2200 GMT: Burning Khomeini’s Picture? All day long, we have been following Iran state media’s exploitation of a video allegedly showing the burning of Ayatollah Khomeini’s picture during the 16 Azar protests. (At one point, the top four stories on Fars News’ website were devoted to the supposed incident.) Readers may recall that we had posted the video in question on Monday but pulled it after two hours because we thought it may have been staged, possibly as a disinformation ploy to discredit the opposition.
Tonight Mir Hossein Mousavi has issued this statement:
Those who respect me would never allow the slightest insult to Imam Khomeini and they always respect him. I am sure that the students would never do such a defiant act….I don’t have the information if this event happened or not, additionally there is no clear information about those who committed this act, but if such an event really happened, it is a suspicious act and showing such an anti-revolutionary footage from the national TV was wrong.
It would be expected from those foreign media who are hostile toward the Islamic Republic to take advantage of such event and broadcast the footage but showing this footage on the national TV that owes its very existence to the revolution that was won with the leadership of Imam Khomeini, is not acceptable at all.
2040 GMT: Some Friday-Night Posturing. Continuing the thump-thump-thump of American rhetorical pressure on Iran over the nuclear negotiations (see separate entry), as well as trying to keep Tehran out of America’s backyard, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laid it on thick in a press conference:
Really? You’ve spent all week telling the world that Afghan-Pak-istan is harbouring the Al Qa’eda menace, and it’s Iran that is #1 Terrorist supporter? I understand it’s power politics, but try to keep it believable.
Iran and Syria have signed an agreement to improve defense cooperation as the two sides are faced with “common enemy and challenges.”
The agreement was signed between Iranian Defense Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi and his Syrian counterpart Lt. General Ali Mohammad Habib Mahmoud in Damascus on Friday.
2025 GMT: Parliament, the Guards, and “Questionable” Financial Arrangements. This in from an EA source in Iran:
On Tuesday, Mr. Omidvar Rezaei, a member of the supervisory committee of the Parliament (and brother of Presidential candidate Mohsen Rezaei), called the establishment of a new Bank of Iran-Venezuela (following Hugh Chavez’s trip to Iran earlier this year) very questionable. Mr. Rezaii said that the political maneuvring of some security organizations in order to participate in the management of this bank is against the economic interests of the country and added that the enemies will interpret these tendencies under the “holy uniform of the 12th Imam soldiers” as abuses, and it will add fire to the rumors that some organizations are transferring all oil money out of the country.
During this meeting, MP Elias Naderan said that a company called Mehr Iran belonging to the Revolutionary Guards has been established in Venezuela with a billion dollar investment in visual networks and this is inappropriate because of current situation in the country.
1845 GMT: A Friday Treat. It seems that Kermit the Frog has updated his “It’s Not Easy Being Green” to take account of the last six months in Iran. We’ve got the video.
1835 GMT: Here’s Your Medal, As For Your Rights…. The Norwegian and Swedish Foreign Ministers said yesterday that Iranian authorities have returned the Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma of lawyer and activist Shirin Ebadi; however, they added:
Her situation continues to be serious. Ms Ebadi is prevented from working as a defender of human rights in her home country and the Iranian authorities have closed the Defenders of Human Rights Centre of which she was co-founder. The confiscation of the medal and the numerous threats directed at her, her family and her colleagues give cause for great concern and are yet another example of the worsened human rights situation in Iran since the election in June this year.
Norway and Sweden urge the Iranian authorities to allow Ms Ebadi’s safe return to Iran and to allow the Defenders of Human Rights Centre to reopen so that she can resume her important work for human rights in the country.
1625 GMT: Your Friday Prayer Summary. Hojatoleslam Kazem Seddiqi taking care of business today and, according to Press TV, he was not too fussed about 16 Azar. For Seddiqi, it’s all about the nukes:
The Iranian nation will never give up its nuclear right at any price. [The West] cannot prevent us from using nuclear energy for peaceful aims by lies and propaganda….The enemy will concede another defeat in this propaganda war.
It is striking that, after six weeks in the high-profile US media of scepticism and even hostility towards the Iranian opposition, there appears to be another honeymoon of American sentiment for the Green Wave(s). While the protests of 13 Aban (4 November) were largely put aside by the US press, the smaller demonstrations of 16 Azar have been embraced as the valiant defiance of Government oppression.
The Christian Science Monitorsaw the resurrection of “the country’s Green Movement , [which] has found new ways of organizing and keeping its message alive”, and Los Angeles Times published a lengthy editorial, “Help Iran’s Student Protestors”:
The students, for their part, seem to be girding for a long fight, and the West should follow their lead. Western governments should offer the reform movement moral support, as President Obama did in his Nobel Peace Prize speech, promising to be a voice for the aspirations of reformers such as the “hundreds of thousands who have marched silently through the streets of Iran.” But the West also must be careful not to undermine the reformists with too close an embrace. This is a national movement, and the Iranians who are questioning the legitimacy of their own government are diligent students of their revolutionary forefathers.
Meanwhile, CNN has converted a general statement from Assistant Secretary of State John Limbert, “”We believe as we have always believed that the Iranian people deserve decent treatment from their government,” into a portrayal of Washington’s renewed backing of the opposition with the headline, “Official: U.S. Will Not Ignore Iran Protests”. Read the rest of this entry »
2020 GMT: We’ve posted news of a campaign, “I Am Atefeh”, to express support for Atefeh Nabavi, the first woman jailed for post-election protest.
2015 GMT: Ayatollah JavAdi-Amoli announced, during today’s Friday Prayers in Qom, that this was his last sermon. Since June, Javadi-Amoli had expressed his displeasure over post-election events.
The Newest Deal offers a bit of intriguing speculation: with the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony coming up on 10 December, will its recipient, one Barack Hussein Obama, take the occasion to note the political and human rights situation in Iran?
As President Obama’s nuclear negotiations with the Islamic Republic have dragged on, there have increasingly been calls — from the left, right, and the Iranian diaspora community — for Obama to couple his engagement on the nuclear front with a more direct condemnation of human rights abuses occurring inside of Iran. PBS and the BBC’s recent documentaries centered around the death of Neda Agha-Soltan, as well as the media blitz that has accompanied Newsweek’s Maziar Bahari’s release from detention in Iran, have only added to such calls.
This month’s suspicious death of an Iranian doctor who truthfully reported the results of an autopsy he performed on Mohsen Rouholamini, the son of a prominent conservative adviser to Mohsen Rezaei, has also been receiving significant coverage. (Ramin Pourandarjani, the doctor involved, had written in his report and testified to an investigatory committee that Rouholamini was tortured to death while incarcerated by Revolutionary Guard agents.) Suffice it to say, events such as these have certainly not helped the Obama administration frame the Iran issue in exclusively nuclear terms. Read the rest of this entry »
2110 GMT: The White House has put out the following statement:
The United States is deeply concerned about reports of additional charges facing Kian Tajbakhsh (see 1200 GMT), an Iranian-American scholar who has been detained in Iran without access to an independent lawyer since July 9, 2009. The charges against Mr. Tajbakhsh are baseless, and his original sentence on October 20 was an outrage. The Iranian government cannot earn the respect of the international community when it violates universal rights, and continues to imprison innocent people. We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran to release Mr. Tajbakhsh, and to respect the human rights of those within its borders.
The discussion on EA over the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama has prompted a heated but constructive debate amongst a range of opinions. In contrast, here is a Hall of Infamy of reactions, replacing considered criticism with vitriol, nonsense, and headline stupidity:
Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh: “Something has happened here that we all agree with the Taliban and Iran about and that is he doesn’t deserve the award.” (Friendly Tip to Rush: a bit of self-reflection might not be amiss here. How do you think you wound up on the side of Mullah Omar and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad?)
Former New York Times columnist William Kristol: “Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990. A year later, he was out of power and the Soviet Union had dissolved. Let’s hope the parallel extends this far: that a year from now the Democrats suffer a major electoral repudiation, and that the New Liberalism goes the way of Reform Communism.”
After U.S. President Barack Obama’s winning Nobel Prize, leaders of Israel and Palestine expressed their feelings. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed the hope that his presidency would “usher in a new era of peace.” In a message to Obama, he said:
Congratulations on winning the Nobel Prize for Peace… You have already inspired so many people around the world, and I know that this award also expresses the hope that your Presidency will usher in a new era of peace and reconciliation.
Another Npbel Prize holder, Israeli President Shimon Peres, also sent Obama a letter congratulating his Nobel Prize. In his letter, he wrote:
Very few leaders if at all were able to change the mood of the entire world in such a short while with such profound impact. You provided the entire humanity with fresh hope, with intekllectual determination, and a feeling that there is a lord in heaven and believers on earth.
Under your leadership, peace became a real and original agenda. And from Jerusalem, I am sure all the bells of engagement and understanding will ring again.
You gave us a license to dream and act in a noble direction.
On the Palestinian front, Fatah welcomed the prize but Hamas was sceptical. The chief Palestinian peace negotiator, Saeb Erekat expressed hope that Obama “will be able to achieve peace in the Middle East”. On the other hand, Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said: “Obama has a long way to go still and lots of work to do before he can deserve a reward… Obama only made promises and did not contribute any substance to world peace… And he has not done anything to ensure justice for the sake of Arab and Muslim causes.”
It is striking that, after six weeks in the high-profile US media of scepticism and even hostility towards the Iranian opposition, there appears to be another honeymoon of American sentiment for the Green Wave(s). While the protests of 13 Aban (4 November) were largely put aside by the US press, the smaller demonstrations of 16 Azar have been embraced as the valiant defiance of Government oppression.
2020 GMT: We’ve 
2110 GMT: The White House has put out the following statement: 
After U.S. President Barack Obama’s winning Nobel Prize, 
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