Iran, One Year On: The Names of 107 Killed in Post-Election Violence

Muhammad Sahimi, in a lengthy piece for Tehran Bureau, lists 107 people slain in post-election conflict:

....How many people were murdered in 1388 [March 2009-March 2010] due to political violence? No one really knows, and in a nation where there is virtually no independent press to serve as a watchdog, it is very difficult to get an accurate estimate of the total number of casualties. We can, however, distinguish between two groups among those confirmed as dead.

In one group are those whose families have declared the martyrdom of their loved ones to the two committees that Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi have set up for compiling the list of the killed. In the second group are those whose families have been under tremendous pressure not to report the death of their loved ones to the two committees, and not to speak to the press.

The credible Iranian sources reporting on the number of people killed include Norooz News, the website of the Islamic Iran Participation Front, Iran's largest political party and leading reformist group; Kalame, Mousavi's official website; and Kalameh Sabz, Jonbeshe-Rah-e Sabz, and Aras News, three reformist news sites supportive of the Green Movement. In a few cases, news wires aligned with the hardliners, such as the Fars News Agency, which is controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, have also confirmed the deaths of demonstrators or those who were arrested.

Several organizations have also published lists of people whose deaths have been confirmed by multiple credible sources. One is the League for the Defense of Human Rights in Iran. Its list of confirmed murders, containing more than 100 names, was first published in August 2009 and updated on March 10, 2010. A list of 72 names was published by Aseman Daily News in September 2009. Norooz News just published the precise addresses of the graves of 50 people in Tehran's Behesht-e Zahra cemetery.

What follows is the list of 107 confirmed dead collated from all of the credible sources. Their age, if known, is in parentheses. First, a few statistics: 13 of the killed (12 percent) were women; at least 23 of them were university students (22 percent); two were tortured to death; two were journalists. In several cases, there is no information about how the victims were killed --- all we know is the location of their graves.

1. Neda Agha Soltan (27), university student, murdered on June 20, 2009, in Tehran.
2. Kianoush Asa, university student, killed on June 15, 2009, in Tehran.
3. Behzad Aghazadeh Ghahramani, murdered on July 17, 2009, after the Friday prayers in Tehran led by former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.
4. Morad Aghasi, murdered on July 17, 2009, in the Kahrizak detention center on the southern edge of Tehran.
5. Mina Ehterami, university student, killed on June 15, 2009, in the attack on the Tehran University dormitory.
6. Hossein Akhtar Zand (32), murdered on June 15, 2009, in Shiraz.
7. Arman Estakhripour (18), beaten to death on July 13, 2009, in Shiraz.
8. Neda Asadi; nothing is known about the circumstances of her death.
9. Amir Eslamian, university student, working for Mousavi's campaign; his body was discovered on November 27, 2009, in Boukan.
10. Saeed Esmaeili Khanbebin (23), hit in the head and killed.
11. Sohrab Erabi (19), pre-university student, murdered in Evin Prison on June 20, 2009.
12. Alireza Eftekhari (29), journalist, killed by hits to the head on June 15, 2009; his body was given to his family the following month.
13. Naser Amirnejad (26), university student in aerospace engineering, killed in Yasouj.
14. Mohsen Entezami, murdered in the Kahrizak detention center on July 14, 2009.
15. Vahed Akbari (34), killed on June 20, 2009, after his arrest in Tehran's Vanak Square.
16. Hossein Akbari, killed by hits to the head on July 26, 2009.
17. Mohsen Imani, university student, killed in the attack on the Tehran University dormitory on June 15, 2009.
18. Fatemeh Barati, university student, killed in the attack on the Tehran University dormitory on June 15, 2009.
19. Mohammad Hossein Barzegar (25), killed by a bullet to his head, after being arrested in Tehran's Haft-e Teer Square on June 17, 2009.
20. Yaghoub Boroayeh, university student, killed by a bullet on June 25, 2009.
21. Jafar Boroayeh, assistant professor at the University of Ahwaz, killed by a bullet to his head on June 28, 2009.
22. Sorour Borouman (58), killed on June 15, 2009, in Tehran.
23. Hamed Besharati (26), blogger and poet; nothing is known about the circumstances of his death.
24. Jahanbakhsh Pazouki (31), killed by a knife on December 28, 2009 (Day of Ashura).
25. Mohammad Javad Parandakh, university student; nothing is known about how he was killed.
26. Dr. Ramin Pourandarjani, physician on duty in the Kahrizak detention center, presumably poisoned on November 10, 2009.
27. Amir Arshaf Tajmir, killed on December 28, 2009 (Day of Ashura) in Tehran.
28. Farzad Jashni, killed on June 20, 2009.
29. Somayyeh Jafargholi, university student, killed by a bullet on September 27, 2009.
30. Bahman Jenabi; nothing is known about the circumstances of his death.
31. Amir Javadifar, university student, arrested on July 9, 2009; died in prison.
32. Moharram Chegini Gheshlaghi (35); nothing is known about how he was murdered.
33. Mohsen Haddadi (24), computer programmer, killed by a bullet to his forehead on June 23, 2009.
34. Ali Hassanpour, killed on June 15, 2009, in Tehran's Azadi Square; his body was given to his family 105 days later.
35. Amir Mehdi Hamzehlouei, killed in Gheyterieh Park in Tehran on October 2, 2009.
36. Hesam Hanifeh (19), killed by a bullet to his chin on June 16, 2009.
37. Mehrdad Heidari, journalist, killed on July 13, 2009, in Mashhad.
38. Masoud Khosravi, killed in Tehran's Azadi Square on June 15, 2009.
39. Sh. Khezri, university student, killed in Tehran's Baharestan Square on June 15, 2009.
40. Abbas Disnad (40), killed by hits to his head on June 20, 2009; his body was given to his family after $15,000 was paid.
41. Mohammad Raeis-Najafi, beaten to death near Tehran's Azadi Square on June 15, 2009.
42. Mohammad Ali Rasekhi-Nia (40), killed by a bullet on December 28, 2009 (Day of Ashura).
43. Fatemeh Rajabpour (38), killed with her mother, Ms. Borouman (number 22 above).
44. Shahrokh Rahmani (26), run over by a car on December 28, 2009 (Day of Ashura) in Tehran.
45. Dr. Rahimi; nothing is known about the circumstances of his death.
46. Hamid Rezaei, killed on January 1, 2010, in Homayounshahr.
47. Ramin Ramazani (22); nothing is known about how he was murdered.
48. Mohsen Ruhol-amini (25), university student, killed in the Kahrizak detention center.
49. Babak Sepehr (35); nothing is known about how he was killed.
50. Fahimeh Selahshour (25), killed by hits to her head in Tehran's Vali-Asr Square on June 14, 2009.
51. Fatemeh Semsarpour, killed by a bullet on June 20, 2009, near Tehran's Azadi Square.
52. Ashkan Sohrabi (18), high school student, killed by a bullet in Tehran on June 20, 2009.
53. Tina Soudi, university student, killed by a bullet on June 20, 2009, in Tehran's Enghelab Square.
54. Hassan Shapouri, killed on July 14, 2009.
55. Ali Shahnazar (41), killed on September 29, 2009.
56. Ali Shahedi (24), killed on June 21, 2009, while detained by police.
57. Kasra Sharafi, university student, killed in the attack on the Tehran University dormitory on June 15, 2009.
58. Kambiz Shoaei, university student, killed in the attack on the Tehran University dormitory on June 15, 2009.
59. Shafi' Nejad, killed on June 15, 2009.
60. Zahed Shekarabi (20), tortured to death in Esfahan on July 21, 2009.
61. Yousef Saleh; nothing is known about how he was murdered.
62. Davoud Sadri (27), killed by a bullet on June 15, 2009, in Tehran; his body was given to his family after $6,000 was paid, plus a $350 charge for the bullet.
63. Seyyed Reza Tabatabaei (30), killed by a bullet to his head on June 20, 2009, in Tehran.
64. Vahid Reza Tabatabaei (29), killed by a bullet to his head on June 26, 2009, in Tehran.
65. Hossein Toufanpour, killed by a bullet to his head on June 20, 2009, in Tehran.
66. Hossein Tahmasebi (25), killed when his head was repeatedly hit by an object on June 15, 2009, in Kermanshah.
67. Salar Tahmasebi (27), university student, killed by a bullet to his head on June 20, 2009, in Tehran.
68. Maysam Ebadi, killed by a bullet to his abdomen on June 13, 2009, in Tehran's Sadeghieh Square.
69. Saeed Abbasi (28), killed on June 20, 2009; his body was given to his family after $8,000 was paid.
70. Abolfazl Abdollahi (21), killed by a bullet to his head on June 20, 2009, in Tehran.
71. Hamid Araghi, killed by a bullet on June 27, 2009; his family, initially told to pay $12,000 for his body, eventually paid $5,000.
72. Kaveh Alipour (19), killed on June 20, 2009; his family paid $3,000 to get his body.
73. Mostafa Ghanyan, university student, killed in the attack on the Tehran University dormitory on June 15, 2009.
74. Reza Fattahi, university student, killed in the Kahrizak detention center on July 14, 2009.
75. Ali Fathalian, killed in Tehran; nothing else is known.
76. Shahram Faraji (30), killed on December 28, 2009 (Day of Ashura) in Tehran.
77. Mehdi Farhadirad (34), killed by a bullet to his face on December 28, 2009 (Day of Ashura) in Tehran.
78. Mohammad Hossein Fayzi (28); nothing is known about how he was killed.
79. Sajjad Ghaed Rahmati; nothing is known about how he was murdered.
80. Salar Ghorbani Param (22); nothing is known about how he was murdered.
81. Rahim Mahmoudpour, killed by a bullet on August 3, 2009, in Tehran.
82. Hamid Maddah Shourcheh, university student, killed after his head was repeatedly hit by an object.
83. Moazzez (27), killed by a bullet to his eye on June 20, 2009, near Tehran's Azadi Square.
84. Pouya Azadbeigi, arrested on June 20, 2009, and died soon after his release.
85. Dr. Moghsoudlou; nothing is known about the circumstances of his murder.
86. Behzad Mohajer (47), killed by a bullet to his heart on June 15, 2009.
87. Maryam Mehraaein (24); nothing is known about how she was murdered.
88. Taraneh Mousavi, murdered on June 28, 2009.
89. Seyyed Ali Mousavi Habibi (42), nephew of Mir Hossein Mousavi, assassinated on December 28, 2009 (Day of Ashura) in Tehran.
90. Mostafa Mirebrahimi (22), killed under torture in August 2009.
91. Mohammad Naderipour, university student and Mousavi campaign worker.
92. Nader Naseri, killed on June 20, 2009, in Tehran.
93. Ahmad Nejati, killed by hits to his head.
94. Ahmad Naeimabadi, killed by a bullet in Tehran's Azadi Square.
95. Iman Namazi, university student, killed in the attack on the Tehran University dormitory on June 15, 2009.
96. Mohammad Ali Nikzadi (22), architect, killed by a bullet to his abdomen on June 16, 2009, in Tehran.
97. Masoud Hashemzadeh, killed by a bullet on June 20, 2009, in Tehran.
98. Iman Hashemi (27), killed by a bullet to his eye on June 20, 2009, in Azadi Street in Tehran.
99. Mostafa Kashani Rasa, Mousavi campaign worker, killed by a bullet at the campaign headquarters in Gheytarieh, Tehran, on June 14, 2009.
100. Mohammad Kamrani (18), died in Tehran's Mehr Hospital.
101. Mehdi Karami (25), killed by a bullet to his neck on June 15, 2009, in Tehran.
102. Mostafa Karim Beigi (27), murdered by a bullet to his head on October 27, 2009.
103. Parisa Kolli (25), university graduate, killed by a bullet to her neck on June 21, 2009, in Tehran.
104. Majid Kamali (23), killed on August 25, 2009.
105. Amir Kaviri; nothing is known about how he was murdered.
106. Mostafa Kiarostami (22), killed by hits to his head on July 17, 2009.
107. Milad Yazdanpanah (30), killed by a bullet in Azadi Street in Tehran.

Three other people lost their lives for the Green Movement. One is Mohammad Asghari, who was a computer expert and worked for the office of computer security at the Ministry of Interior. He leaked a considerable amount of information about the actual vote count after the rigged June 2009 election and mysteriously lost his life in a car accident soon thereafter. It is widely believed that he was murdered.

The other two are Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani (37) and Arash Rahmanipour (19). They had been arrested before the election, but were hanged in early January 2010 in what is widely believed to be a message to the supporters of the Green Movement that they too could be hanged. Neither one had committed any serious offense.

In addition, Dr. Masoud Ali-Mohammadi, professor of physics at the University of Tehran, was assassinated. There is considerable evidence that he was murdered by the hardliners, although this is not a certainty....

The Latest from Iran (18 June): Hardliners Criticise Ahmadinejad

1510 GMT: Twitter and Civil Rights. We have posted a response to the latest attempt to set straight the relationship between social media and the post-election political situation in Iran.

1430 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Journalist Ebrahim Rashidi, who disappeared on Monday, has reportedly called his family from Ardebil's intelligence detention centre.

NEW Iran Request: Nonsense about “Twitter Revolution”. Please Stop.
NEW Iran Analysis: How Europe Can Help (Mamedov)
NEW Iran Document: The Tajzadeh Criticism and The Reformist Way Forward (Sahimi)
Iran Snapshot: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Master of Irony
Iran Overview: Striking Poses from Sanctions to Cyber-War to “Terrorism”
Latest from Iran (17 June): Clearing Away the Smoke

Journalist Hassan Etemadi has been given a two-year sentence, and journalist Shahin Zeynali has been handed a term of two years and 91 days.

The former mayor of Ghasr-e Shirin, Ghodrat Mohammadi, has been detained and transferred to a centre in Kermanshah. No reason for his arrest has been given.

1330 GMT: Through the Looking Glass on the Hijab. Reviewing today's Tehran Friday Prayer by Ayatollah Jannati, the head of the Guardian Council, I think we are now caught up in a contortion of politics. Iran has suddenly become a place where defenders of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praise him for "a relatively liberal government approach" and turn their fire upon the "hardliners", rather than the opposition.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tZ2a0_3sNw&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]

For the headline from Jannati's speech today, in contrast to his previous appearances, is not the threat of heavy punishment upon the opposition but his criticism of Ahmadinejad for raising the "cumbersome" issue of the "morality police" and their efforts to enforce "good behaviour" such as the wearing of the hijab.

Linking those who acted or dressed inappropriately to "drug traffickers" and "terrorists", Jannati said that women who defied the rules on proper clothing were "worse than poison". No one (he means you, Mahmoud) had "the right to tie the hands" of those enforcing the law.

1005 GMT: Ahmadinejad's Hijab Problem. It seems the President has got himself in a political tangle over his complaint about "morality police" cracking down on supposed social transgressions, including "bad hijab".

The Governor of Tehran, Morteza Tamaddon, has insisted that Ahmadinejad's directives are the basis for his officials' actions.

High-profile member of Parlaiment Ali Motahari has declared that the President has been adversely influenced by his chief aide, Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai.

Ayatollah Alamalhoda, Mashhad's Friday Prayer leader, has asserted, "Unfortunately Ahmadinejad does not give the right attention to implementing religious rules."

Member of Parliament Mohammad Taghi Rahbar says he is ready to discuss the issue with Ahamadinejad on television.

0950 GMT: Today's Khabar Kick on the Government's Shins. Khabar Online, linked to Ali Larijani, has suggested that Vice President Mohammad Reza Mirtajoddini might have to resign because he wants to complete a Ph.D. dissertation.

The website, as reported by Peyke Iran, also points to 11 "suspicious" comments by the President in the last 76 days.

0945 GMT: Take Your Resolution and Stick It. Iran's National Security Council has issued a strongly-worded denunciation of the UN Security Council sanctions resolution on Tehran's nuclear programme:

Contrary to all expectations, the resolution has focused on Iran's nuclear program, without so much as a word about the Israeli regime's criminal activities and its attack on the Freedom Flotilla convoy carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip only 10 days ago.

Also, the resolution brazenly ignores the 11 proposals put forward by Iran during Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which have been welcomed by world countries.

The council takes issue with the adoption of the resolution, particularly since it came despite constructive cooperation and the release of a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency confirming the non-diversion of Iran's nuclear material for the 22nd consecutive time....

"This clearly shows that Washington's commitment to Israeli security will never allow UN Security Council to fulfill its obligations with regards to securing the safety and the rights of different nations....

The Islamic Republic of Iran will respond fittingly to any attempt to violate the legal and legitimate rights of the Iranian nation," the statement added.

0845 GMT: We have posted an analysis by Eldar Mamedov, "Iran: How Europe Can Help".

0840 GMT: Economy Watch. Ayatollah Mousavi Ardebili has complained that people are still not informed about the Government's subsidy reduction plan.

0805 GMT: A Boast (and an Admission?). Tehran police chief Esmail Ahmadi Moghaddam, trying to wash away criticism of last year's attack on Tehran University's dormitories, has said, "We were prepared for the elections one week in advance." The dorm incidents were predictable because Communists and neo-Marxists following Mehdi Karroubi had come onto the streets.

Not sure if Ahmadi-Moghaddam realises this, but his statement gives indirect support to allegations of a manipulated election --- the security forces were preparing for violence because they knew in advance that there might be anger over an "adjusted" vote. (More on this on Saturday....)

Meanwhile, member of Parliament Elyas Naderan has kept up his pressure on the Government, saying that the Majlis never completed a full report --- despite its promises --- on the dormitory attacks: "Only parts of it exist and are in our minds."

0800 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. Some more pressure on the regime: Ayatollah Abdolnabi Namazi, the Friday Prayer leader of Kashan, has said, "If attacks on marja in Qom become normal, the future is not predictable."  Hojatolelsam Mehdi Tabatabai asserts, "God will not forgive those who insulted the 14 Khordad [4 June] ceremony."

0645 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics --- An Apology? Hmm, wondering if this might be an important signal....

In a wide-ranging interview on Parleman News, Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani makes the statement that "whoever does not respect the marja (senior clerics)... shows his worthlessness". Larijani asserts that the marja "are the pillars of nezam", the Iranian system, and "the Supreme Leader up to the chiefs of Iran's forces see them as such".

An EA correspondent gets to the point with the question, "Is this an indirect apology from Ayatollah Khamenei?"

0640 GMT: The Economic Squeeze. Reuters publishes a summary of foreign companies who have pulled back from operations inside Iran and those who continue to do business.

0550 GMT: A Victory in Britain. It is reported that actress and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activist Kiana Firouz has been granted "leave to remain"' in the UK, removing the threat of deportation to Iran.

Firouz had been refused asylum on two previous occasions, prompting a campaign to prevent her return to Tehran.

0535 GMT: The Attack on the Clerics. It is reported that the website of the late Grand Ayatollah Montazeri has been filtered.

Kalemeh publishes a letter from Ahmad Montazeri, the son of the Grand Ayatollah, to senior clerics in Qom. Montazeri describes Sunday's attack on the Grand Ayatollah's home and offices and asks for a denunciation of the assault.

0515 GMT: Today's white noise starts out of Washington rather than Tehran, as the Obama Administration --- trying to hold back the tide of Congressional action on Iran --- plays up rhetorically to the legislators.

Speaking at a hearing on Thursday, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates gave the rationale for the adjusted approach of the White House to US missile defence:

One of the elements of the intelligence that contributed to the decision on the phased adaptive array (approach) was the realization that if Iran were actually to launch a missile attack on Europe, it wouldn't be just one or two missiles, or a handful.

"It would more likely be a salvo kind of attack, where you would be dealing potentially with scores or even hundreds of missiles.

An editorial aside:I wonder if and when the Administration will ever realise that this appeasement --- not of Iran but of Congress --- will never free up its approach towards Tehran but will limit and even undermine any hope of crafting a thoughtful policy towards the Iranian situation.

Meanwhile, getting back to significant developments, we catch up with this week's potentially important analysis by reformist Mostafa Tajzadeh. A Deputy Interior Minister in the Khatami Government and post-election detainee, Tajzadeh has published a lengthy consideration of today's Iran through a review of the past, apologising for the reformists' role in the detention and execution of political prisoners in the 1980s.

We've posted extracts from the Tajzadeh analysis, accompanied by interpretation for Muhammad Sahimi of Tehran Bureau.

Iran Document: The Tajzadeh Criticism and The Reformist Way Forward (Sahimi)

Earlier this week, in a lengthy analysis posted on Kalemeh, Mostafa Tajzadeh --- Deputy Interior Minister in the Khatami Government, leading member of the Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution, and post-election detainee --- evaluated the issues facing Iran today. Equally important, he took a step back to the 1980s, criticising the reformists' position and apologising for the treatment and execution of political prisoners.



As Iranian activists debate and pursue the issues of civil rights and how they will work together to achieve them, Tajzadeh's statement is being seen by some as a necessary step, acknowledging that the campaigns of the present must not ignore but rather learn from the errors of the past.

A full translation in English of Tajzadeh's analysis is not yet available but, writing for Tehran Bureau, Muhammad Sahimi interprets lengthy extracts of "Part 1" with background and his interpretation:

Reformist Sayyed Mostafa Tajzadeh has written a very important analysis of the current state of affairs, which was posted on Mir Hossein Mousavi's website, Kalame. In this piece, Tajzadeh addresses vital issues facing the nation. Most importantly, in my opinion, he has critically re-evaluated the reformists' record and the role that they have played in the creation of the current situation in Iran. He criticizes the reformists' position on repression in the early 1980s and the execution of thousands of political prisoners.



In that era, the present reformists were known as the followers of Imam's line and were -- and still are -- mostly Islamic leftists. 'Imam' refers to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the present reformists were his ardent supporters; many still profess to be loyal to many of the Ayatollah's principles. What follows is a brief profile and the first half of Tajzadeh's analysis that, in my opinion, represents an important historical document.

Background

Sayyed Mostafa Tajzadeh was born in Tehran in 1956. After graduating from high school, he moved to the United States in 1975, where he lived for almost three years and studied political science. He was active in the Muslim Students Association, a political group run by university students active against Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. When the 1979 Revolution started gaining momentum in 1978, Tajzadeh returned to Iran, where together with Hasan Vaezi, Homayoun Khosravi, and Sayyed Mahmoud Yasini, he founded the Towhidi-ye Khalgh group, which agitated against the Shah. After the Revolution, Tajzadeh's group merged with six other Islamic groups to form the Organization of Islamic Revolution Mojahedin (OIRM) [not to be confused with the Mojahedin-e Khalgh Organization (MKO)]. OIRM is now one the top reformist groups in Iran.

Tajzadeh was active in the Islamic Revolution Committees and in the OIRM. His political career began in May 1982, when he joined the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance (Ershad). There, he worked closely with former president Mohammad Khatami, who was head of Ershad in the Mousavi government, and similarly with the administration of former president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani during its first term. Eventually, Tajzadeh was promoted as Khatami's chief deputy at the Ministry. Under pressure from right-wing reactionaries, Khatami resigned from the Ministry in 1992, and Tajzadeh left with him. After Khatami was elected the President in 1997, he appointed Tajzadeh as Deputy Interior Minister for Security and Political Affairs, a post second only to Abdollah Nouri's, who was the Minister and a progressive cleric.

The elections for the 6th Majles were held in late February 2000 and Tajzadeh was in charge. The Guardian Council (GC) disqualified relatively few candidates, and as a result, the elections were very competitive. The reformists swept up all 30 seats for the Tehran district, which was a huge upset for the GC and the conservatives. Thus, the GC began claiming that there had been voting irregularities at several polling stations. First, they ordered a recount, and then annulled, without presenting any evidence, about 700,000 of the votes cast in Tehran. That started a fierce struggle between Tajzadeh and the GC.

The main goal of the GC was to get Rafsanjani and Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel elected as Tehran's deputies. At that time, Rafsanjani had been under fierce attack by reformist journalists and was thus in the conservative camp. Haddad Adel's daughter is married to Mojtaba Khamenei, the Supreme Leader's son. Another goal of the GC was to prevent Dr. Ali Reza Rajaei, a journalist close to the Nationalist-Religious Coalition, from getting elected.

Tajzadeh insisted that no irregularities had taken place, and declared that the elections were the "cleanest and freest elections" in the history of the Islamic Republic, which was true. When it became clear that Tajzadeh would not back down, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ordered the GC to accept the people's verdict. The GC had achieved its goals, though. Dr. Rajaei was prevented from getting elected, and in his place Haddad Adel got elected. Rafsanjani, though ranked 20th in Tehran in terms of the votes that he had received, resigned his position and never joined the 6th Majles.

The GC took Tajzadeh to court, and in return, Tajzadeh filed a lawsuit against Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the powerful reactionary cleric and secretary-general of the GC, accusing him of trying to rig the elections. His lawsuit against Jannati never went to trial -- Jannati is too powerful to be tried! But Tajzadeh himself was put on trial in March 2001. He repeatedly clashed with the judge, Naser Daghighi, and said, "Some people are angry about the way the people voted last year." The court "convicted" Tajzadeh and gave him a suspended one-year term, and barred him from all government employment for three years, hoping that he would go away. Then in 2004, once the three-year period was over, Khatami appointed Tajzadeh as his senior adviser, a post that he held until August 2005, when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's first term began.

Right after the rigged presidential election of June 2009, Tajzadeh was arrested by the security forces and spent months in solitary confinement. He is the only one who has been temporarily released without bail, refusing to put up any bail. He underwent a surgery for severe back problems.

He is married to Fakhrossadat Mohtashamipour, a notable political figure in her own right, who is active in defending women's rights, and has been an outspoken critic of the hardliners over the past year. They have two daughters, Arefeh and Fatemeh. Tajzadeh is also a doctoral student in political science at the University of Tehran; he has been unable to finish his studies.

Throughout his career, Tajzadeh has always been a straight shooter: blunt, honest, plainspoken and to the point. He has an impeccable record as an uncorrupted official who has held senior positions in the political establishment, and has been a progressive reformist.

Statement

Father, Monther, We have been Accused Again

Tazjadeh begins his analysis by saying that his imprisonment provided an opportunity for him to debate with his hard-line interrogators. During this process, But, he quickly realized the extent to which a huge gap existed between his thinking and that of his interrogators. He then compares the political system that the hardliners have in mind with what he favors [in the following text, the comparison is made in the same order]:

A political systems that sees its power in terms of forcing people to confess [under pressure] and forcing them to "repent" vs. one that sees it in terms of free debates and discussions in the press.A political system that considers any opposition or criticisms a conspiracy [to overthrow it] vs. one that corrects its course of action due to the criticisms by the opposition.

A political system that denies the citizens some of their most elementary rights, such as the right to freely travel and bars them from traveling abroad [with the fear that the opposition would speak against it], and creates all sorts of limitations for practically everyone but its own supporters vs. one that encourages people's free choices both in society and elections.

A political system in which the military is the most powerful center of power and sees the entire country as a huge military barrack in which no one should dare say "why and how" vs. one in which people own the nation and the barracks mirror what is going in the country.

A political system in which if we consider the characters, education, and intelligence of the political prisoners, we reach the conclusion that they are the best and cream of the crop of the nation vs. one in which the same people either lead the nation by being the leaders of the government, or are people's representatives in the parliament and in the civil society have the utmost [political and personal] security.

A political system that is terrified by peaceful marches of the citizens and their shouts of "Allah-o Akbar [God is great]" on the roofs of their homes [that has become a way of protesting the hardliners over the past year] vs. one that considers the protest marches as the citizens' right and a basis for improving and strengthening the political system.

A political system in which political groups and parties cannot be active within the framework of the Constitution, even during peace time and when the country is [in] stable [condition], and when the condition [demanded] for the release of their leaders and members from jail and illegal detentions is to put an end to all political activities vs. one that ruled the nation during the first decade after the revolution, when there was war [with Iraq], but the leaders of the political groups were never arrested.

A political system in which the independence of the judiciary means only ignoring people's demands and rights, and during its show trials "convict" the best of the nation and deny their rights vs. one in which the judges are truly independent of the ruling elite, and irrespective of the pressures of the security, intelligence and military groups, act only according to the law.

A political system in which the educated youth want to leave the country from the time that they are in high school; one in which its [annual] book exhibition reminds us of the inquisition era, and one in which its artists' solitary jail cells are smaller than the rooms that they need to keep their international awards vs. the one that the Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] promised the people in Paris [in the fall of 1978].

A political system that is ranked No. 1 for inflation and corruption and is last in terms of economic growth; one in which nearly half of its people live below the poverty line; its private sector is considered [by the hardliners] as the government's competitors and even enemy, with its main goal being weakening of the sector; one in which its investor are more willing to invest in foreign countries [than in Iran]; and where unregulated and undisciplined imports have broken the back of domestic production, with the strategy of the government being "making all of Iran needing the aid committees [that provide help to poor people]." Can such a system be a model of successful management [of a nation] in the region?

A political system that condemns dictatorship, the veto powers [in the United Nations Security Council], and the control of the international media by a few, and labels the United States as the symbol of [applying] double standards [to its foes and allies] lacks the moral right to use the same against its own citizens.

A political system in which "happiness has been lost" [paraphrasing the poet Shafiei Kadkani] and ranks No. 1 in the world for shutting down its mass media and jailing its journalists, and its process of vetting candidates for election is worse than even those of Iraq, Afghanistan, Lebanon, and Palestine, cannot claim to be the liberator of the same nations and a model for all Muslims.

In the political system that I favor the religious seminaries are independent [of the Supreme Leader]; the universities are not military barracks; distinguished and independent-minded academics are not forced into retirement or fired; [my political system] does not rank the university students for their political activities; does not expel them en masse; mixing of female and male students in universities is not a problem for its officials, and does not threaten the students that if they want good grades, they must follow the orders of the university administrators.

In the political system that I favor the officials think about finding ways to address unemployment, depression, hopelessness and addiction of the youth, not about trying to decide on the makeup and clothes of women, while at the same time making claims about confronting social and cultural corruption, allowing the foreign satellite TV programs without any problem, but closing [political] websites. In my political system lying is not a way of governance.

In my political system -- one that rose as a result of the glorious Revolution [of 1979] -- the Kahrizak [detention center] is a disgrace, not revealing its existence; the Constitution is not a tool to repress people, but [a document] that represents the result of the martyrs' blood and people's vote and a document for [guaranteeing] people's rights and freedom; implementing Article 27 [which allows for peaceful assembly] and other human rights of the people for forming political parties, a free press, banning torture, and not issuing a death sentence with due process -- [the principles] that guarantee the country's independence and territorial integrity, and protects national interests.

My political system does not attack the universities' dormitories every ten years [in 1999 and 2009]. It is a political system founded by the leader of the Revolution [Ayatollah Khomeini] whose motto was "the criterion [for acceptance of leaders] is people's vote," and defended the right of every generation to decide its own fate. In this political system, the ethnic minorities' cultures and traditions are not considered a threat to national unity.

From Velvet Revolution to Disturbing the Traffic

Tajzadeh then says that he and his comrades did not want to overthrow the system, and did not break the law. Thus, after the interrogations began, the interrogators could not defend a "one voice society," or calling their supporters "God's political parties" but those of the opposition "Satan's." They were forced to admit that they support a multi-voice society, and stated that "Kayhan's method cannot solve the problems" [alluding to the mouthpiece of the hardliners that accuses a vast segment of the society of being foreign agents, and anti-Islam and anti-Iran]. He then says that he was accused of being in favor of a velvet revolution to overthrow the political system, but told them,

Be careful. This accusation is a double-edge sword that, before cutting people's hands, will cut your own, because it implies that the Islamic Republic of Iran is similar to the communist and quasi-communist regimes that were overthrown by velvet revolutions.

Tajzadeh also says that he told the interrogators that,

My political system is based on the three pillars of republicanism, Islam, and Iran [-ian nationalism], which is vastly different from the communist regimes that could not interpret Marxism in a democratic way, but my system can interpret Islam in a democratic manner....

Tajzadeh then continues, "I reminded the interrogators that any accusations made against us must, according to the Constitution and the relevant laws, have a legal, not ideological, basis, and even if there is a political or ideological aspect, it must be discussed freely in public, not in jail and during interrogation...." He says, "If, despite its mistakes and some extreme measures, I can still defend the Islamic Republic and, at the same time, protest why [Dr. Saeed] Hajjarian's ill body [he is semi-paralyzed] was taken to prison [after last year election], why they beat up on Mehdi Karroubi's son in a mosque and insulted him [by threatening to rape him], why they beat up and wounded some of our best children whose only "sin" was insisting that their votes [be counted] and standing up for their rights, why the mourners for [Imam] Hossein were thrown off bridges [on Ashura last December] and overran some injured citizens with cars [on the same day], and committed all of these in the name of God, it is because we believe that the late leader of the Revolution who said that the shoulders of the Prophet [Muhammad] can be lashed if any right of the people is ignored. It was with such interpretations of Islam that we had the glorious Revolution, not with those of [Ayatollah Mohammad Taghi] Mesbah [Yazdi] who, at that time, was busy trying to find a way to discredit Dr. [Ali] Shariati (1933-1977) [the distinguished philosopher and Islamic scholar] and reduce the workload for the SAVAK [the Shah's dreaded security apparatus, which was also after discrediting Dr. Shariati]."

Note that Tajzadeh mentions disturbing the traffic, because among the accusations made against some of the reformist leaders is that they disturbed the traffic on June 15, 2009, when huge demonstrations broke out in Tehran, as the prosecutors could not find any legal base for making any other accusation!

My Confessions

Tajzadeh continues,

I stand in front of the young generation and declare that the political system for which we rose up in revolt [in 1979] and the Constitution for which we voted is not the same as the one that the military considers as its absolute private property, and considers itself in the same category as the armed forces of Pakistan and Turkey [that also intervene in politics]. This declaration is absolutely necessary because the image that is presented of the Islamic Republic in jails, in the official press, and elsewhere is very ugly and "Frankenstein-like." They are trying to say that the Imam [Ayatollah Khomeini] was similar to [Ayatollahs] Jannati and Mesbah [Yazdi], but do not recognize that such wrong analogies will not provide a justification for their dictatorial manner and repression, but will only help make the young generation reject religion altogether, something that has, unfortunately, happened to some extent, and we were warned about by [the moderate cleric Ayatollah Morteza] Motahhari (1920-1979)....

Tajzadeh then makes one of the most important declarations that any reformist leader has made over the past two decades:

When the interrogators reminded me of some of the mistakes of the first decade of the Revolution, and called me and the followers of Imam's line -- the present reformists -- "fascists," I reminded them of the present fascistic behavior that is repeated in front of the entire nation, and explained that we all made many mistakes at that time but, today, instead of continuing the positive aspects of what we did, they are continuing the same mistakes, particularly when [unlike the 1980s] the country is not at war and not suffering from blind and broad terrorism [committed by the MKO]. "That is why we can no longer call them [what the hardliners do] errors and consider them the result of revolutionary inexperience [of the 1980s]."

Our error was that we did not resist the mistakes of the revolutionary courts [that sent thousands of political prisoners to their death], although even then it was the [followers of] the Imam's line that issued the 10-point declaration of the Prosecutor General in the Spring of 1360 [1981] [that declared that all political groups were free to be active, so long as they set aside armed struggle and were active peacefully], but could not (and the blind terrorism of 1981 and the imposed war [with Iraq] prevented us) from pursuing the declaration until all the undemocratic ways were set aside. The catastrophe is that in the era of peace and absence of terrorism, instead of expanding the freedoms, some of which had even survived the war era, a political faction is trying undemocratically and by ignoring and denying many positive achievements of the era of the sacred defense [the war with Iraq], to repeat our errors in the revolutionary era, and transform the exceptions of that era to the rules.

And then Tajzadeh says most emphatically,

Let me state it as clearly as possible, that our consenting silence regarding the [the actions of the] revolutionary courts [in the 1980s] was our mistake; but mass arrests of law-abiding critics, rendering the protesting citizens "Kahrizaki" [meaning detaining, torturing, raping, and even murdering them at detention centers such as Kahrizak], and shooting at them directly [a reference to what happened last year during the demonstrations] are so repugnant that they can no longer be referred to as "mistakes." Thus, we must confess, but not in the [Stalinist] show trials and the way the interrogators want us to confess to offenses that we have not committed, but in front of the nation and based on facts. The Revolution generation must confess, but not for its current efforts for expanding democracy and spreading [respect for] human rights [but for its past mistakes].... Of course, we have tried to learn from our mistakes, and tried to correct our behavior and thinking after the war.At the same time I confess that if we had protested the wrong treatment that Ayatollah [Sayyed Mohammad Kazem] Shariatmadari (1905-1985) received [he was accused of being a monarchist, defrocked and put under house arrest until he passed away], in order to preserve the dignity of maraaje' [sources of emulation, meaning the grand ayatollahs], we would not have reached the present situation when the dignity of and respect for such marja' as the late Ayatollah [Hossein Ali] Montazeri [1922-2009], and Ayatollahs [Hossein] Vahid Khorasani, [Abdolkarim] Mousavi Ardabili, [Yousef] Sanei, [Asadollah] Bayat Zanjani, [Ali Mohammad] Dastgheyb Shirazi, [Jalaloddin] Taheri Esfahani, [Abdollah] Javadi Amoli.... are violated even by the Voice and Visage [the national network of radio and TV channels], and even the home and office of the Imam's grandson [Sayyed Hassan Khomeini], and the mausoleum of the Imam and even those of the late [Ayatollah Mohammad] Sadoughi [1908-1982; he was assassinated by the MKO] and [Ayatollah Ruhollah] Khatami [1906-1988, father of the former president] are not safe [their gravestones were recently defaced by the hardliners]...

Thus, if there have been any mistake, and there have been, they are not those that the interrogators claim; and if we are to confess and ask for forgiveness, which we must, we must apologize for the wrong treatment that [Mehdi] Bazargan (1907-1995) and Dr. [Yadollah] Sahabi (1905-2002) received; and also apologize to all those political activists who wanted to be legally active in politics, but their [constitutional] rights were ignored by making various excuses. We must apologize to the citizens for imposing on them a certain lifestyle [rigid conservative Islamic] and interfering in their private lives. We, the average people, thought that we could close the vineyards without opening the doors of pretense. Our mistake was that we made some ordinary secular activities holy, but were ignorant of the fact that [as a result] many [really] holy things actually would become secular. Our gravest mistake was extending the political relations of the era of esmat[innocence, referring to the era of Prophet Muhammad and the Shiite Imams] to the era ofgheybat [hiding, meaning the era in which Mahdi, the 12th Shiite Imam is hidden and supposedly will return someday]... the most important result of which is weakening the religious beliefs of our young people [not strengthening them].... We should have declared that, unlike all other revolutions, [in our revolution] under no condition, even during war and terrorism, violations of human rights are neither legal, nor Islamic, nor moral.... We should not have allowed the treason of some [those of the MKO] to be an excuse for our deviations from legal and human paths.

Thus, although in my opinion the necessary condition for confronting those who want to force [us] to "confess" is to reveal and condemn their acts, the sufficient condition is to ask for forgiveness from those who were truly oppressed, and accepting the fact that if we had fulfilled our moral and national duty [confronting the injustice] at the right time [in the 1980s], we would not have been trapped in the forced confession and repenting [sessions by the hardliners]. Thus, following Dr. [Ali] Shariati, I say to my generation, "father, mother, we are again the accused, not by the interrogators, but by the current generation." If we consider ourselves supporters of the Islamic Revolution and defenders of the [Ayatollah Khomeini's] principle that, "every generation must decide its own fate," we must prepare the conditions in which the promises of Neauphle-le-Château [a suburb of Paris where Ayatollah Khomeini stayed from early October 1978 to February 1, 1979, for 117 days] and Behesht-e Zahra [Tehran's main cemetery] can be materialized [in both places the Ayatollah promised a democratic political system]...

Just as we should not transfer any hatred from the jails to society, we should also not allow a repeat of the mistakes of the revolutionary era in the present times. Doing so entails accepting our own mistake and being prepared to respond to the accusations of the new generation [that we have brought the present conditions upon them]. If we do not confess our mistakes to the new generation, then the conditions will be ripe for the emergence of those who justify their graver mistakes [and crimes] by ours [in the 1980s]. We cannot claim to be adherents of the Paris declaration [by Ayatollah Khomeini in the fall of 1978] about democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, the press, political parties and the Voice and Visage, women's and ethnic rights, free elections, and republicanism and its link with Islam, but not speak out against the root cause, reasons, impediments, and mistakes that prevent these from materializing.

In other words, if the political group [the hardliners] that is carrying the flag of preventing legal political activism, has taken the election campaigners to court, and presents our mistakes of the first decade of the Revolution [in not defending freedom and justice] as the positive aspects of the Revolution, we should also declare to the Iranian nation explicitly what we consider as our mistakes and what we still proudly defend. This would be the complete opposite of what the barracks party [the military] does in pretending that the mistakes of the first decade of the Revolution and repeating them are the only "revolutionary" way to protect the political establishment, and try to close the doors forever on the free press, free political parties, and free election.

I do not accept the invitation [of the interrogators to "confess"], and instead, consider it my duty to respond to the questions of the young generation as to why and how in the political system that was formed as a result of one of the most popular revolutions of the contemporary era, the thinking of [Ayatollah] Mesbah [Yazdi] rules and replaces the parliamentary way of [another cleric, Sayyed Hassan] Modarres (1870-1937) [the progressive cleric who was murdered by Reza Shah of the Pahlavi dynasty]. How the official media used by some to refer to a great majority of the people "dust" [what Ahmadinejad did last year after his "victory"], ship, and kid and, instead of apologizing for their illegal acts, try to jail the election campaign activists [the reformists] in solitary confinement and force them to apologize [for what they have not committed]. Why the mistakes of the courts in the first decade of the Revolution re-emerged in the person of [Saeed] Mortazavi [the notorious former Tehran Prosecutor]. Why the [national] television that broadcast the free political debates of the spring of 1360 [1981] has become the Voice and Visage of today. Why the Kayhan of Sayyed Mohammad Khatami [when he was the editor in the 1980s] became the Kayhan of Hossein Shariatmadari [the present managing editor, and a most notorious figure]. How Sadegh Larijani has replaced [the former judiciary chief Ayatollah] Dr. [Sayyed Mohammad Hosseini] Beheshti (1928-1981) [who was likely assassinated by the MKO], and [Mohammad Reza] Rahimi [Ahmadinejad's first Vice President who has been accused of vast corruption] has replaced the Imam's prime minister [Mousavi]. How Sayyed Ahmad Khatami [the hardline cleric with relation to Mohammad Khatami] replaced [the former leader of Friday prayer of Tehran Ayatollah Sayyed Mahmoud] Taleghani (1911-1979) [a popular and progressive cleric]. We should apologize for our share in creating this situation, and discuss its root cause and reasons.

Apologizing to the new generation should not be limited to the cases [mistakes] that I have briefly described. We must do so in an atmosphere of debate and exchange of ideas, and there may be many other mistakes that I am not aware of, but the new generation can, by their [constructive] criticism make me aware of them.

Regardless of what happens to Tajzadeh, one thing is clear: He is a patriot who has served his nation with honor and dignity, has made great sacrifices, and has always been a proud reformer and advocate of a democratic Iran. His manifesto and utter honesty in admitting the mistakes that the reformists made surely represents a watershed moment in the history of the reformist/Green/democratic movement, and will be immensely helpful to it.

The Latest from Iran (9 June): Paying Attention

2030 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that the head of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign in Babolsar has been arrested.

2000 GMT: A Friendly Notice. To all journalists riding the two-dimensional bandwagon on Twitter & Iran, treating cliches like "Twitter Revolution" as if they were the core of meaningful analysis, I'm not going to respond for the moment --- this is a made-up dramatic revelation, which recurs every few months and does not get to the heart of what social media has meant in the post-election crisis. Best to let it serve as tomorrow's chip paper.

But if you keep it up, I may change my mind....

1900 GMT: Mahmoud Snaps Back. President Ahmadinejad, who has had post-election encounters with dust (read his "victory speech") and insects (see video), worked both into his response to the UN sanctions resolution: "These (U.N.) resolutions have no value...They are like a used handkerchief that should be thrown in the dust bin. Sanctions are falling on us from the left and the right. For us they are the same as pesky flies....We have patience and we will endure throughout all of this."

NEW Latest Iran Video: Obama Statement on Sanctions...and Rights (9 June)
NEW Iran Analysis: What’s Most Important Today? (Hint: Not Sanctions)
NEW Iran Analysis: 4 June “The Day the Regime Will Regret” (Verde)
Iran Election Anniversary Special: The Power of the “Gradual”
Iran Special Report:The Attack on Civil Society (Arseh Sevom)
The Latest from Iran (8 June): Tremors and Falsehoods

1855 GMT: Back to 22 Khordaad. BBC Persian reports on the increased security presence on the streets of Tehran on the eve of 12 June,the anniversary of the election.


1725 GMT: President Obama has just made a statement about Iran in the aftermath of the UN vote on sanctions. We've posted the video.

Here's the quick read: Obama proclaimed that the sanctions were the "most comprehensive" Iran has faced, said that the UN resolution sent an "unmistakeable message", and spent most of the rest of the time justifying the position on sanctions in connection with his policy of "engagement": "We recognize Iran's rights, but with those rights come responsibilities. Time and again the Iranian Government has failed to meet those responsibilities."

Then, in one of the eight minutes of the statement, having declared,"These sanctions are not directed at the Iranian people," Obama switched from nukes to rights. He noted this Saturday's anniversary of the election, "an event that should have been remembered for how the Iranian people participated with remarkable enthusiasm but will instead be remembered for how the Iranian Government brutally suppressed dissent and murdered the innocent, including a young woman [Neda Agha Soltan] left to die in the street".

It was a bit awkward for the President to link back to uranium and sanctions, and he did not help by throwing in the spectre of Tehran's War of Terror --- "Actions do have consequences. And today the Iranian Government will face some of those consequences. Because whether it is threatening the Nuclear Non-Proliferation regime or the rights of its own citizens or the stability of its own neighbors by supporting terrorism, the Iranian Government continues to demonstrate that its unjust actions are a threat to justice everywhere".

However, at least for one moment, "Iran" was seen in more than the one-dimensional image of a nuclear weapon.

1720 GMT: Rafsanjani Watch. Former President Hashemi Rafsanjani's office has released a letter which, in the eyes of Deutsche Welle, criticises the Supreme Leader's silence over President Ahmadinejad and implicitly acknowledges fraud in the 2009 election.

1620 GMT: Sanctions. The UN Security Council has voted 12-2, with 1 abstention, for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

The relatively limited measures include restrictions on transactions with Iranian banks, asset freezes on Iranian individuals and companies, and an expanded arms embargo on items such as attack helicopters and missiles.

Turkey and Brazil, who recently signed an agreement with Iran on procedure for talks over uranium enrichment, were the two countries who voted against the resolution. Lebanon abstained.

1605 GMT: Karroubi Watch. Al Arabiya has just published an interview from May with Mehdi Karroubi. Topics covered include the rise of the Green Movement, party politics, accusations of prison abuse and torture, Government mismanagement, and Ahmadinejad's foreign policy. Karroubi also offered this in anticipation of 22 Khordaad (12 June), the anniversary of the election:

We promise and give assurances that no incident will occur. I am certain that if a march is held, paramilitary forces will attempt to turn it violent, but our people are wise, and politically mature enough that even if certain individuals come chanting radical slogans, the people have the ability to control the scenario and confront them. However, if authorisation is not granted for demonstrations, we will then decide what to do; but it is currently not possible to say much.

1545 GMT: On the International Front (Mahmoud Stays Home). On Monday, Iranian state media were trumpeting that their internationally-esteemed President would be showing his strength, in the face of Western pressure, by going to the Shanghai Expo in China.

Today, Agence France Presse says that Ahmadinejad plans to stay away from the Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting to snub Russia and China for supporting the US-backed sanctions resolution in the United Nations.

1120 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Amnesty International has launched a new campaign, "One Year On: Stop Unfair Trials". Cases include journalists Abolfazl Abedini Nasr, Hengameh Shahidi, Emaduddin Baghi, Shiva Nazar Ahari and Ahmad Zeidabadi, student activists Majid Tavakoli and Mohammad Amin Valian, and Zia Nabavi of the Council to Defend the Right to Education.

1015 GMT: The Nuclear Discussions. A piece of news that slipped under the media radar....

The International Atomic Energy Agency has announced that it has received replies from France, Russia, and the US to the Iran-Brazil-Turkey declaration on procedure for uranium enrichment talks.

No details were given beyond the note, "Attached to each of the letters was an identical paper entitled ‘Concerns about the Joint Declaration Conveyed by Iran to the IAEA’."

That, however, indicates co-ordination between the three governments. And the timing of the IAEA's statement, together with the lack of substance, indicates that it is happy to let the news be overtaken by today's sanctions vote in the UN.

0955 GMT: Reflecting on The Year. Journalist Masih Alinejad has offered her recollections and analysis in an extended video interview with Voice of America Persian.

0935 GMT: A Signal for the Week? Hamshahri features the colourful cover identifying the bad guys in "Sedition '88".

0930 GMT: Intimidation of Kurdistan Businesses? Human Rights Activists News Agency reports that, following a general strike on 9 May to protest executions, members of bazaars across Kurdistan have been summoned and threatened by government authorities and the businesses of others have been sealed.

0800 GMT: What is the Green Movement? An interesting interview with Fatemeh Sadeghi, a former professor at Tehran University, who argues that the Green Movement is not the opposition of the "secular" against the "religious".

0750 GMT: The Post-Election Abuses. Abdul Ruholamini has resurfaced to declare that those responsible for the abuse and killing of detainees in Kahrizak Prison must "pay for their deeds".

Ruholamini, the campaign manager for Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, is the father of Mohsen Ruholamini, who died in Kahrizak last summer. The case was instrumental in bringing the abuses to light and pressing the Supreme Leader to close Kahrizak. Ruholamini had gone farther in public statements at the start of 2010, declaring that high-ranking officials must take responsibility for the crimes, but had been silent in recent months.

Ruholamini may have been prompted to his statement by the news that the trial of 12 people over the Kahrizak case has finished behind closed doors.

0745 GMT: The Events of 4 June. Another perspective, complementing that of EA's Mr Verde, on last Friday's developments at the ceremony for Ayatollah Khomeini comes from Hamid Farokhnia in Tehran Bureau.

Tehran Bureau also features a review by Muhammad Sahimi, "The Green Movement at One Year".

0740 GMT: Parliament v. President (and Supreme Leader). It seems that Ayatollah Khamenei's intervention --- calling for Parliament-Ahmadinejad co-operation and threatening the Majlis with new "oversight" --- may not have been an overwhelming success.

Key MP Ahmad Tavakoli, an ally of Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani, has commented in Khabar Online that the Constitution is written for people to cooperate, not to fight. So far, so good for the Supreme Leader.

But then Tavakoli re-asserts, "The Government has no right not to implement the laws from the Majlis."

0715 GMT: On a day when "Iran news", for most non-Iranian media, may be dominated by the passage of the US-led sanctions resolution in the UN Security Council, we set out priorities with two analyses: Scott Lucas declares, "What's Important Today? (Hint: Not Sanctions), and Mr Verde looks at "4 June: A Day the Regime Will Regret".

One US outlet shares our attention to the internal: Newsweek notes last Friday's events, with the shout-down of Seyed Hassan Khomeini, under the (over-blown) headline, "Iran's Hushed-Up Civil War":

For his part, Supreme Leader Khamenei did little damage control, even though he has worked hard to present a united front for Iran’s leadership, knowing that discord suggests vulnerability. He took the stage after Khomeini and asked the crowd to act in a more appropriate manner. But that was it. No defense of Khomeini and no rebuke to the crowd. With the anniversary of the contested election just days away now, Khamenei has been trying to manage a delicate balancing act between quieting and frightening the opposition—and sending mixed messages in the process.

In another warm-up for 12 June, the anniversary of the election, Zahra Rahnavard gives an interview to the Italian paper La Republicca. Beyond general criticism of the Government and the declaration, "I hope to shed the last drop of my blood in the cause of freedom and democracy," she focuses on key issues:

The demands of the women in Iran are twofold: 1) National demands such as freedom, democracy, the rule of the law, freedom of political prisoners, right to individual freedoms; 2) Elimination of discrimination and strengthening of cultural rights, women's rights and equal rights under the law.

....Democracy is not possible without women and without paying attention to the demands of women.