The Latest from Iran (13 May): Justice, Legitimacy, and a Strike in Kurdistan

2015 GMT: Kurdistan. ADN Kronos summarises, "Many shops, markets and public offices were closed in Kurdistan's main cities of Sanandaj, Saqqez, Kamiaran and Marivan. Most school and university students stayed away from school, according to the CyrusNews opposition website.

In Kamiaran, protesters gathered outside the home of Farzad Kamangar, one of five political prisoners executed on Sunday in Tehran's Evin prison."

2000 GMT: Iran and Iraq Troops Clash. From Agence France Presse:

Iraqi border guards exchanged fire with Iranian troops along the two countries' border on Thursday....

An Iraqi officer was captured by the Islamic Republic's forces in the 90-minute gunfight on the border with Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region, which was apparently sparked when Iranian troops mistook Iraqi soldiers for a Kurdish rebel group.

"Iranian forces thought that the border guards belonged to PJAK (the Party of Free Life of Kurdistan -- an Iranian Kurdish rebel group) and started to open fire," Brigadier General Ahmed Gharib Diskara, the head of Iraq's border guards in Sulaimaniyah province, told reporters.

"The border guards shot back and one officer of the Iraqi army has been captured. Negotiations are ongoing to free him."

NEW Latest Iran Video: Strike in Kurdistan (13 May)
NEW Iran Special: Executions, Politics, and the Attack on Nazila Fathi and The New York Times
NEW Iran Transcript: Mousavi “Do Iranian Mothers Have Rights?” (12 May)
NEW Iran Document: A Letter from Majid Tavakoli About the Executed (11 May)
Iran Update: The Aftermath of the Executions
Iran Document: Maziar Bahari’s Response to His 13-Year (and 74-Lash) Sentence
Iran Special: A Renewal of Protest for 12 June?
The Latest from Iran (12 May): Defending the Indefencible

1945 GMT: Kurdistan. Report --- Ajlal Aghvami, the spokesman of the Kurdistan Human Rights Organization, has been arrested in Sanandaj.


1540 GMT: Last Words from the Executed? Peyke Iran has posted what it claims is the last statement of Mehdi Eslamian, executed on Sunday, and footage from inside Gohardahst Prison in Karaj.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rv92USld_rY&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

1535 GMT: Investigation Complete? Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi-Fard, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, has claimed that a report has been completed on last June's attack on Tehran University dormitories. Reformist members of Parliament had claimed that the supposed enquiry into the events had been set aside.

1525 GMT: Meanwhile...Where's Mahmoud? Khabar Online has pictures of President Ahmadinejad's visit to Yasuj in southwestern Iran, including a poster, "Sir, where is the gas you promised to the village of Kalous?"

And the President's message? "Be sure, Iran's next government will be 10 times more revolutionary....People all over the world, even USA and Europe, are disappointed by their leaders:their only hope is Iran! We should prepare the world for the arrival of the Mahdi."
1515 GMT: Kurdistan (Containing the Students). In addition to the 15 Kurdish student activists reportedly arrested in Marivan (five names have been published), Peyke Iran claims seven Kurdish students have been summoned to Evin court.

1500 GMT: The Kurdistan Strike. We are now featuring videos apparently showing widespread closure of shops and empty streets in cities in Iranian Kurdistan.

The strike was called for by the Kurdish Communist Party, the Democratic Party of Kurdistan, and Komeleh, including its Socialist branch.

BBC Persian have now posted a brief item on the events.

1455 GMT: A Rights-First Approach. Writing in The Washington Post, Roxana Saberi, who was detained in Iran from late January until early April 2009, begins with this story:

I received an e-mail from a human rights campaigner in Tehran who knew one of them, asking me to spread the word about the hangings. "We are truly helpless," she wrote, "and we feel lost."

Saberi argues:

As the international community focuses on Iran's nuclear program, it should also make human rights a first-tier issue. When the U.N. Human Rights Council meets in Geneva next month, Washington and the European Union should lead calls for a resolution setting up a mechanism to investigate human rights atrocities in Iran during the past year. A bigger push should be made to send a U.N. special envoy on human rights to Iran and to aid Iranians, including the many journalists forced to flee their country out of fear of persecution.

But perhaps even more important than government efforts is the outcry of ordinary people worldwide. When everyday citizens speak out against Iran's human rights violations, Tehran has a tougher time asserting that their calls have been masterminded by foreign governments.

1045 GMT: Kurdistan. An EA correspondent writes:

The point worth noting is the discipline and strong support evidently commanded by the Democratic Party within the population. The appeal for the strike was made over Kurdish satellite TV, and in contrast to the response of Iranian counterparts to calls for national strikes, the people of Sanandaj were immediately receptive. The photos have prompted congratulatory messages from people in Tehran, who commented on the efficacy of strike action in Iranian Kurdistan, as opposed to getting anything done elsewhere in the country.

1040 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Financial Times Deutschland reports that Iran is having problems finding buyers for its oil, with supplies sitting on tankers.

1035 GMT: Kurdistan. Peyke Iran is claiming a heavy security presence and authorities' pressure on shopkeepers to reopen their shops in Sanandaj. The website claims that
two protesters were shot and injured in Sanandaj and that there have been clashes. Most Kurdish pupils and students reportedly did not show up at classes today.

1020 GMT: Streets are reportedly deserted in Sanandaj, Iranian Kurdistan's largest city.


1000 GMT: The Strike in Kurdistan. For three days, I have been following Internet chatter that there would be a general strike in Iranian Kurdistan, protesting the executions. However, as I could not hard evidence, apart from a statement from a Kurdish Communist Party (apologies to readers if I missed information), I held back on reporting.

Now, however, photos have emerged indicating that some shops are closed today. There are also claimed photos of clashes; we are trying to confirm.





0945 GMT: Apologies for limited updates. I have been occupied with writing an analysis, "Executions, Politics, and the Attack on Nazila Fathi and The New York Times".


0700 GMT: The Executions --- The Official Account. Yesterday we posted, without comment or criticism, Fars News' "further update" on Sunday's execution of five Iranians. This was based on the official statement of the public relations office of Tehran’s General and Revolutionary Public Prosecutor’s Office.

Having allowed time for readers to consider that account, we now have the queries of an EA correspondent over the failure to establish a justification for the executions, offer a credible defense that due process was indeed followed, or explain the timing:

1. Only four of the five are identified as members of the Kurdish separatist movement PJAK. One defendant was executed for a bombing in Shiraz although no claim is made that he was involved in the bombing and no evidence is offered that he knew about the intent to bomb before the operation. It is stated, based on the accused's confession, that he learned about the bombing after he became suspicious of a friend and persuaded that friend to admit that he was involved in the bombing. He then helped the friend flee.

2. The cases of two of the executed were never sent to the Supreme Court for final decision. The executions were performed with mere confirmation of the Appeals Court.

3. The Supreme Court decision to confirm the execution order of the other three was apparently rendered on 1 March 2009 after an Appeals Court decision that was rendered in February 2008. The delay in executions until May 2010 is not explained.

4. The evidence given in the statement regarding the PJAK membership of four accused is at best circumstantial.

The evidence given for Farzad Kamangar's membership in PJAK is that his brother was active in "party activities" in Sulaymanieh and has a "conviction record" for involvement with the PKK, the Kurdish movement active across Iran, Iran, and Iraq. The statement does not say if the record is in Iran, Iraq, or Turkey and does not explain why this blood relationship is significant in relation to alleged crimes.

The other evidence given for Kamangar's membership are the words of the other two executed men --- one of whom himself is alleged to be PJAK because of a coded note and PJAK booklet found in his house --- that they knew Kamangar, lived in the same neighborhood, and forged documents for him. They do not accuse Kamangar of being a member of PJAK and the statement does not say that they themselves admitted being members of PJAK.

If the Prosecutor's statement is accepted at face value, Kamangar was never involved in the actual bombing. Allegedly an explosive timer was found in his house and he was also accused of fabricating documents for two people, who intended to put together material for explosives found by police in a car.

0620 GMT: The Oil Squeeze. Kalemeh reports on the significant number of foreign companies who have suspended development of the South Pars and Assalouyieh oil and gas fields.

In recent weeks Iranian officials have issued "ultimata" to Royal Dutch Shell and Spain's Repsol to resume development or face eviction from Iran.

0615 GMT: The Executions. The Iranian Writers' Association has condemned the hanging of five Iranians on Sunday: "There are no words which could describe this bloodshed and bloodthirst"

0520 GMT: We begin this morning with two features. We have posted a letter from student activist Majid Tavakoli, detained in Evin Prison since 7 December, about three of the Iranians executed on Sunday. And we have put up the English translation of Mir Hossein Mousavi's wide-ranging comments on Tuesday about the Green Movement and the legitimacy of an unjust Government, "Do Iranian Mothers Have Rights?"

Comments

[Catherine]

Entertainment Weekly (!) takes notice of imprisoned Iranian director Panahi

Jafar Panahi: A terrific filmmaker is in prison, not at Cannes where he belongs
by Lisa Schwarzbaum
As the Cannes Film Festival unspools over the next 10 days, one prestigious juror won’t have access to his rightful seat: Iranian director Jafar Panahi has been imprisoned in Tehran’s Evin prison since March for his political views.
More: http://movie-critics.ew.com/2010/05/12/jafar-panahi-cannes-prison-protest/" rel="nofollow">http://movie-critics.ew.com/2010/05/12/jafar-pa...

[Catherine]

Roxana Saberi has an op-ed in the WaPo:
A chance to stand tall against Iran on human rights
May 13, 2010
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/12/AR2010051204297.html?hpid=opinionsbox1" rel="nofollow">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ar...

[Megan]

Scott,

I understand a general strike has been called for Kurdistan province today, May 13. I do not know if people followed through. Do you have any news?

[Catherine]

Culture Ministry to punish directors of unauthorized Iranian entries to foreign events
Source: Mehr News Agency,

"Directors will be banned from filmmaking for one year if their films, which have not received a license for foreign screening, are shown at international events," Deputy Culture Minister for Cinematic Affairs Javad Shamaqdarii said during a press conference on Tuesday. "They will also be deprived of any governmental services for that duration," he added. The rule has been established to deter screening of Iranian movies that allegedly blemish the national image abroad.
More: http://www.payvand.com/news/10/may/1132.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.payvand.com/news/10/may/1132.html

[Catherine]

Very long interview on by Persian2English with Reza Aslan

From Theocracy to Militarization- An Interview with Reza Aslan
May 12, 2010
http://persian2english.com/?p=10508" rel="nofollow">http://persian2english.com/?p=10508

[Catherine]

RE 07.00 GMT The Executions point 4

The leader of the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan (PJAK), Abdolrahman Haji-Ahmadi, said that the five terrorists executed in Iran on Sunday had "no organic links" to PJAK.
(in 2nd to last sentence of article)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=126079§ionid=351020101" rel="nofollow">http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=126079&sec...

[MariaRohaly]

Dear Megan,
First, I invite you to see the comment I just posted here to Scott.
Second, in direct response to your question, you should go to http://search.twitter.com" rel="nofollow">http://search.twitter.com and enter the following search terms: strike Kurdistan.

To immediately answer your question: yes, the strike in Kurdistan is on, cities are more or less deserted, some cities are immobilized, and universities throughout Iran are conduting strikes and hunger strikes in solidarity with Kurdistan.

[Catherine]

Afghans are also protesting Iranian executions ..... of Aghans:

Around 1,000 Afghans demonstrated on Thursday against alleged ill-treatment and executions of some Afghan refugees by Iranian authorities on charges of drug-smuggling.

The protesters threw eggs on the gate of Tehran's consulate in the eastern city of Jalalabad and burnt down an effigy of Iran's spiritual leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
More: http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64C13C20100513" rel="nofollow">http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE64C13C2010...

[Catherine]

Shirin Alam Hooli was scheduled to be released
Source: Ghasedane Azadi at Freedom Messenger

Shirin Alam Hooli who was executed along with four others on May 9, 2010, unlike what many believe, was scheduled to be released or have her sentence reduced.

... Although Shirin promised not to talk upon her release, she released a few letters from prison written in Kurdish that were signed with the word “Serkeftin,” which means victory in Kurdish. The letters made the authorities change their minds on her release.

In a session with the representative of the Tehran Prosecutor’s Office (Mortazavi at that time), Shirin Alam Hooli claimed that she was repeatedly raped and asked for prosecution of the interrogators.

Following that session, she was taken to the gallows, against the normal judicial process. According to a witness, when Shirin realized what was about to take place, she pleaded to talk to her mother for the last time, but the representatives of the Prosecutor’s Office did not even let her write a will.

Full article: http://persian2english.com/?p=10578" rel="nofollow">http://persian2english.com/?p=10578

[Catherine]

Arshama,
I read recently that there's a new law in Iran making ISPs responsible for the content published on websites they host, so there's a parallel system of filtering with ISPs also censoring their own customers. It could be that Alireza Shirazi was reported to the authorities by his own ISP!

[Eowyn9]

"1045 GMT: Kurdistan. An EA correspondent writes: The point worth nothing is the discipline and strong support"

I think you mean the point worth NOTING ;-D

Otherwise great work, keep it up! :)

[Kurt]

I saw something like that in a Hamid Farokhnia article at TB.

[Adam]

I fail to understand why the green movement hasn't seized upon this as an opportunity to spread the strike nationally. My issue with Mousavi is not that he supports non-violent protest, but that he seems to shy away from even civil disobedience aside from street protests that are practically infeasible when the protesters are exposed to rape, torture, and murder by the regime. If a general strike can be pulled off in the much oppressed Kurdish region, wouldn't it be much more effective to call for such a strike nationally? At least until opinions can be expressed without fear of violence?

[Barry]

“Be sure, Iran’s next government will be 10 times more revolutionary….People all over the world, even USA and Europe, are disappointed by their leaders:their only hope is Iran! We should prepare the world for the arrival of the Mahdi.”

And some people wonder what is different about Iran - that it should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons when other countries have them.? For me it is obvious! Iran is a danger to the entire world because of it's fanatical religious ideology. The entire world needs for this Regime to pass into history.

Barry

[DR_iran]

Much love to our kurdish brothers and sisters.
Marg bar jomhooriye eslami!

Free Kurdistan, Free Iran, we are all ONE!

[Megan]

Maria,

Thank you. Salute to courageous people of Kurdistan. I wish other provinces follow suit.

[Megan]

Arshama,

Thank you for the links.

I was very anxious yesterday and afraid that people may not follow through with the strike. I hope people of Kurdistan taught the rest of the country a good lesson.

Many times after every bloody day of protest I thought to myself staying home and refusing to go to work and school for a few days is much better way of protest. If the entire country stayed home, regime can do much about it. Regime cannot fire everybody. I thought by staying home regime thugs could not use you for target practice or as punching bag. I still wonder why people do not do that. I know lack of leadership, inability to communicate and coordinate are important factors. In this case, however, they knew 5 people had been executed and they knew people of Kurdistan will stay home so why not support them and stay home. This I do not understand.

[Megan]

Re: The president’s message

“Be sure, Iran’s next government will be 10 times more revolutionary….People all over the world, even USA and Europe, are disappointed by their leaders:their only hope is Iran! We should prepare the world for the arrival of the Mahdi.”

This has gone beyond being funny. This, to me, looks more and more like Jim Jones, the Peoples Temple and Jonestown http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7860880126603536377#" rel="nofollow">http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-786088.... Ahmadi more and more looks like like Jim Jones and like him he is preparing the cyanide laced Kool-Aid for his followers.

Pictures in Yasuj show a town whose people needing and living on government handouts. They are not showing affection toward Ahmadi, the affection is for what he gives them. It is sad to see how small towns are soley depending on government handouts. At some point some will drink the cyanide laced Kool-Aid willingly to hasten return of Mahdi and others will drink it because they are hungry, not knowing it is their last drink.

[Catherine]

Megan,
RE "Ahmadi more and more looks like like Jim Jones and like him he is preparing the cyanide laced Kool-Aid for his followers."

I know you have no patience for mullah stories, but this one illustrates what a dangerous cult you're talking about. Here are some excerpts from a Rooz online article on the Mesbahiyeh Cult:

A senior member of the reformist clerical group Assembly of Combatant Clergy Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, warned about the increasing power of hardline cleric Mohammad-Taghi Mesbah Yazdi and his disciples, noting, “The Mesbahiyeh cult, which I have been warning about for years, is not sitting idle; this is a very dangerous and violent group that won’t show mercy to anyone, neither to the Imam, nor to ayatollah Khamenei. They are using him as a tool to reach their goals, and when they accomplish that, they would destroy the supreme leader too.”

This is Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour’s third warning about the influence of the “Mesbahiyeh cult” in Iranian power structure. He had warned before in 1385 and 1387 about the gradual infiltration of Meshab Yazdi and his close disciples into sensitive power centers in Iran.

Describing the Mesbahiyeh cult’s views, he said, “The Mesbahiyeh cult is extremely restrictive against women, the youth, students, journalists, and internal politicians. We don’t see anytime during Imam’s life when he accused the Iranian youth of being heretics; or to refer to students as secular, materialistic, and egotistical.”

Despite opposition from many figures close to ayatollah Khomeini, including ayatollah Tavassoli, Mehdi Karoubi, Mousavi-Tabrizi, Mohammad Khatami, and even verbal clashes between Hashemi Rafsanjani and Mesbah Yazdi over the latter’s promotion of violence against political opponents, and Mesbah Yazdi’s clear remarks about the insignificance of popular votes and the divine sovereignty of the supreme leader, Mesbah Yazdi’s disciples have advanced so far into the Iranian power structure that his supporters and former students now occupy sensitive posts, particularly in the Islamic Passdaran Revolutionary Guards Corps, Basij and the police.
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/may/12//mesbah-yazdis-danger-for-khamenei.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem...

[Catherine]

Arshama and Kurt,
Yes, the article on TB is 'A Kafkaesque Realm of Cyber Censorship', and the relevant part starts at the heading: Filtering Galore
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/05/a-kafkaesque-realm-of-cyber-censorship.html#comments" rel="nofollow">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranb...

[Arshama]

Catherine,

Thanks for the TB article, which mentions however ISPs as filterers, while Blogfa is a CMS (content management system), not a provider. In any case even (hardline) Tabnak criticised Shirazi's arrest, because it is impossible for a CMS to control all contents. Or as they put it: otherwise we would need a guard for every single blog.

Speaking of internet, Wikipedia has a new outlook and also this interesting list: English and German lead with 1 million + articles, followed by French and Polish, and Persian is on rank 33, i.e. second in the group 10,000 + articles :-)
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias" rel="nofollow">http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias

Arshama

[Catherine]

Arshama,
Oops - I missed that about Blogfa being a CMS, although the name should have been obvious enough :-). However, a CMS is ultimately controled by an chief editor who reviews contents submitted for publication by others with less authorisation, or if it's just a one-person blog, the owner of the blog is responsible for the content he/she publishes, so even though the CMS can't control the contents, the person using the CMS certainly should be able to. How is the situation with Shirazi different?

[Arshama]

Catherine,
As far as I know (checked the German laws), the blog-owner is responsible for his content, and the content manager should remove content offensive after being informed about it. Apparently the same goes for Iran, but instead of averting Shirazi, they arrested him first -- that figures!
Tabnak's complaint pointed just to this absurdity, but these hardliners are also angry, because their sites have been blocked as well ;-)

Arshama

[Bill Davit]

Another "what planet is Ahmadinejad on" statement: “Be sure, Iran’s next government will be 10 times more revolutionary….People all over the world, even USA and Europe, are disappointed by their leaders:their only hope is Iran! We should prepare the world for the arrival of the Mahdi." One wonders if this fanatic even bothered to recognize 77% of the world is not Islamic and well over 95% is not even Shia! What is this guy smoking? Maybe we should let Ahmadinejad try to walk around any Western city without any protection to see how long he could go without having the crap beat out of him!