The Latest from Iran (20 May): Back to Business

1955 GMT: Former Vice President Abtahi Attacked? Reformist and Green sites are circulating the claim of Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Vice President during the Khatami Government, that he was attacked by plainclothes militia today as he was attending a memorial service in the south of Tehran.

Abtahi wrote on his Facebook page that a vehicle suddenly blocked the route of his car, and he was attacked by motorcyclists with knives, cables, and tear gas. He reported, “I can say that I left the area with the broken glass and tear gas in a miraculous way. It was a very violent attage. No one came to help. They were very confident and dreaded nothing”.

Abtahi, who was detained for months after the June election and reportedly forced to make a public "confession", has published photos of the incident.

Iran Document: Simin Behbahani’s Poem for the Executed
Iran Videos: Former Diplomat Heidari Reveals the Regime
Iran’s Uranium: Why Can’t the US Take Yes for an Answer? (Parsi)
Iran’s Uranium: Washington “Can’t Afford to Look Ridiculous”, Makes Ridiculous Move (Emery)
Iran’s Uranium: US Shows a Middle Finger to Tehran…and Turkey and Brazil and… (Gary Sick)
Iran Document: Iranian Labour Unions “This is Not 1979″
The Latest from Iran (19 May): Fallout

1610 GMT: Film Corner. While two directors (Jafar Panahi and Mohammad Nourizad) are on hunger strike in Evin Prison, the film-meets-reality story of actress Kiana Firouz --- which EA featured on Tuesday --- continues:

A young Iranian actress named Kiana Firouz will attend the London premiere tonight of a film in which she plays a lesbian seeking asylum in Britain because the Iranian authorities are pursuing her. The Home Office rejects her application and sends her back to the Islamic republic, where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.


Unfortunately for Kiana Firouz the film is not make-believe. It is based on her life. The Home Office has denied her asylum and she now faces the prospect of deportation to Iran followed by flogging, execution or both.

1400 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalemeh claims that journalist and filmmaker Mohammad Nourizad has been severely beaten by guards at Evin Prison. According to the website, Nourizad was taken from his cell by five security personnel and has suffered concussion and vision problems. He has now started a complete hunger strike in protest.

Nourizad was detained for writing letters to the Supreme Leader and the head of the judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, criticizing their approach to the post-election confrontation of protesters. He has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison and 50 lashes.

1230 GMT: Larijani Takes a Side. Speaker of Parliament Ali Larijani has declared that the response of the US and "Western" countries to the Iran-Brazil-Turkey agreement "proved that they are not sincere in the [discussion of] a fuel swap" over Iran's uranium stocks.

The significance of the statement is more internal than external: some Larijani allies, like Ahmad Tavakoli, had criticised the Ahmadinejad Government for agreeing to let Iran's uranium go outside the country. The Western response allows Larijani to focus on the perfidy of foreigners rather than engaging in that internal debate.

1220 GMT: The Executions. We've posted a poem by Simin Behbahani for the five Iranians executed on 9 May.

0915 GMT: Not Kahrizak. Alireza Avaee, the Chief Officer for the Ministry of Justice, has announced that a "new" and "good" prison has opened near the Kahrizak facility, infamous for post-election abuses and killing of detainees.

0855 GMT: The Detained US Trio. Press TV is carrying the "breaking news" that the mothers of three detained US nationals, arrested when they walked across the Iran-Iraq border last summer, have met their children in a hotel in north Tehran.

0845 GMT: Beating the Oil Squeeze? An article in The Wall Street Journal claims that tankers of both Royal Dutch Shell and France's Total, who claim to have restricted activities in Iran, are secretly shipping Iranian oil.

0835 GMT: Today's All is Well Statement. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi puts out the assurance that security forces have managed to quell post-election disturbances: “Sedition has been brought to an end by suppression.”

Moslehi's accuracy in reporting may be judged by his subsequent statement that he had not been informed of the story that the head of Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s security had been arrested. And his political line may be ascertained by his insistence that an arrest warrant had been issued for Mehdi Hashemi, the son of Hashemi Rafsanjani, who will be detained upon entry into Iran.

0830 GMT: Clerical Warning. The "conservative" Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has put out another unsubtle message for the Government and possibly the clerical regime: "if we have no mercy for the people, God will inflict political, cultural and social evils upon us".

0715 GMT: Corruption Watch. First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi, who has been under pressure over alleged fraud and mismanagement, has issued a threat: the use of Government funds by some newspapers and websites must be stopped.

0710 GMT: Uranium Deal --- The Discussion Within. Member of Parliament Elias Naderan, who has led the campaign against the Ahmadinejad Government over "corruption", has given his support to Monday's Iran-Brazil-Turkey agreement. Naderan said, "A positive outcome would be paving the way for the cooperation of Iran and IAEA which makes the international situation a win-win scene for the Islamic Republic. It means that the deal both provides the necessary security and guarantees our rights in nuclear fuel swap, and provides the ground for international economic cooperation which has been blocked by the sanctions imposed."

0705 GMT: Sanctions. The New York Times is featuring briefings from American and European officials that a "passing" reference in the sanctions resolution, introduced to the UN Security Council on Tuesday, gives a legal basis in the future for choking off financial transactions between Iran and banking centers in Europe and elsewhere.

However, to get Russia and China to even accept the introduction of the resolution, the US had to give up any specific reference to Iran's central bank. Instead the American and European officials are saying that there will be a call for "extreme vigilance" in dealing with Bank Melli.

0700 GMT: A New Campaign and a Suggestion. Rah-e-Sabz reports that Green supporters have founded the "National Campaign of Mousavi's and Rahnavard's Children".

Ebrahim Nabavi, warning of rising pressure on the Green Movement, calls for the spread of information to the people, from outside and inside Iran and especially via the Internet.

0530 GMT: With just over three weeks before the anniversary of the 2009 Presidential election, a good time to let others fuss over sanctions and Tehran's uranium enrichment and to look inside Iran....

Reviewing the Election

Dissected News carried out a detailed dissection of the "official" Presidential results and of the political context before, around, and beyond them. It concludes:

Within even a few days of the election, the Green Movement had become bigger than the June election; it had become a referendum on the legitimacy of the Islamic Republic itself, and the place in the world occupied by the educated Iranian youth. It had become about human rights, freedom of speech, the rights of women, and establishing life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for a 21st century Iran.

And no rigging of an election can stop that.

And For This Year....


United for Iran carries the news that almost 40 cities have already scheduled events to mark 12 June (22 Khordad) and its significance for rights and justice.

Political Prisoner Watch

Alireza Ezzabad, a student at Allameh Tabatabei University, has been sentenced to one year and 74 lashes for participation in demonstrations.

Comments

[Catherine]

RE 0710 GMT: Uranium Deal
Rami G. Khouri, Editor of Lebabnon's The Daily Star and Director of the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut, presents a Middle Eastern take on the agreement on Iran’s nuclear fuel announced Monday after mediation by the Turkish and Brazilian governments.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=39061" rel="nofollow">http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=3...

[Catherine]

Shadi Sadr Criticizes Tightening Of 'Veil And Chastity' Rule http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Activist_Criticizes_Tightening_Of_Veil_And_Chastity_Rule/2047091.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Activist_C...

[Catherine]

Iran sanctions snarl global nuclear talks
The brisk rejection of a last minute compromise on Iran proposed by Brazil and Turkey has snarled broader UN talks on disarmament and non-proliferation
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2010/may/19/non-proliferation-treaty-npt-iran" rel="nofollow">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-g...

[Catherine]

VOA Interviews Son of Death Row Prisoner Jafar Kazemi
http://persian2english.com/?p=10853" rel="nofollow">http://persian2english.com/?p=10853

[Catherine]

BBC Persian interviews Mehrdad Emadi, a European Union economic advisor, about the effects of the possible sanctions on the Iranian economy:
http://persian2english.com/?p=10875" rel="nofollow">http://persian2english.com/?p=10875

[Catherine]

RE: 0855 GMT: Press TV is carrying the “breaking news” that the mothers of three detained US nationals have met their children in a hotel in north Tehran.

I'm sure this must have been a bitter sight for all the Iranian mothers of political prisoners who either have not been aable to do the same or who have to go through hell and high water just to peer at their children through a thick glass:
The mothers of three U.S. citizens held in Iran met them in Tehran today and were shown embracing their children on state-run Press TV. The three mothers waited in a room, dressed in long coats and headscarves and holding bouquets of flowers, the dress code for women in Iran. Their children entered the room and were shown hugging their mothers.
http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/may/20/1917" rel="nofollow">http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/may/2...

[Catherine]

Shiva Nazar-Ahari’s Mother in Interview with Rooz Online

The trial of human rights activist Shiva Nazar-Ahari will begin in Tehran on May 23rd 2010. This activist who has been behind bars for 11 months, continues to be held in Evin’s solitary confinement Ward 209 with another cellmate. Rooz spoke with Shiva’s mother, Shahrzad Kariman, about her daughter’s situation and living conditions in prison.
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/may/19//do-not-resurrect-a-dead-political-group.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem...

[Ange-Paris]

Very good article; the result will be the collapse of the regime.

[Arshama]

@ 0835 GMT: Today’s All is Well Statement

Mohsen Sazegara offered some explanations to the arrest story of Mir-Hossein Mousavi’s head of security in his vide message today: apparently security forces had tried to persuade him to distance himself from Mousavi, and as he refused to do so, they "retreated" him.
Obviously the regime is getting more nervous from day to day, as Khabar Online published a news today about "a friend, who visited Mousavi, advising him to repent". But even if the SL, AN and Sadegh Larijani, this mockup justice minister, continue with arbitrarily imprisoning and executing innocent people, nothing will stop this movement. For every executed ten new supporters stand up in anger, and the Green wave will wash away this disgrace to humanity.

ma bishomarim

[Catherine]

Prison guards in Evin prison have severely beaten up Iranian filmmaker and writer Mohammad Nourizad. According to the Kaleme website, on Tuesday Nourizad was told taken to an open space in Evin prison supposedly for a breath of fresh air when five security forces severely beat him up as though with an “intention to kill” the writer. http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/may/20/1919" rel="nofollow">http://en.irangreenvoice.com/article/2010/may/2...

[Afshin]

Well at the moment they seem to have the situation well under control. So for the time being what ever it is they are doing seems to be working well.

I certainly do hope that June will bring a change in that....

[Catherine]

@ 0835 GMT: Today’s All is Well Statement

Last week, a top official in Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards, Mojtaba Zolnour, also said the establishment is capable of confronting the leaders of the sedition but added that the timing is important.

“There is astuteness in not arresting these gentlemen so that they become politically dead. Arresting them will turn them into heroes," Zolnour said.

The comments seem to suggest that despite growing pressure on opposition leaders -- particularly Musavi -- the Islamic establishment believes it is not in its interest to arrest them.
http://www.rferl.org/content/Why_Is_Iran_Not_Arresting_The_Leaders_Of_The_Sedition/2047446.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.rferl.org/content/Why_Is_Iran_Not_Ar...

[pessimist]

Of course it's not in their interest, at the moment. The very fact that they say this, is tantamount to saying it is planned. Just as maybe were the last hangings, after the NPT meeting. And now the Turkey Brazil agreement. No, they are in the news, they wouldn't dare.

[Arshama]

Mashaie Watch

Jahan News reports that AN's adviser Rahim Mashaie will be appointed as manager of IRNA and the daily "Iran" soon: http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=17006" rel="nofollow">http://www.peykeiran.com/Content.aspx?ID=17006

As posted on EA already, he has only 16 other offices besides his advisory job. I recommend to find him two additional jobs -- 20 offices certainly look better than 18.

[Dissected News]

This is my newest analysis of the Uranium Swap/Sanctions fiasco -
Radiation Sickness: Exploring America’s newest conundrum
http://www.dissectednews.com/2010/05/radiation-sickness.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.dissectednews.com/2010/05/radiation-...

I argue that the motivations of Obama's p5+1 move is to preserve US power in the region, prevent scrutiny of Israel's nuclear arsenal, and to keep hidden the covert agenda - regime change in Iran.

[Schöner Foltern & andere N]

[...] via enduring america [...]

[Bijan77]

James -

Interesting article. I think the point you make that there are pieces of truth to all the "viewpoints" is the key issue that seems to be ignored by most driving the disucssions and those reporting on the discussions (present company excluded).

I am curious, and your article does point to this, but why the departure by Obama from his past statements? Specifically, while I agree it is HIS policy, but are there forces (republican OR democrat hawks, lobby groups, etc) that are driving this, resentment for lack of a better word, that the US appears to have based on the Iran/Brazil/Turkey talks and with that the position in the international community that both these countries have gained so far and that will likely increase in short time?

[Dissected News]

hi Bijan,

I think you get at a fundamental question that is nagging at me right now. I'll be honest, I was shocked at Clinton's announcement because I thought that Obama had a pretty good plan (though not a perfect one) for dealing with Iran, considering the hand he had been dealt.

I think the biggest surprise, however, is that Russia and China are going along. This tends to tell me that the p5+1 feels threatened that Turkey and Brazil were succeeding where they had not. Perhaps that is where the hidden pressure is coming from. Obama seems to have previously shrugged off pressure from the right and the left when it comes to Iran. China and Russia strike me as new variables.

[Bijan77]

James -

I was shocked also. As has been discussed on this and other sites, the statement itself was shocking enough, but also the timing of the statement.

The Russian and Chinese stances are a bit perculiar to me as well. One one hand it seems that the two countries, in their own way, are seeking to assert, or in Russia's case, reassert themselves as a major player in the global political arena (one could argue China is already there), specifically vis a vis to the US. Given the economic relations both countries have with Iran it also is not surprising that they have been resistant to supporting sanctions. I admit to not having the chance to read in detail the sanctions proposed by Clinton but the bit i have read is that they appear to be rather specific (e.g. banking and right to inspect "suspicious" cargo) and there is a chance that both Russia and China will "water down" further. I can only guess that this is due pressure from the US, UK and Europe but again, the support of the Chinese seems to be distant at best.

I agree that it may be a matter of ego as you elude to and I did in my prior comment. There was an article posted in a thread above linking to an article on Middle East online that suggests something to a similar effect.

[Dissected News]

This is a powerful article on the NYT about the current state of Iranian-U.S. relations

America Moves the Goalposts
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/opinion/21iht-edcohen.html?partner=rssnyt" rel="nofollow">http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/21/opinion/21iht...

[Bijan77]

Thanks. Fitting title and the article seems to come to be of an opinion
similar to our discussion.