USWarning to the Palestinian Authority: According to a document sent by Washington to the Palestinian Authority and obtained by Haaretz on Friday, the Obama Administration will assign blame and take action if indirect talks fail due to one side’s fault. After clearly stating Washington’s position for “a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian State with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967″, the report continues:
We expect both parties to act seriously and in good faith. If one side, in our judgment, is not living up to our expectations, we will make our concerns clear and we will act accordingly to overcome that obstacle.
2120 GMT: Author, translator and journalist Omid Mehregan has been released from detention.
2100 GMT: So all our watching on many fronts is overtaken by the “Iran Might Be Getting A Bomb” story. Little coming out of Iran tonight; in contrast, every “Western” news outlet is screaming about the draft International Atomic Energy report on Iran’s nuclear programme. (Funny how each, like CNN, is implying that it “obtained” an exclusive copy.)
1830 GMT: Political Prisoner News. “Green media” pull together reports that we carried last night: 50 detainees were released, including Shahabeddin Tabatabei, member of the Islamic Iran Participation Front and head of youth in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mohammad Khatami, Parisa Kakaei of the Committee of Human Rights Reporters, student activist Maziar Samiee, and Khosrow Ghashghai of the Freedom Movement of Iran.
1955 GMT: The lawyer for 21-year-old Amir Reza Arefi says his client has been sentenced to death for “mohareb” (war against God). Arefi was arrested in April 2009, before the June election.
1945 GMT: Keeping Rafsanjani in His Box. An EA correspondent puts together an important story: with the 7th general assembly of the Assembly of Experts due next week, probably on Tuesday and Wednesday, new attacks have been launched upon Hashemi Rafsanjani, the head of the Assembly.
A statement from a number of clerics at Qom declares that, due to the performance of Hashemi Rafsanjani in the past few months, he is not suitable to continue in his post. And Fars News, criticising Rafsanjani’s son Mehdi Hashemi for not returning to Iran after five months abroad, asserts that his settling in London is “strange and suspicious”.
1715 GMT: The Karroubi Wave. It appears that the Karroubi family — not just Mehdi Karroubi, but the family — are ready to propel the next wave of opposition to the Government and regime. In addition to Fatemeh Karroubi’s interview (1600 GMT), Mehdi Karroubi’s son Hossein has spoken out to Radio Zamaneh.
2300 GMT: Urgent Correction on the Labour Front. Earlier today (1600 GMT) Tehran Bureau reported that the Tehran Bus Workers had called for civil disobedience over the case of jailed activist Mansur Osanloo. Tonight Iran Labour Report has issued an effective retraction of the story:
On February 12, a statement appeared on various Iranian websites, including Balatarin which is one of the largest Persian-speaking community websites in the world, in the form of a poster. The poster called for solidarity with the imprisoned leader of Tehran’s bus drivers union, Mansoor Osanloo, through acts of civil disobedience beginning on March 4 around Tehran’s Valiasr square. The statement purported to be an offcial statement of the union (formally known as the Syndicate of Vahed Company Workers of Tehran and Environs). Subsequently, in an article for the popular web journal Tehran Bureau, a staff member at Iran Labor Report wrote an analysis of the union statement as it had appeared on the various websites.
It now appears that the poster-statement was not authentic and that the union’s leadership had not issued the statement. Moreover, the provenance of the statement is still not clear. The union had apparently not published an official disclaimer earlier on due to the recent disuptions with internet use in Iran. Subsequent to this, the union requested that the inauthenticity of the statement be made public and that henceforth no reference would be made of it.
2145 GMT: Labour Rights. The joint statement of three Iranian unions — the Syndicate of Tehran Bus Workers, the Syndicate of Haft Tapeh Sugar Cane Company, and The Free Union of Workers in Iran — to the United Nations Human Rights Council has been posted:
[Workers'] most urgent and most basic demands at the present time are:
Could this be a Balkans breakthrough? Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that Bosnia will open an embassy in Belgrade as the result of a trilateral meeting held in Turkey this week.
Serbian, Bosnian, and Turkish foreign ministers gathered for the fifth time since October, with Turkey mediating to repair the diplomatic ties between two Balkan countries. There have been diplomatic relations between Serbia and Bosnia, but they were frozen for three years after Belgrade rejected Bosnia’s ambassador. While low-level diplomacy had been conducted, the restoration of full relations is crucial for bilateral ties. Bosnian Foreign Minister Sven Alkalaj said, “The appointment of the ambassador is a concrete result. We’re looking for this achievement to continue. This is very important for prosperity and stability in the Balkans.”
Davutoglu said the meetings will continue, with discussions in Sarajevo next month and in Belgrade in April. He added that the aim is to make the Balkans the center of cooperation and stability: “Balkanization will mean stabilization in the future.”
2150 GMT: Pep Talks. It is not just Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi talking up 22 Bahman. Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani has issued his second declaration in days, reiterating that “mohareb” (enemies of God) are those beating and injuring people bloodily, not peaceful protesters, and asserting that the military should not interfere in politics.
And Nasrullah Torabi, the prominent reformist member of Parliament, has reassured that 22 Bahman is a national holiday and people do not fear the warnings of hardliners.
2140 GMT: Rafsanjani’s Children and the Regime. Rah-e-Sabzhas an article considering the political and psychological battle around the threat of criminal charges against the children of Hashemi Rafsanjani.
2130 GMT: The Relay of Opposition. Radio Zamaneh has added details of Mehdi Karroubi’s denunciation of the Government and call to march on 22 Bahman (see 1100 GMT). Karroubi has called on fellow clerics to “come to the aid of the people…reach[ing out to the people before all these atrocities [of the Government] are attributed to Islam, Shiites and the clergy” and declared that Iranians on 11 February will try to “stop their promising achievements and goals from falling into oblivion, and demand them with fortitude and an aversion of physical and verbal violence”.
Karroubi asserted, “From one side petty flatterers and from another side worthless extremists have closed the arena onto our scholars, thinkers and learned.” In contrast, the common ground for groups in the Green Movement is their demand for “open elections, freedom of the press, unconditional release of all political prisoners, reform of governance and the judiciary as well as respecting citizens’ rights.”
Significantly, given that the “Western” media was distracted earlier today by the Iran rocket launch (see 1325 GMT), CNN’s website is now featuring the Karroubi statement.
2125 GMT: Blowing Smoke or Playing for Time? Tehran Prosecutor General Abbas Jafari Doulatabadi has said that death sentences for nine political prisoners have not been “finalised”. Doulatabadi’s statement adds to the confusion surrounding conflicting statements between the head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, who said he would not be pushed into speeding up executions, and his deputy, Ebrahim Raeesi, who gave assurances that the nine would be killed.
2035 GMT: And Another “Monarchist” Death Sentence. Mehdi Eslamian has been condemned to execution on charges of involvement in a bombing in Shiraz and ties to a monarchist group.
2025 GMT: Another Arrest. Kaveh Ghasemi Kermanshahi, a leading human rights activist, member of the Central Council of the Human Rights Organization of Kurdistan, and journalist, has been detained. Read the rest of this entry »
As the London Conference convened on Pakistan and Afghanistan on Thursday, Turkish officials Pakiistani and Afghan counterparts. That was the fourth tripartite meeting for a regional initiative for Afghanistan since Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu took office.
In an interview with the Turkish channel NTV, Davutoglu set out Turkey’s approach toward Afghanistan’s future. He defined explained Afghanistan’s importance for Turkey: stability and political balance in Asia, Turkey’s mission in the country as part of a NATO force, and the historical friendship between Ankara and Kabul. Turkey has pursued a “safety zone” in Afghanistan, providing $200 million in economic aid.
Asked about an opportunity to the Taliban to play a role in Afghanistan’s future, Davutoglu supported a political arrangement that covers all groups and minorities, even if they are armed militants. He asserteded that such a strategy will engage the Afghan people, who have a say in the defence, stability, and security of their country.
“Is it possible to restart it again? Yes, why not? If the two countries agree to restart it, we can do it. As Turkey, we are ready.”
, Davutoglu then put the ball in the court of Israel:
The Syrian side already declared they want to continue from where we left (off). The Israeli side, they have different views. Some coalition members are against, some are in favor. We will see.
If we see a strong political will, both in Israel and Syria, we will continue to support (peace efforts). We will support every attempt, step in the direction of peace.
Davutoglu’s mediation offer was complemented by his handling of the aftermath of the Gaza War, which had strained the relationship between Ankara and West Jerusalem: the offensive in Gaza. While Turkey was “concerned with the policies of Israel because of Gaza, criticizing one policy of an Israeli government does not mean the end of Turkish-Israel relations.”
USWarning to the Palestinian Authority: According to a document sent by Washington to the Palestinian Authority and obtained by Haaretz on Friday, the Obama Administration will assign blame and take action if indirect talks fail due to one side’s fault. After clearly stating Washington’s position for “a viable, independent and sovereign Palestinian State with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967″, the report continues:
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