The Latest from Iran (2 September): Karroubi, Mousavi, and Qods Day

2030 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Kalemeh reports that leading reformist politician Mohsen Safaei Farahani, one of seven detainees who recently filed a complaint alleging military interference and manipulation in the 2009 Presidential election, suffered a heart attack three days ago and is in the Evin Prison medical facility.

2025 GMT: We are updating urgently in our separate entry on the siege of Mehdi Karroubi's house. Latest reported developments: a bodyguard in a coma, shots fired at assailants, electricity, water, and phones cut off. Fatemeh Karroubi, Mehdi Karroubi's wife, says the pro-regime crowd is "trying to kill her husband".

1905 GMT: Karroubi (and Qods Day) Alert. A fifth night of the "siege" of Mehdi Karroubi's house has begun, with Molotov cocktails fired and Karroubi's bodyguard firing into the air.

Meanwhile, we have posted the first video of tonight's rooftop "Allahu Akbars" (God is Great) . The chants have been a sign of protest throughout the post-election period.

NEW Latest Iran Video: The Rooftop “Allahu Akbars” (2 September)
NEW Pro-Regime Media Asks, “Which is Worse: Stoning or Prostitution?”
NEW Iran Document: Karroubi-Mousavi Meeting on Eve of Qods Day (31 August)
UPDATED Iran: The Latest on the Karroubi “Siege” and the Qods Day Rally
Iran Special: Thoughts on Protest, Stoning, and Human Rights (Shahryar)
The Latest from Iran (1 September): The Threat of Stoning

1900 GMT: Sports! (and Stoning). Football's Francesco Totti, striker and captain of Roma and star of the Italian national side, has signed the petition for clemency for Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery.

1415 GMT: All is Well Update (cont. --- see 1045 GMT). Video of today's "Control in Tehran" operation, taken "discreetly" by observers, has emerged.

Two pictures from a set in Mehr, via Peyke Iran, of today's "Control in Tehran" operation....



1315 GMT: Video of Day. Human rights lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, forced to leave Iran this summer because of threat of arrest, has been re-united with his wife and daughter in Norway.

Mostafaei's clients include Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery. His wife was detained when Iranian authorities could not find Mostafaei to arrest him.

1310 GMT: Economy Watch. Trade union activist Mehdi Kouhestani-Nejad tells Deutsche Welle that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps is now the biggest employer in Iran's petrochemical, communications, and services sectors. Kouhestani-Nejad also claims the IRGC has taken over "bankrupt" companies, arresting managers, in areas such as steel.

1253 GMT: No Hysteria at All Statements of Day. Former Minister of Culture Mohammad -Hossein Saffar-Harandi explains that if security forces had not intervened last year, there would have been one million casualties. He added that Green media are "censoring" the good work of the government.

Pro-Ahmadinejad MP Hamid Rasaei declared that the recent remarks of former President Mohammad Khatami are designed to cover up $1 billion that he has received from foreign agencies for "regime change".

The reformist Islamic Iran Participation Front has responded to similar "$1 billion" accusations from Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi with the claim that he is falsifying reality to avoid the truth about the political and security situation. The IIPF adds that the slander of reformists is a pretext for more persecution.

1245 GMT: Bringing Out a Crowd. The Iranian authorities lay out their plan: there will be special traffic restrictions with 1500 buses to carry people and free use of the metro in Tehran.

1150 GMT: All is Well Update (cont.). The completely secure Iranian regime has reportedly blocked the website of Grand Ayatollah Dastgheib.

1145 GMT: Siege. It isn't just Mehdi Karroubi who has been intimidated this week by regime supporters. Zahra Rahnavard, activist and wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi, was accosted by plainclothes forces on a Tehran street.

Kalemeh reports that the incident occurred a few nights ago in an alley close to Rahnavard's residence, as she was surrounded and interrogated about her activities during the Revolution and her commitment to religion. Rahnavard reportedly responded, “I will not respond to a street interrogation but I will be willing to respond to your questions at my office.”

1140 GMT: Picture of the Day. A photograph of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery, on the facade of a government building in Rome:



1135 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. The wife of activist Arjang Davoudi, who launched a hunger strike in jail 50 days ago, says that he is in grave condition.

1130 GMT: Stopping the Lawyers. Earlier this week we wrote about the raid on the office of defence attorney Nasrin Sotoudeh by Iranian authorities. Sotoudeh has now told Rooz Online that she was given a summons to appear in court within three days on charges of “assembly and conspiracy to disrupt national security and propaganda against the regime".

Sotoudeh's case is the latest in a string of arrests and intimidations. Abdolfatah Soltani and Mohammad Ali Dadkhah spent months in Evin Prison on national security charges. Mohammad Oliyayifard is still detained, while Mohammad Seifzadeh awaited his trial later this summer. Khalil Bahramian has been interrogated at Evin, and Saleh Nikbakht has an open case at the judiciary’s branch in the prison. Mohammad Mostafaei has fled Iran to avoid arrest.

Sotoudeh said, “The gentlemen [of the regime] plan to put so much pressure on lawyers to make legal defense, especially of political defendants, impossible.”

1120 GMT: The Battle Within. Hooman Majd offers an analysis in Foreign Policy which, despite his acknowledgement of "the public feuds between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and seemingly everyone else in the entire country", turns into, "Move Along, Nothing to See Here":

Put simply, now is not the time for petty infighting. And even those conservatives who retain their distaste for Ahmadinejad won't want to jeopardize their good standing with Khamenei -- especially as the 2013 presidential election approaches -- by appeasing Iran's enemies, real or imagined.

1115 GMT: Academic Corner. Writing in Tehran Bureau, Ali Chenar reviews the regime's pressure on universities, considering the resignation of Sharif University head Saeed Sohrabpour and the removal of Zanjan University head Yousef Sobouti.

1045 GMT: All is Well Update. On the eve of Qods (Palestine) Day, the regime is already showing the levels of mass public support it is enjoying. Tehran police have launched the operation "Control in Tehran". Police commander Hossein Sajedi-Nia explained that the heavy presence of security forces on the streets was a regular "exercise" to contain "crimes", occupying all "critical points" of the city to guarantee the people's "safety" on Qods Day.

Saham News claims that disturbance of G-Mail services started hours ago to prevent people from forwarding routes for tomorrow's protests, and ADSL service is also disrupted.

0830 GMT: Thought for the Day. Film director Jafar Panahi, detained earlier this year and barred from leaving Iran, in an interview with Middle East Online:

"There have always been restrictions, but over the past year it was the worst. I cannot be pessimistic though. Limitations have always existed, and this era will eventually come to an end too. It's important to have patience and resistance."

0825 GMT: Talk to Us. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Wednesday that Tehran is still waiting for a response from the Vienna Group (US, France, Russia, International Atomic Energy Agency) on resumption of talks on uranium enrichment: "They have still not officially announced the date and venue for the new round of talks."

0740 GMT: We have posted a feature, "Pro-Regime Media Asks, 'Which is Worse: Stoning or Prostitution?'".

0710 GMT: Academic Corner --- The Counter-Attack. We have been reporting all week on new regime threats against universities. There is news from the other side, however....

An open letter from the "Islamic Association of Democracy", claiming to represent students of Tehran University, asks Minister of Higher Kamran Daneshjoo: "Wasn't it enough to attack the dormitories [after the June 2009 election] and dismiss students and professors? Do you have to u try to destroy free thinking and security at the universities?

A letter to Daneshjoo from 38 professors demands the restitutition of Professor Yousef Sobouti, recently replaced, as head of Zanjan University.

And students of Mehdi Karroubi's campaign committee have asked Green supporters to join Qods Day processions: "come to the streets for your lost rights".

0705 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Peyke Iran claims that the sister of detained journalist Abdolreza Tajik was interrogated for four hours and that Tajik's lawyer Mohammad Sharif has been blocked from meeting him.

0655 GMT: Karroubi Watch. Mehdi Karroubi met with the family of the political prisoner Mostafa Tajzadeh, a prominent reformist politician, yesterday.

0630 GMT: Sanctions Watch. Der Westen claims that up to 100 "front" companies in Germany are moving arms to Iran.

0605 GMT: Flu Alert! EA took great pride in its front-line coverage of the 2009 swine flu crisis. So we have to note the video, posted by Peyke Iran, in which Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami --- who is leading Friday Prayers in Tehran on Qods Day --- declares that swine flu is the outcome of the sins of the West.

0600 GMT: Sports! The US defeated Iran, 88-51, in the qualifying rounds of the World Basketball Championship on Wednesday. We wait to see if Max Fisher's pre-match prediction comes true:

After all the harsh rhetoric and low-level violence, three decades of Iran-U.S. tension will come to a close this afternoon. If the U.S. wins, Iran has agreed it will give up its nuclear program and cede power to the Green Movement. If Iran wins, President Obama says he will implement sharia law, although he was probably going to do that anyway.

0550 GMT: Execution (Ashtiani) Watch. Rooz Online publishes an open letter from the son of Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani, sentenced to death for adultery, to "human rights defenders across the universe". Sajad Ghaderzadeh writes:

Why do they extract false confessions from my mother by force and broadcast them? Why have they prevented my mother from seeing her attorney or us since then? Is it not because signs of torture are still visible on her body and they do not want any witnesses? Have they delayed visitations until the signs are healed? Why do they plant false evidence against my mother? Why do they open a case that was previously closed? Why have my father’s murder files gone missing? Why do they not allow my mother’s case to proceed normally like any another case? We are truly disappointed that we were born in the Islamic Republic; and that we were abandoned by our own family after the sham show on the Islamic Republic’s television; and that we are forced to tolerate this life of humiliation.

Life killed us. Death, where are you?

0540 GMT: We open this morning with two features. We have an English translation of Tuesday's meeting between Mehdi Karroubi and Mir Hossein Mousavi, discussing tomorrow's Qods (Palestine) Day and the general state of Iran. The discussion was primarily about economic, political, and legal problems; despite rumours, there was no call for an opposition rally on Friday.

We also post an update on the harassment of Karroubi by pro-regime groups, as his home was surrounded for a fourth consecutive night.

Despite the intimidation, Karroubi remains vocal. Rooz Online summarises his recent remarks on military interference and the "fraud" of the 2009 Presidential election.

Comments

[Arshama]

Qods Day Watch

Tehran's police commander Hossein Sajedi-Nia explained today's heavy presence of security forces in town as a regular "exercise" to contain "crimes". All "critical points" of the city have been localised to guarantee the people's "safety" on Qods Day: http://isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1605290&Lang=P

Police state? Not at all, the security forces are always at your service!

[Arshama]

Qods Day Watch #2

Saham News reports that disturbance of G-Mail services has started some hours ago to prevent the people from forwarding the routes for tomorrow's protests, the ADSL service is also disturbed http://www.sahamnews.org/?p=7159

[Arshama]

Karroubi Watch

In a phone call to Karroubi Ayatollah Sane'i has strongly condemned the ongoing brutal attacks on his home and called them "inhuman". He also wished him patience and perseverance to follow the people's rights and to reform the corrupt system: http://www.sahamnews.org/?p=7148

[Catherine]

@ Academic purges and brain drain

A reader at Tehran Bureau posted a very illuminating statement about the brain drain by Khomeini during an interview with Ettelaat newspaper published on Oct 31st 1980.

"They say there is a brain drain. Let these decayed brains flee. Do not mourn them, let them pursue their own definitions of being. Is every brain with - what you call - science in it honorable? Shall we sit and mourn the brains that escaped? Shall we worry about these brains fleeing to the US and the UK? Let these brains flee and be replaced by more appropriate brains. Now that they (the Islamic Republic) are filtering, you are sitting worried why they are executing [people]? Why are you discussing these rotten brains of [these] lost people? Why are you questioning Islam? Are they fleeing? To hell with them. Let them flee. They were not scientific brains. All the better. Don't be concerned. They should escape. [Iran] is not a place for them to live any more. These fleeing brains are of no use to us. Let them flee. If you know that this is no place for you, you should flee too."
Interview with Ettelaat newspaper, آیت الله روح الله خمینی در ملاقات با اعضای کمیته امداد روزنامه اطلاعات، 9 آبان ماه 1358
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iran%27s_brain_drain

[Catherine]

More on the same subject at Tehran Bureau:
Hardliners Tighten Grip on Academia
by ALI CHENAR in Tehran
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2010/09/hardliners-tighten-grip-on-academia.html

[Catherine]

Exclusive Interview with lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh After Office Raid
Ms Sotoudeh represents many journalists and political prisoners, including Isa Saharkhiz, Keyvan Samimi, Zia Nabavi and Shirin Ebadi..
http://www.roozonline.com/english/news/newsitem/article/2010/september/01//must-say-goodbye-to-defense-workd-in-iran.html

[Catherine]

Iranian political activist Arjang Davudi, who launched a hunger strike in jail 50 days ago, is in a grave condition, his wife has told RFE/RL's Radio Farda
http://www.rferl.org/content/Iranian_Political_Prisoner_In_Grave_Condition/2145208.html

[Catherine]

RFE/RL's report in English on 'Zionists Waiting To Kill Hidden Imam'
http://www.rferl.org/content/Zionists_Waiting_To_Kill_Hidden_Imam_Says_Iranian_Cleric/2145806.html

[Catherine]

Hooman Majid, writing in 'Foreign Policy', thinks that the public feuds between President Ahmadinejad and seemingly everyone else in the entire country are business as usual in the byzantine Iranian political system and that the sanctions aren't forcing Iran's leaders apart.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/09/01/ahmadi_and_friends?page=full

[Ange-Paris]

Egypt said Thursday it has postponed a visit to Cairo by Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki over comments criticising the role of some Arab leaders in facilitating Middle East peace talks.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100902/wl_mideast_afp/israelpalestinianspeaceegyptiran_20100902101955

Poor guy, he's welcomed nowhere !! :-)

[Ange-Paris]

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to make a brief visit on Sunday to Qatar, Iran's closest ally among the Gulf Arab states, the Iranian ambassador in Doha, Abdollah Sohrabi, said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100902/wl_mideast_afp/iranqatardiplomacy_20100902101227

He leaves himself a way out !

[Ange-Paris]

The Saudi arms request will likely lock Riyadh and Washington into a close military relationship for 20 more years.The deal will significantly boost Saudi ability to defend its airspace against aircraft and missiles, to undertake very painful deterrent strikes and to police coastal areas.
http://www.forbes.com/2010/09/01/saudi-arabia-military-defense-weapons-business-oxford.html?feed=rss_home

[Ange-Paris]

Iran to stage anti-Israel rallies amid peace talks in Washington
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/342300,rallies-peace-talks-washington.html

[Ange-Paris]

Japan set to toughen sanctions on Iran ,following the United States and European Union's leads in pressuring Tehran.

http://www.iranfocus.com/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21595:japan-set-to-toughen-sanctions-on-iran-nikkei&catid=31:economy&Itemid=46

[Ange-Paris]

French writters support Ebrahim Hamidi, sentenced to death because of his homosexuality
http://jbavitrolles.blogspot.com/2010/09/iran-soutien-decrivains-francais.html

[Bozorg]

Re: the police pics - That's a lot of jock protection for a bunch of guys with no balls.

[JILL]

Jeg er blandt dem som mener grensene må stenges men synses det var rett avgjørelse familien

hans fikk komme til Norge.

[Rough translation: "I am among those who think the borders should be closed but thought it was the right decision the family his had come to Norway."]

JILL

[قانون]

political prisoner mohsen beikvand was killed today,

[Arshama]

Karroubi Watch

As Jaras reports according to Karroubi's son Mohammad Taghi tonight the Bassiji attacked their home with Molotov Cocktails and guns, broke up the door and tried to enter the higher floors, stopped by the bodyguards. One of them was apparently transferred to the hospital. Hossein Karroubi says "It has become like Palestine here." http://www.rahesabz.net/story/22653" rel="nofollow">http://www.rahesabz.net/story/22653

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