2205 GMT: The Tajik Show? BBC Persian follows up on the curious story of the “release” of former Vice President Mohammad Reza Tajik from detention. Tajik appeared on the 22:30 programme on IRIB 2 saying that there was no election “fraud” and that “foreign and Zionist media” are riding the wave of the protests.
2145 GMT: Lawyer Forough Mirzaei and Mahin Fahimi, a member of “Mothers for Peace”, have been released from detention.
2100 GMT: And Analysing Rumour of Day (Week? Month?). We’ve posted a snap analysis considering the reasons for and implications of a Rafsanjani “ultimatum” to the Supreme Leader.
2150 GMT: A Final Note. We’ll know more tomorrow, after Iranian state media kicks into high gear, but the Ahmadinejad statement on the nuclear talks — which had effectively gone into the freezer — could be big. All of a sudden, the move of Iran’s uranium stock outside the country is A-OK: “If we allow them to take it, there is no problem. We sign a contract to give 3.5 percent enriched uranium and receive 20 percent enriched one after four or five months.”
But — and watch this, because it will probably be missed by Western media more concerned with the West-Iran dynamic — Ahmadinejad may have re-opened a fight with Iran’s “conservatives” over his nuclear strategy. As the Associated Press notes, “He dismissed concerns by what he called ‘colleagues’ that the West would not return the uranium.”
2135 GMT: Hamlet and 22 Bahman. Let’s close tonight on a high literary note.
Rah-e-Sabz, unsurprisingly, is jabbing away at the Government. For example, it is claiming that the Revolutionary Court has stepped back in its latest bulletin by not connecting the two executions last week to the post-election demonstrations. However, its cheekiest story is a summary of Seyed Hassan Khomeini’s supposed comments as he cold-shouldered President Ahmadinejad yesterday: “To be or not to be a protester, that is the question.” Read the rest of this entry »
2120 GMT: The Most Important Story of the Day — There Wasn’t A Story. We’ll probably lead with this in the morning analysis but let’s be clear, especially with regime defenders continuing to hold onto the turnout of 30 December as proof of the Government’s legitimacy:
Where were the events today on the first day of the Anniversary of the Revolution celebrations? Normally, Hashemi Rafsanjani would give a speech in a grand event in Imam Khomeini’s shrine, surrounded by people. This year there was a small gathering, mainly officials, in Behesht-e-Zahra cemetery; member of Parliament Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel gave the speech. Seyed Hassan Khomeini, the Imam’s grandson, did not participate after his muted reception of President Ahmadinejad (see 1345 and 1430 GMT).
2105 GMT: Brother, Where Art Thou? For the second time in recent days, Davoud Ahmadinejad has indulged in a bit of criticism of his brother’s Government. He has declared that it must answer the denunciations of prominent member of Parliament Ali Mottahari, as “freedom has not been defined”.
2050 GMT: Well, That Settles It Then. Minister of Intelligence Heydar Moslehi has said that his ministry has found clues in the the case of “nuclear physicist” Masoud Ali Mohammadi. These establish that “a combination of Israelis and counter-revolutionaries” are involved, even though there have been no arrests.
1905 GMT: Marking Out the Protests. Effectively defending the right of protesters to gather for rallies, including 22 Bahman (11 February), while staying within the system, former President Mohammad Khatami said today, “We have always invited the people to peacefulness.”
1855 GMT: Really, They Were Very, Very Bad. The regime, trying to justify last week’s executions of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, has released details of their purported interrogations:
2240 GMT: We close tonight by posting a video of the comments of Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, defending the regime’s approach in the Presidential election and against subsequent protests, on CNN.
2155 GMT: News from Evin Prison. Another demonstration tonight by families of detainees and their supporters — Peyke Iran reports hundreds present. The website claims 23 detainees have been released to the cheers of the crowd.
The Islamic Republic of Iran is looking at a bright future under the aegis of the visionary leadership of Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei and the support of a considerable number of devotees inside and outside the country…
“Ceremonies marking the 31st anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution will kick off this year at a time when Iran has made great progress in various fields of science and technology. The global powers, along with their supporters inside the country, desperately sought to undermine the principles of the Islamic Revolution.
So, Mr Firouzabadi, we pass over to you the EA All is Well Trophy Video:
2015 GMT: The speaker of the reformist minority group in Parliament, Mohammad Reza Tabesh, resigned to protest restricitons such as the filtering of the party’s website Parleman News and the banning of its reporter from the Parliament and preventing guests of MPs from entering the Parliament. (Those guests include family members of political prisoners. One delegation was turned away today.)
The Deputy Speaker and members of the party intervened and requested Tabesh to remain in his post.
An interview from Al Jazeera English in which a Tehran University academic declares that the executions of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour were absolutely justified and then says, “I don’t know very much about this case.” Indeed, the academic says that one of the two was a member of the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MKO); all Iranian officials, including the Tehran Prosecutor General, have claimed that both were “monarchists”.
(Note near the end of the interview the declaration by the academic that the father of one of the Kahrizak prisoners who died spoke to him and “is very satisfied with the way things have been conducted”. That “father”, Abdulhossein Ruholamini, launched a scatching attack on the Government’s conduct last week.)
2355 GMT: Just checking in to say we have posted a video of a Tehran University academic defending Thursday’s executions of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour.
1910 GMT: We’re taking an evening break. We may be back for a late-night wrap-up. If not, all the latest news will open our Sunday updates.
1900 GMT: Pressure on Ahmadinejad. The “conservative” campaign against the President’s advisors has not ceased. The high-profile member of Parliament Ahmad Tavakoli has attacked the controversial Deputy Minister of Culture, Mo-Amin Ramin, and Ahmadinejad aide Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai. Read the rest of this entry »
On Friday, the leading reformist group, the Islamic Iran Participation Front, wrote to the head of Iran’s judiciary, Sadegh Larijani, seeking answers over the executions of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Ahmadipour.
Dear Mr. Larijani, the honorable Head of the Judiciary,
The news of the execution of two prisoners accused of being Moharebs warriors against God) created a spark of surprise and astonishment amongst the nation of Iran. During a time when the political atmosphere is one of fervent hope to wipe out the dark clouds of hatred and vengeance, this faulty action by the judiciary system was only further proof that there is no willingness and desire to create calm in the country’s political atmosphere.
The judiciary, already accused of political maneuvering and ignoring justice and fairness because of its illegal and doubtful behavior towards reputable political forces arrested and jailed unfairly after the elections, will now be questioned even more after issuing suspicious death sentences for nine people and hastily executing two others.
Sometimes a story doesn’t take shape immediately. Sometimes words are put out for the public, their possible significance only emerged when they are repeated, reprinted, recycled. Sometimes the speaker may not even realise how “big” his declaration is going to be.
Sometimes, even when two people have their lives cut short for reasons far beyond their specific place in this world, the act is only fulfilled in days and weeks to come.
So it may prove with the hangings of Mohammad Reza Ali Zamani and Arash Rahmanipour, two men whose arrest for alleged membership of a “monarchist” group took on its imposed meanings in the conflict which began two months later and is still ongoing. So it may prove with the speech of an Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, a man whose long, confirmed membership within the Iranian regime reaches the point where he argues that Iranians could and should be put to death.
It may prove so for, twelve days before the anniversary of 22 Bahman (11 February), Jannati — as not the speaker at Tehran’s Friday Prayers but as the head of the Guardian Council, the body that supposedly gives legitimacy to Iran’s elections — saw not the ballot box but the coiled noose, the cocked trigger, the unsheathed blade and said, “Do it!”: Read the rest of this entry »
2205 GMT: The Tajik Show? BBC Persian follows up on the curious story of the “release” of former Vice President Mohammad Reza Tajik from detention. Tajik appeared on the 22:30 programme on IRIB 2 saying that there was no election “fraud” and that “foreign and Zionist media” are riding the wave of the protests.
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