The Latest from Iran (2 June): Where's My Crowd?

2040 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Ayatollah Khamenei's website says that the Supreme Leader has pardohttp://farsi.khamenei.ir/message-content?id=9499ned 81 opposition supporters.

The website did not identify the prisoners. It said the pardons were made on the occasion of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad's daughter, Fatemeh.

NEW Iran Document: Mousavi “Imam Khomeini, Revolution, and the Green Movement” (2 June)
NEW Latest Iran Video: Ahmadinejad in Ilam “Where’s My Crowd?”
The Latest from Iran (1 June): Latest on Emad Baghi

1615 GMT: Requesting the March. The Facebook page supporting Mir Hossein Mousavi reports that, complementing the request of Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi,  eight reformist parties and organizations asked for permission to hold a rally on 12 June (22 Khordaad), the anniversary of the Presidential election.


The eight groups (Assembly of Former Members of the Parliament, Mojahedin of Islamic Revolution Organization, Islamic Association of Medical Society of Iran, Association of Women Journalists, ssembly of Alumni of Islamic Iran, Islamic Iran Participation Front, National Will Party, and Assembly of Followers of Imam) asked for a rally moving from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square in Tehran at 4 p.m. (1230 GMT).

The authorities in the office of the Governor of Tehran Province refused to accept the letter, saying that they can only give permits for rallies that are held in closed spaces. The Ministry of the Interior has also received a copy of the request.

1340 GMT: We have posted the translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's statement today on Ayatollah Khomeini, Revolution, and the Green Movement.

1230 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. An Iranian activist reports that Mehdi Boutorabi, founder of Persian Blog, and teachers Mahmoud Beheshti Langeroudi & Alireza Hashemi have been released on bail.

0945 GMT: Most Wanted. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran has issued a 36-page report "naming 15 leading officials responsible for carrying out the brutal repression against peaceful protestors and civil society activists".

0825 GMT: Political Prisoner Follow-Up. Yesterday an EA correspondent updated us on prison conditions and the health of detained journalist Emaduddin Baghi, who recently met his family after five months in solitary confinement.

Another EA correspondent adds that Baghi and Amir Aboutalebi, an aide to Mir Hossein Mousavi's advisor Alireza Beheshti, are in the same cell. They have been told that, if they want to be released, they should write a letter of apology to the Supreme leader.

0815 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Zahra Shams, a law student at Mashhad's Ferdowsi University, has been released after almost a month in detention.

0800 GMT: Un-Free Press Update (with a Bit of Football).The sports daily "Goal" has been banned, with another 10 newspapers and 3 magazines warned. (The threatened publications are the newspapers Vatan-e Emrooz, Farhikhtegan, Mardomsalari, Aftab-e Yazd, Jahan-e Eghtesad, Arman-e Ravabet-e Omoumi, Jomhouri Eslami, Jahan-e San'at, Karoon, and Alborz-e Varzeshi and the magazines Behdasht-e Ravan va Jame'e, Rah, and Honar-e Musighi.)

An EA correspondent notes a significant number of journalists from Vatan-e Emrooz and Farhikhtegan have been imprisoned, with others from Jomhouri Eslami and Jahan-e Eghtesad detained.

0745 GMT: Iran Propaganda Special. Fereshteh Ghazi reports on rifts within the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, which is broadcasting a series of "portraits" of political figures from 17 to 26 Khordad (7-16 June). Ghazi claims the series was actually put together by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps, and IRIB only does only the editing.

The distortion of the views of Iranian reformist Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, which we have noted in recent days, is apparently only the first installment of this propaganda extravaganza.

0620 GMT: After an evening talking to the Security Studies Group at Oxford University about the Obama Administration's foreign policy, it is back to the Iran front this morning....

Ahmadinejad: "Where's My Crowd?"

We have posted the video of the far-from-significant crowd that attended the President's speech in Ilam Province on Tuesday.

Remembering Kianoush Asa

A far different video from Tehran's Elm-o-Sanat University, where about 400 students remembered their classmate Kianoush Asa, reportedly killed during the 15 June demonstration protesting the outcome of the Presidential election.

HomyLafayette has a close-up report and more videos.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIN3Xfj2nPY&feature=channel[/youtube]

Political Prisoner Watch

The prison sentence of Ph.D. student Mahmoud Alizadeh Tabatabai has been reduced to one year on appeal. Tabatabai was originally given a two-year term.

Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog: Limiting an Enquiry, Maintaining a Blockade? (2 June)

2100 GMT: British Prime Minister David Cameron, speaking in Parliament, has strongly denounced both the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla and the blockade of Gaza:

What has happened is completely unacceptable. We should be clear about that and we should also deplore the loss of life....We should do everything we can to make sure this doesn't happen again - and I stressed this point in a conversation with President Netanyahu of Israel....



Friends of Israel - and I count myself a friend of Israel - should be saying to the Israelis that the blockade actually strengthens Hamas's grip on the economy and on Gaza, and it's in their own interests to lift it and allow these vital supplies to get through.

NEW Gaza Flotilla: A Legal Opinion “The Occupying Power Had to Facilitate the Passage”
NEW Gaza Flotilla Video & Transcript: Hillary Clinton’s Statement (1 June)
Gaza Flotilla: The Text of the UN Security Council Statement
Gaza Flotilla: A Short Note on Why Our “New Media” Are Essential
Blaming the Gaza Flotilla: Text of US Remarks in Security Council
The Flotilla: Has Israel Lost Its Second Gaza War? (Burston)
Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog: The Politics After the Attack (1 June)

1720 GMT: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in the middle of a press conference defending Monday's attack. Calling the Freedom Flotilla a "hate boat", he said, "The State of Israel will continue to practice its right to defend itself. It's important for all of us to be united."


1715 GMT: The Israeli Line. The Israeli military is now realising selective clips from cameras on the Mavi Marmara to establish that "rioters" initiated the confrontation with the commandos.

I'll leave it to readers to critique the footage, but ask this question: if this is an effort at establishing the "truth" about the attack, rather than propaganda to justify it, why not release all the film from the cameras, rather than this edited, partial clip?

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

1640 GMT: Hamas has refused Israel's delivery of wheelchairs that were amongst the aid on the Freedom Flotilla. "We refuse to receive the humanitarian aid until all those who were detained aboard the ships are released," said Ahmed Kurd, Minister for Social Welfare. "We also insist that the equipment be delivered in its entirety."

Kurd said that the passage of the wheelchairs was a "deception," claiming that the batteries that operate them had been removed, and was designed to divert attention from Monday's "massacre".

Kurd also welcomed Egypt's decision to reopen the Rafah border crossing.

1635 GMT: The "You Don't Say" Headline of Day. Reuters makes a surprising discovery, "Experts say Gaza convoy raid may boost militancy".

1625 GMT: Haneen Zoubi, an Arab member of the Israeli Parliament who was on the lead ship of the Freedom Flotilla, said Israeli naval vessels had surrounded the Mavi Marmara and fired on it a few minutes before commandos abseiled onto the deck.

Zoubi said passengers were forced off the deck when water was sprayed at them and she was not aware of any provocation or resistance. She added that within minutes of the raid, three bodies were brought to the main room on the upper deck, two with gunshot wounds to the head.

1330 GMT: In a separate entry, we have posted a legal opinion that the Israeli military was obligated to escort the Freedom Flotilla to a Gaza port.

1325 GMT: Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i has told the Israeli Parlimaent, the Knesset that all nine passengers killed were involved in violent clashes, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilna'i said on Wednesday.

Vilna'i praised Israel's commando unit, Shayetet 13, as "unique in the world....While their friends are being lynched....[they were] calling on each other to hold fire."

Vilna'i was heckled by Arab members of the Knesset, six of whom were ejected, and right-wing members, one of whom was removed from the chamber.

1320 GMT: CNN reports that Turkey has informally told the US it will pull out of a trilateral military exercise planned for August with the US and Israel.

1225 GMT: MV Rachel Corrie Halts Journey. The merchant ship MV Rachel Corrie is now going to stop in Crete while the Free Gaza Movement meets tonight to review its journey.

The Movement is reportedly reluctant for the ship to proceed because it does not want the Rachel Corrie to attract all media attention when there are still activists, including Free Gaza board member Lubna Masarwa, who are still in an Israeli prison.

1210 GMT: More Pressure on Israel. Britain's Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said, "[The blockade] is an absolute humanitarian catastrophe, and we should acknowledge it as such, but it is also not in Israel's own long-term self-interest....The blockade on Gaza is neither sustainable nor tenable in its present form."

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu says Ankara is ready to normalise ties with Israel if the blockade is lifted.

1200 GMT: Britain's Channel 4 reports that Irish Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Martin has called on Israel to allow the aid ship MV Rachel Corrie to reach Gaza.

As the MV Rachel Corrie sails, the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza announced that they received funding for three more ships as part of a new flotilla "Freedom 2".

1140 GMT: Jack Shenker of The Guardian of London reports from the Gaza-Egypt border, "A total of three buses are believed to have made it across from Gaza to Egypt today. An estimated 3000+ people are still waiting."

1130 GMT: Israeli Defense Forces have released a new video, claiming that it shows passengers opened fire at soldiers first.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFGuwUGaI9o&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

1120 GMT: Limits of Criticism Continue. Turkish political parties have failed to agree on a Human Rights Commission declaration condemning Israel.  The opposition party, the Republican Peoples' Party, wanted to add "Parliament expects economic and military measures against Israel", but the Justice and Development Party rejected the change.

1110 GMT: The Human Rights Commission of the Turkish Parliament, TBMM, has condemned Israel's raid in a strongly-worded resolution.

Several hundred Turkish demonstrators, amidst tight security, gathered outside the Israeli Ambassador's residence in Ankara.

1100 GMT: Speaking at the opening of an economic conference in Beersheba, Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has asked the UN Security Council to the lift the blockade on Gaza and to endorse an international investigation of the blockade and Monday's raid on the Flotilla raid. He said that the Palestinian people are encountering daily occurrences of Israeli terror.

1045 GMT: Defense Minister Ehud Barak welcomed Shayetet 13, the commando unit carried out the operation. He told them that "they did exactly what [they] were supposed to do" and added: "We are not in Western Europe: here there is no reward for the weak, there is no second chance for those who do not know how to defend themselves."

1030 GMT: Speaking to Army Radio, former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said: "The government needs to make a big effort to rehabilitate the political situation with friendly nations that are angry at us and to avoid sinking into isolation. We need to return the situation to what it was not too long ago when we were a friend of the world."

1010 GMT: The UN Human Rights Council is expected to vote on a draft resolution this afternoon. The resolution harshly condemns Israel and says Israel violated international law when it took over the ships in the middle of the ocean. The resolution also calls on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza and to supply immediate humanitarian aid to Gaza, in the forms of food, gas, and medications. Similar to the Goldstone Report, it calls for an independent fact-finding mission to investigate international law violations.

1000 GMT: During yesterday's meeting between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, the latter targeted Israel: "Psychologically, this attack is like 9/11 for Turkey. Turkish citizens were attacked not by terrorists but by a political decision of a state".

0945 GMT: Sherine Tadros of Al Jazeera reports that 77 women, the last female passengers in detention, will soon be freed. She says about 100 men remain in the Israeli prison.

0907 GMT: Israel has ordered the families of its diplomats to leave Turkey.

0904 GMT: Journalist Rachel Shabi says there is still no information on the number of passengers remaining in the Israeli prison, with no access for lawyers. Israel has still not released the names of the dead and injured.

0900 GMT: The BBC has posted the account of Hasan Nowarah, the first British passenger to return from the Freedom Flotilla. Nowarah had been on the attacked lead ship, the Mavi Marmara, but was moved to another craft before the assault:

As we finished our prayers all we could hear were people screaming, we looked at the Marmara ship and saw the Israeli helicopters dropping soldiers. We heard more screaming and shouting before bullets were fired all over the place.

On our ship we could hear 'tick, tick, tick, tick' around the body of the ship, but they were not real bullets, it turns out it was paintballing guns they were shooting at us.

0700 GMT: Donald Macintyre of The Independent of London makes a powerful case, "It's Up to Us to Lift the Blockade":

But blaming Israel – and Egypt, which repeatedly enforces closures on Gaza's southern border – for the blockade is too easy. For just as the international ban on talking to Hamas isolated its more pragmatic elements, so the West's tolerance of the siege has strengthened the Islamic faction's more repressive ones, turning Gaza in on itself. A lawful naval relief operation – or even a threat of it that might produce a real easing of what the UN sees as an unlawful blockade – might help to restore international influence over a territory which remains crucial to any settlement in the Middle East. And it would certainly would go a long way to redeeming the West's woeful inaction over the last three years.

0655 GMT: Israel freed 124 of the Flotilla's passengers before sunrise this morning, sending them to Jordan.

0630 GMT: More than 48 hours after the Israeli attack on the Freedom Flotilla, and the battle to open up both the enquiry into the incident and the economic blockade of Gaza continues.

We've posted the video and transcript of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement as the US Government tries to defend an Israeli --- rather than an "independent" --- investigation of the attack. At the same time, Washington's language on the Israeli blockade has shifted, even if it is set against the perpetual of Israel's security: "The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable."

The challenge to Israel may have escalated with Egypt's decision to open its border with Gaza for the first time in more than a year, as thousands immediately made the crossing. West Jerusalem is trying to hold the line with the statement of an "ongoing dialogue" with the international community over the blockade.

And around the politics circulates the clash of statements and videos over what happened on Monday aboard the Mavi Marmara, the lead ship of the Flotilla, as nine passengers were killed. A series of survivors, deported from Israel, gave vivid testimony of an Israeli attack on unarmed civilians. The Israelis countered by putting forth its video version of the clash and the Israeli commando officer who was supposedly thrown over a railing.

Gaza Flotilla: A Legal Opinion "The Occupying Power Had to Facilitate the Passage"

Amidst the discussion of whether Israel had a right under international law to intervene against ships sailing in international waters, one of my colleagues, lawyer Dina Biygishieva argues that Israel, as an occupying power in Gaza,  had to facilitate the passage of the six ships of the Freedom Flotilla:

On 31 May the Israeli navy attacked humanitarian ships bringing aid to Gaza in international waters in the middle of the night. According to different reports approximately 10-16 humanitarian activists were killed and 50-60 were injured. The ships were seized by the Israeli navy. What could be a verdict on the Israeli actions under international humanitarian law?

Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog: Limiting an Enquiry, Maintaining a Blockade? (2 June)

The whole situation on humanitarian ships in international waters falls into scope of the regulation of different international sources of law. According to article 188 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, high seas shall be reserved for peaceful purposes, and Article 110 provides that a warship that encounters a foreign ship on the high seas can only board the ship if there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that it is participating in unlawful activities such as piracy or the slave trade.


The Gaza flotilla was made up of civilian ships carrying humanitarian aid. There were no reasonable grounds for boarding the ships, much less for killing civilians on board.
 With respect to international maritime customary law. In the case of genuine security concerns, the action of Israeli navy should have been contacted by expressing concern with the flotilla to flag-bearing states and insisting on the boats’ retreat.

Regarding the use of force, the extent of Israel's actions should have been to divert the flotilla once it had reached [Israel's] territorial waters. Even then, once ensuring that the flotilla contained only humanitarian goods, Israel, as the Occupying Power in Gaza, would have been duty-bound to facilitate its passage.

By intercepting and boarding the ship in the high seas, Israel has acted in egregious violation of customary international law.

What follows next? Israel is bound by so-called Fourth Geneva Convention (Convention IV relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Geneva, 12 August 1949). Provisions of the Convention clearly impose the obligation of meeting humanitarian needs of the people of occupied territories to the fullest possible extent. The welfare of Gaza ’s inhabitants is a precise duty of Israel duty under the Convention, and it includes their rights to health, education, food and adequate housing. The assault on the flotilla, widely publicized to be carrying essential humanitarian aid to Gaza, contravenes Israel's duty to facilitate the passage to humanitarian aid to territory it occupies.

Furthermore, the use of live ammunition to kill and injure civilians on board, even in circumstances in which there may have been some resistance to the take-ver of the ship, was a disproportionate response to the situation and a violation of the civilians' right to life, as set out in Article 6(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Iraq War: What Was It Good For? (George W. Bush: "The US Economy")

Juan Cole picks up a revelation about President George W. Bush's enthusiasm for the 2003 Iraq War and adds context and aftermath:

Néstor Kirchner, former president of Argentina, revealed in an interview with Oliver Stone for the director’s documentary “South of the Border” that former US president George W. Bush was convinced that war was the way to grow the US economy. Here is the video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI446mXonu0&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

Here is the transcript of Kirchner’s account of the conversation at a summit in Monterrey, Mexico, in January, 2004:

Kirchner: I said that a solution to the problems right now, I told Bush, is a Marshall Plan. And he grew angry. He said the Marshall Plan is a crazy idea of the Democrats. He said the best way to revitalize the economy is war. And that the United States has grown stronger with war.

Stone: War, he said that?

Kirchner: He said that. Those were his exact words.

Stone: Is he suggesting that South America go to war?

Kirchner: Well, he was talking about the United States: ‘The Democrats had been wrong. All of the economic growth of the United States has been encouraged by wars.’ He said it very clearly. ‘

Zaid Jilani at Think Progress points out that job creation under "war president" Bush was in fact anemic and the whole house of cards collapsed toward the end of his tenure.

You wonder who else among the Republican elite fell for Bush’s typical piece of stupidity re: war= growth. It all depends on lots of other factors. If you borrow the money to fight the war and pay interest on it and you get no booty to speak of, then the war could ruin you, as happened to many European regimes in the early modern and modern period.

But even more outrageous is the Aztec-like willigness to rip the beating heart out of a sacrificial victim for the sake of an chimerical prosperity! Here is what was happening in Iraq around the time that Bush was boasting to Kirchner, according to Informed Comment on 18 January 2004:

23 Killed (2 Americans), 130 Injured (including 6 Americans) in Baghdad Car Bombing

AFP has raised the casualty count to as many as 23-25 killed and 130 wounded in the Baghdad car bombing of the US headquarters there.

The huge explosion turned the busy central Baghdad street outside into a battlefield inferno but the headquarters buildings inside the heavily-fortified area known as the Green Zone were unaffected. The blast came the day before Iraqi and US officials, including US civilian administrator Paul Bremer, are to meet with a wary UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York to discuss a future UN role in Iraq. “At least 20 people have lost their lives and almost 60 were injured,” US Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt told reporters. “It would appear from all the indicators this was a suicide bomb. We have confirmation some of those killed were US citizens, US contractors. We believe the current number is two. We are waiting for final confirmation,” Kimmitt said. Another five people were reported dead and 71 wounded at Baghdad hospitals. Witnesses claimed US soldiers opened fire in panic on Iraqis moments after the blast, but a military spokesman denied this.

Earlier AP had reported,

Officials said more than 60 people, including six Americans, were injured in the blast on a mist-shrouded morning near the north entrance — known as the “Assassin’s Gate” — to Saddam’s former Republican Palace complex, now used by the U.S.-led occupation authority for headquarters.

I’d say there is increasing evidence that the US is not in control in Iraq, and that the place may well be headed toward being a failed state for the near term. When, 9 or 10 months after an army conquers a place, its HQ is not safe from attack, this is always a bad sign. For those who keep making Germany and Japan analogies, I ask you if MacArthur’s HQ was getting blown up in Tokyo in April of 1946.’

Gaza Flotilla Video & Transcript: Hillary Clinton's Statement (1 June)

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Gaza Flotilla LiveBlog: The Politics After the Attack (1 June)

Question: Madam Secretary, I’d like to ask you a couple things about the Israeli situation which, as you know, is getting more and more serious by the day. I know there are many unknowns at this point, but do you accept Israel’s argument of self-defense? And do you think that the investigation should be done by Israel or by a third independent party, as other Security Council members have said?

And more broadly, we all know there are so many moving pieces to this. There’s Turkey, there’s Israel and in the Palestinians, there’s Iran, there’s Syria. What are the implications in your mind of this situation to the peace process and in the larger issues in the Middle East? Thanks.


SECRETARY CLINTON: Well, Nick, on your last day, you’ve asked a very complicated set of interrelated questions. And let me put it into context as I respond. First, let me say how deeply we regret the tragic loss of life and injuries suffered among those involved in the incident aboard the Gaza-bound ships, and we offer our condolences to the families of the deceased and the wounded.

Turkey and Israel are both good friends of the United States, and we are working with both to deal with the aftermath of this tragic incident.

The United States supports the Security Council’s condemnation of the acts leading to this tragedy. And we urge Israel to permit full consular access to the individuals involved and to allow the countries concerned to retrieve their deceased and wounded immediately. We urge all concerned countries to work together to resolve the status of those who were part of this incident as soon as possible.

We support in the strongest terms the Security Council’s call for a prompt, impartial, credible, and transparent investigation. We support an Israeli investigation that meets those criteria. We are open to different ways of assuring a credible investigation, including international participation, and we will continue to discuss these ideas with the Israelis and our international partners in the days ahead.

The situation in Gaza is unsustainable and unacceptable. Israel’s legitimate security needs must be met, just as the Palestinians’ legitimate needs for sustained humanitarian assistance and regular access for reconstruction materials must also be assured.

We will continue to work closely with the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority along with international NGOs and the United Nations to ensure adequate access for humanitarian goods, including reconstruction and building supplies. And we welcome efforts to promote the reunification of Gaza and the West Bank under the legitimate and internationally recognized Palestinian Authority.

Ultimately, the solution to this conflict must be found through an agreement based on a two-state solution negotiated between the parties. This incident underscores the urgency of reaching this goal and we remain committed to working with both sides to move forward these negotiations.

I think the situation from our perspective is very difficult and requires careful, thoughtful responses from all concerned. But we fully support the Security Council’s action last night in issuing a presidential statement and we will work to implement the intention that this presidential statement represents.