or persons" attacked the home of Ayatollah Nouri-Hamedani last night, breaking windows.

0725 GMT: Ahmadinejad on the Election. The President did mark the anniversary of the Presidential vote in his interview on national television about "the manifestation of the united and grand human will of 40 million people in a 100 percent free" vote. He claimed, "Those who opposed [the election] were governments of injustice who interfered in [our] internal affairs. Even the American president, who was new to the scene, joined them. But the Iranian nation defeated them."

0720 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. Ahmad Montazeri, the son of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri, has issued a statement about the attack on the Montazeri offices:

The interesting point...is the presence and silence of the police and special security forces and the complete coordination between them and the plain clothes militia! In this attack all the items of the office were damaged and the photos of late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri were torn up and insulted. They broke office’s windows, chairs and even the television set, torn down the curtains and by hanging from the ceiling fan and treading down the vacuum cleaner damaged them.

Following these attacks on the morning of Monday, 14 June 2010, about 12 individuals from intelligence forces with a court order from the Special Court for the Clergy in Qom came to the office of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri and searched the office, confiscated the damaged items, and shut down and sealed the office; and by this action approved all the destructive actions of those who attacked. While one would expect from the security forces to control the plain clothes individuals and bring security to the area, unfortunately not even one of the thugs was arrested.

0650 GMT: The Battle Within. An important signal of a possible anti-Ahmadinejad coalition, sanctioned by the Supreme Leader, and a boost to Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani: Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, has warned the President that he cannot interfere in the responsibilities and authorities of other officials of the regime: "Some people are trying to take advantage of the situation and take on responsibilities for which they lack the necessary competence.”

Janati writes that the Guardian Council is the only point of reference for determining the legality of Parliament’s legislations and other officials and government bodies “have no duty other than executing and heeding those laws” once they are approved by the Guardian Council.

A less dramatic sign of challenge comes from Fereydoun Hemmati of the Supreme Audit Council, who claims the Government's budget declaration is "full of attacks and lies".

And Gholamreza Mesbahi Moghaddam of Parliament's Economic Commission has reiterated that "the government cannot refuse to implement laws".
0645 GMT: The 4 June Fall-Out. Add Ayatollah Javadi Amoli to the long list of senior figures denouncing the regime's mis-handling of the ceremony for Ayatollah Khomeini, criticising the shout-down of his grandson, Seyed Hassan Khomeini: "The events were an obvious injustice to the Imam and his beyt descendants."

0615 GMT: The 22 Khordaad Arrests. Daneshjoo News claims, from "informed sources", that about 400 people detained on Saturday have been moved to Evin Prison.

0610 GMT: More on Tomorrow's Statement (see 0540 GMT). The advance notice of the statement for Tuesday claims that "Mir Hossein Mousavi [has] proposed a charter for the Green Movement which includes objectives, strategies and definition for [its] identity...and offered it as a proposed platform to the movement to be reviewed and judged by the public and the experts."

0600 GMT: ??????. I am at a loss to evaluate this statement made yesterday on national television on Sunday by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. It is either the height of hypocrisy or a relevation of a President who is not in command. From Agence France Presse:

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that he was "strongly" opposed to a police crackdown against women deemed to be in un-Islamic dress and on the behaviour of youths in public.
"I am strongly against such actions. It is impossible for such actions to be successful," Ahmadinejad said in an interview on state television when asked about the crackdown which has intensified in past weeks....

"I prefer to work in a cultural way. Any punishment must be given after a judge's decision," said Ahmadinejad, adding that his government had no role in the crackdown.

"The government is not interfering in this. We consider it is insulting to ask a boy and girl about their relationship. Nobody has the right to ask people such a question," he said.

"I hope such things will not happen in our country and that such actions are stopped before I have to give serious warnings," he added.

0540 GMT: Now to the Next Anniversary. Kalemeh, the website of Mir Hossein Mousavi, has announced that Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi will issue a statement tomorrow, the anniversary of the first mass protest against the Presidential election.

Meanwhile, Green Voice of Freedom has posted an English-language summary of the Mousavi-Karroubi press conference that was held several days before the 12 June demonstration but mysterious disappeared.

0530 GMT: We begin this morning with an analysis of "The Regime's Next Push" against an opposition that refused to go away on 22 Khordaad, the anniversary of the 2009 election.

One of the incidents this weekend pointing to continued tension was the gathering of protesters outside the home of Grand Ayatollah Yusuf Sane'i, who was meeting Mehdi Karroubi, in Qom. Another video of the gathering has emerged:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qim9MkopK5Q&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]