2240 GMT: Human Rights — The Regime’s Breakdown Strategy. But if the Iranian Government on the one hand is offering release from prison if detainees (including a number of prominent journalists and political activists) are silenced, it is also moving aggressively to break apart the human rights movement.
The propaganda strategy of tarnishing human rights activists has been re-doubled tonight with Kayhan joining Fars in declaring that 25-30 activists have been arrested because they serve as “cover” for the Mujahedin-e-Khalq and US-sponsored cyber-warfare.
2305 GMT: Back on the Road Again. Off for flight to UK and work in Liverpool so will be quiet for a while. Thanks to everyone for backing up EA on an eventful day.
2300 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Reports that student activist and weblog writer Fouad Shams has been released from prison after 96 days. Saeed Nourmohammadi, a member of the youth branch of the Islamic Iran Participation Front has been freed after 4 1/2 months in detention.
2255 GMT: Maintaining Control. Radio Zamaneh headlines, “Iran’s Supreme Leader May Approve Changes to Electoral Policies”, but the more you read, the more this is an assertion of Khamenei’s authority rather than reform.
Meeting members of the Assembly of Experts, the Supreme Leader said that he will approve the changes in “general policies of the elections” under discussion in the Expediency Council, headed by Hashemi Rafsanjani.
However, Khamenei added that the opinion of the Expediency Council regarding election policies is “debatable”, and once he is informed of their decision, he will enforce what he deems necessary. Hardly a ringing endorsement of the Council’s moves for change…..
Hat-tip to Gearóid Ó Cuinn and Saoirse Roche, who brought out this story in The Guardian of London:
I think it’s fair to say that a few people in Iran are passionate about football. And, throughout the post-election crisis, a lot of them have been matching up that passion to protests: Green wristbands, chants inside and outside stadiums, conversion of the Red and Blue of Iran’s top club teams (Persepolis and Esteghlal) to Green.
Earlier this month, however, the fans found a new, mischievous way to make their point. The “90″ show (named after the 90 minutes of a football match) had one of those universal phone-ins with the chance of winning a prize: “What caused the recent decline of the Iranian national football team?”
Like most phone-ins, there was one clearly right answer — “(a) Management” — amidst clearly wrong ones. “(C) The best generation of players had left the team” was for football morons, since all nine members of Iran’s 2006 World Cup squad are still in prime form.
Except it didn’t go that way. Green supporters passed on a text message urging people to vote for “C”, which in 1 1/2 hours racked up 1.1 million votes out of a record total of 1.85 million phone-ins.
On Sunday afternoon, I will be at The Emirates Stadium in London, watching Arsenal v Manchester United in football (“soccer”). Since I am a Tottenham Hotspur fan, so why would I do this?Well, I could watch the game from the comfort of my armchair, rooting against both teams, but nothing beats watching an event live and in person.
I feel the same about Wednesday night’s State of the Union address by President Obama. The BBC television coverage’s was fine, but most of the time, there was no way of knowing who was up and who was down. If only I had been in the Capitol chamber, I could have gotten a better reading of the politics, just by watching the ritual of members of Congress demonstrating their feelings by either standing or remaining firmly seated during the address.
I don‘t know when the tradition of standing and repetitive applauding for the President during the State of the Union started. On this occasion, Congress’s version of aerobics began after Obama’s long, uninterrupted opening. Once members started applauding, they were up and down with considerable frequency as the President took them through his plans for jobs, financial reform, civil rights, nuclear weapons, Iraq and Afghanistan, education, reduction of the deficit, health care, and gays in the military.
Measured through the BBC’s restricted perspective, how did he do? Well, this was a tour de force. Obama is a brilliant speaker but, let’s be blunt, he also compares incredibly well with his predecessor. On this night, Obama was Presidential. Read the rest of this entry »
An Israeli delegation, headed by Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov, was taking a stroll around the other exhibits when they stumbled upon the Iranian booth, manned by Tourism Minister and Vice President Hamid Baghaei. Baghaei was shy at first but he then presented Iran’s wonders and invited Misezhnikov to see them first-hand. Read the rest of this entry »
UPDATE 25 October: Oh, my, folks at Press TV have learned their pro-Government lesson. This morning’s story that Iran’s football team has set another friendly match, this one with Macedonia, has a more suitable photograph (at left). All left wrists, and thus wristbands, are out of sight.
How appropriate, as I’m following the world’s biggest third-division team (Leeds United) this afternoon, that a sharp-eyed reader brings us a football story with an important political twist.
Press TV recently announced, “Iran Sets Soccer Friendly with Iceland”, providing a team photograph for illustration. Wonder if the editors noticed that at the right of the picture, the No. 6, No. 8, and No. 13 are all wearing Green wristbands? (Of course, there could be more unseen Green on hidden left wrists.)
The friendly is scheduled for 10 November, six days after the next major post-election demonstrations.
UPDATED 20 September: Is this why the authorities had to censor the coverage of the Esteghlal-Estell Azin match? This video claims to be of fans moving into the stadium.
UPDATED 19 September: We’ve been sorting through the mystery, with the help of readers, on today’s updates. They have noted, as the second video shows, that the game was later broadcast in colour but — according to one correspondent — with old sound overlaid and careful manipulation of camera angles. Read the rest of this entry »
2250 GMT: Political Prisoner Watch. Rah-e-Sabz has published a list of 192 detainees in Section 240 of Evin Prison. Activists have noted that the list is incomplete.
UPDATE 25 October: Oh, my, folks at Press TV have learned their pro-Government lesson. 
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