Yesterday, three days after a Human Rights Watch report on the same topic (see separate entry), the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center released its initial findings, “Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran”:
INTRODUCTION
On June 13, 2009, the day after the tenth presidential election in the Islamic Republic of Iran, demonstrations erupted in cities across the country. Demonstrators protested what they viewed as widespread fraud—calls of “Where is my vote?” predominated. The Guardian Council had permitted only four men to campaign: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent; Mohsen Rezaei, a former head of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah), considered a conservative; Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister of Iran during the war with Iraq, considered a reformist; and Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of the Majlis, also a reformist.
Mousavi had declared himself the winner late on Election Day. The government immediately announced that Ahmadinejad had won by 62 percent of the vote. The regime also responded by cutting off electronic communication avenues within Iran and with the outside world. As the week progressed, cell phone and internet services were regularly shut down and slowed. On June 16, the authorities announced that foreign journalists were forbidden from reporting from the streets, and that their visas would not be renewed. Hundreds of domestic journalists and members of the press were arrested and intimidated.
What we wrote at 0745 GMT: “Some media were looking forward to today’s “5+1″ (US, UK, Russia, China, France, Germany) meeting on Iran’s nuclear programme. Even if that gathering had significance for the internal situation in Iran, it is unlikely to produce any results: China has declined to send a high-level official, blocking any move towards further sanctions on Tehran.”
What Associated Press reported an hour ago: “Top diplomats from six key powers focused on possible new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program at a meeting Saturday, but reached no agreement, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said.”
2205 GMT: Writing in Exile. Nazila Fathi, The New York Times correspondent who fled her native country in June, has written an emotive account of post-election events and her departure. The article, however, also offers a powerful insight into how “new media” has re-shaped both opposition and coverage of it: Read the rest of this entry »
1850 GMT: Spoiler Alert. And while Tehran is being encouraging about the draft enrichment agreement, the “Western” campaign to undercut it has already begun.
David Sanger of The New York Times, who seems to hang around in a hallway until a Government official tells him how to interpret a story, has fired the warning shot. After headlining, “Iran Agrees to Draft of Deal on Exporting Nuclear Fuel”, Sanger swings a journalistic hammer at the apparent success. Making clear that “Western suspicions that Iran is secretly developing a nuclear weapon despite its repeated denials”, rather than say, Iran’s approach to the IAEA over its medical research reactor, “are at the heart of the negotiations”, he “reports”:
If the 2,600 pounds of fuel leave Iran in batches…experts warn, Iran would be able to replace it almost as quickly as it leaves the country….The estimate that Iran has about 3,500 pounds of low-enriched uranium “assumes that Iran has accurately declared how much fuel it possesses, and does not have a secret supply,” as one senior European diplomat [French? See 1835 GMT] put it….[President Obama] has not made the cessation of enrichment a prerequisite to talks, and the work is still under way, in violation of three United Nations Security Council resolutions.
Perhaps needless to say, Sanger doesn’t name any of his “experts”. Because this is not an analysis, it’s a scare story. [Remember, it was Sanger who only on Monday was saying that Iran was threatening to walk out of the talks.] You Just Can’t Trust the Big, Bad Iranians.
Well, perhaps not. But I’m not sure You Can Trust the Objective New York Times either.
1835 GMT: Iran Presses Its Nuclear Advantage. Ali Aghbar Soltanieh has offered a revealing summary of the Vienna talks to the Iranian Student News Agency. First, he made clear that Tehran would be holding Moscow close as the talks progressed:
We have announced that we are willing to cooperate with Russia within the framework of an agreement. Although certain other countries, including the U.S. and France, have been mentioned in the draft agreement, the main party in the agreement will be Russia.
Then Iranian diplomats celebrated an apparent victory over France. Not only had Paris been a vehement critic of Iran’s nuclear programme in the run-up to the talks, but Iran — as our readers noticed — has a long-standing grievance against Paris over money paid for pre-1979 nuclear projects that were never completed. According to ISNA, “The French delegation apologized to Iran on Wednesday for their country’s past conduct toward Iran and asked IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei to make an effort to put France back in the draft agreement with Tehran.”
1635 GMT: Not So Quiet Anymore. This may be the most significant piece of news that will go unnoticed this week.
This morning we wrote, “Watch Qom….The Grand Ayatollahs and Ayatollahs — Dastgheib, Bayat-Zanjani, Sane’i, Safi Golpaygani — are pressing for reforms to meet the post-election challenge, and he adds that none of those clerics are fans of Ahmadinejad. Just as significant, they do not operate in a vacuum but interact with secular’ players in the political game.”
Mehr News now reports:
Majlis Cleric Committee members are going to visit Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavi Kanni, MP Mohammad Taqi Rahbar said on Wednesday. The committee members, during their meeting, will discuss the incidents that followed up the June 12 presidential election and the proposal for the establishment of a national election committee, Rahbar, who also heads the committee, added.
The National Election Committee, put forward by 2009 Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei, may not be as prominent in discussions as the National Unity Plan, but it has still provoked heated opposition, both from those who think President Ahmadinejad’s legitimacy is being questioned and those who believe it would curb the powers of the Supreme Leader. Conversely, it is galvanising senior clerics who are looking to press their challenge against the post-election abuses of the regime. Read the rest of this entry »
2000 GMT: We’ve posted updates on today’s Vienna talks on Iran’s nuclear programme in a separate entry.
1950 GMT: Now that the Iranian press has announced the sentencing of Iranian-American scholar Kian Tajbakhsh (see 1620 GMT), the State Department has commented with further details. Spokesman Ian Kelly said that Tajbakhsh had been given 15 years in prison, clarifying the “more than 12 years” in Iranian reports. Kelly added that the US was “deeply concerned”:
Mr. Tajbakhsh poses no threat to the Iranian government or its national security. Given the groundless nature of charges against him we call on Iran to grant his immediate release. As an independent, internationally respected academic, Mr. Tajbakhsh has always sought to foster better understanding between Iran and the United States and Iran and the international community.
1800 GMT: Great Moments in Journalism. Press TV devotes several paragraphs to the “hundreds of Iranian students [who] gathered in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy to protest the Kingdom’s policies towards Muslims” but somehow has failed to notice the thousands of students who protested at Iranian universities today.
1755 GMT: Reuters reports, from Fars News, that more than 100 members of Parliament have filed a complaint with the Iranian judiciary against opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi for “harming the image of the system”.
1910 GMT: In case you’re wondering why, after the initial media distractions (0825 and 1355 GMT), there were no updates on today’s talks between Iran and the “5+1″ powers over uranium enrichment….
Well, there was precious little to report, as all delegations stayed tight-lipped. The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammad El Baradei, offered some general encouragement, praising “a good meeting….We are off to a good start,” but saying only that talks would resume Tuesday morning.
This was always the most likely outcome, since details of uranium enrichment and the logistics of transport and processing can be surprisingly complex. However, it appears that some of the international media were expecting the drama of either an agreement or a breakdown within hours, if not minutes. That foiled expectation produced the day’s alternative high point, the tragi-comedy of CNN’s Matthew Chance sinking from excitement into chilly whimpering:
1. just did first live shot….talks not even started yet, but lot of anticipation
2. ok talks finally begun
3. gonna do live right now
4. freezing out here…
5. jeez..all day silence… now the talks have broken up….
1840 GMT: Clerical Hope. Grand Ayatollah Sane’i, meeting members of the Qom branch of the “Green Path of Hope”, has said different views should not lead to division and should be resolved through dialogue and negotiation. He asked, however, how one can speak to a Government that calls people agents of traitors and foreigners and that insults the families of martyred heroes. (English summary on Mousavi Facebook site)
1815 GMT: Khamenei Speaks (or At Least His Official Site Does). Back from an academic break to find the official statement from the Supreme Leader on the Sunday bombings: “The Islamic system shall not withhold any energy to defend the region and the people” against the terrorists and enemies “backed by arrogant governments”. Read the rest of this entry »
1940 GMT: Isn’t It Ironic, Don’t You Think? The Iranian Government has celebrated Teachers Day by arresting 12 teachers. (To clarify, in light of comments below, World Teachers Day is 5 October. Iran’s Teachers Day is 2 May.)
1745 GMT: Rumours and Audits. Tomorrow could be a very interesting day in the Iranian Parliament. The hot whisper is that former Tehran Prosecutor General and now Iran Deputy Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi could be set up as the “fall guy” for abuses mentioned in a Parliamentary report.
More substantial — at this point — is another criticism of President Ahmadinejad, this time over Government expenditure. The National Audit Report to the Parliament claims mismanagement, embezzlement, and fraud and accuses the Government of 2005-2009 of harming the nation.
1725 GMT: The release of the editor-in-chief of Etemade Melli, Mohammad Ghoochani, has been delayed.
1635 GMT: Another Player on the Pitch. OK, the reformists are in play with their meeting with senior clerics (1555 GMT). Rafsanjani’s gone public with his meeting with clerics (1608 GMT). And now Alireza Beheshti, Mir Hossein Mousavi’s chief advisor, re-enters after his recent detention. He has written an open letter of scathing criticism of the Revolutionary Guard and its commander, Mohammad Ali Jafari.
2020 GMT: One to Watch. The last posting on the Etemade Melli (Saham News) website, a full report on Mehdi Karroubi’s Eftar dinner party for the employees of the Etemade Melli newspaper), went up at 1:10 p.m. Tehran time (0840 GMT).
2015 GMT: In the midst of developments, this from Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani’s address to members of a reformist faction earlier today (1510 GMT): “Power is not the foundation of legitimacy; rather legitimacy is the foundation of power. Some think that by playing with words they can change this.”
1945 GMT: I don’t think we realised this morning, when we chose the title for the updates, how appropriate the question would be.
1845 GMT: Press TV’s website has acknowledged the raid on Karroubi’s office with an account lifted word-for-word from the report in Parleman News (see 1340 GMT).
1710 GMT: A Revolutionary Guard official has said that the recent comments of IRGC Commander Mohammad Ali Jafari, claiming that former President Khatami and other reformists seek to “unseat” the regime, are “backed by evidence” given to Iran’s judiciary which the IRGC is willing to publish.
1555 GMT: The family of the late Ayatollah Taleghani, whose memorial ceremony was blocked by the Government for the first time since his death in 1979, have announced an alternative site for the gathering.
1510 GMT: Ayatollah Bayat-Zanjani, speaking to reformists, has claimed that the headquarters of the Supreme Leader no longer have any shame before God or people.
1340 GMT: URGENT Mehdi Karroubi’s office has been raided by security forces on the orders of Tehran’s chief prosecutor. CDs, documents, videos, and computers have been seized.
Yesterday, three days after a Human Rights Watch report on the same topic (see separate entry), the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center released its initial findings, “Violent Aftermath: The 2009 Election and Suppression of Dissent in Iran”:
1850 GMT: Spoiler Alert. And while Tehran is being encouraging about the draft enrichment agreement, the “Western” campaign to undercut it has already begun.
1910 GMT: In case you’re wondering why, after the initial media distractions (0825 and 1355 GMT), there were no updates on today’s talks between Iran and the “5+1″ powers over uranium enrichment….
1940 GMT: Isn’t It Ironic, Don’t You Think? The Iranian Government has celebrated Teachers Day 
2020 GMT: One to Watch. The 
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