Earlier today, I wrote — somewhat in jest, somewhat in indignation — about the claim to know “what the Iranian people really think” through the promotion of a set of old polls.
Those surveys were being resurrected in part for a two-panel seminar at the New American Foundation on Wednesday. The first panel features Steven Kull, the Director of WorldPublicOpinion.org, who carried out a poll in August-September 2009 and assessed this with 11 earlier polls (10 by the University of Tehran, 1 by a Canadian firm) in their latest assertions. He is joined by Jon Cohen, Director of Polling at The Washington Post. The second panel is made up of Flynt Leverett of the New America Foundation, Hooman Majd, a former translator for President Ahmadinejad and the author of The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, and Barbara Slavin of The Washington Times.
2155 GMT: Kalemeh reports that the wife of the late Seyed Ahmad Khomeini, the son of Ayatollah Khomeini, has been attacked by clerical students.
1905 GMT: Economic Rumour or Reality (cont. — see 1135 GMT)? The “bank crisis” continues to spark Internet chatter, whether accurate or mischievous — the German-based Akhbar Rooz reports on bank closures after panicked customers tried to withdraw their money because of reports of bankruptcies. And Voice of America Persian is now broadcasting on the topic.
1900 GMT: You Couldn’t Make It Up (Unless You’re Iranian State Media). Earlier this week Kayhan, the “hard-line” Iranian newspaper, reported that a US “HARP” energy-shifting weapon caused the earthquake in Haiti.
We noted the item in amazement and good humour — as a reader noted, shrewd Iranians think of Kayhan as Iran’s version of The Onion, the satirical US “newspaper” — and thought that would be that. However, Press TV, linking up with Venezuelan partners, keeps the joke going today: Read the rest of this entry »
2125 GMT: More Fun with the MKO. I guess one “Dumbest Strategy of Day” Award isn’t enough. Following Euro MP Struan Stevenson’s cheerful advocacy of an alliance with the People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran, the political wing of the Mujahedin-e-Khaq “terrorist” group (MKO), Allan Gerson, a lawyer who has worked for the State and Justice Departments, drops by The Huffington Post to assure:
As a practical matter de-designation of the [Mujahedin-e-Khalq] as a terrorist entity will only enhance Washington’s desired outcome of a peaceful resolution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. It would strengthen America’s hand in bringing a faltering regime to the negotiating table by letting Tehran know in no uncertain terms that we have taken off the kid-gloves.
Oh, yeah, I’m sure that the Tehran regime, which has been trying to rally opinion by claiming a US-MKO plot to overthrow the Government, will be absolutely traumatised and have no close what to do if Washington follows Gerson’s recommendation.
(Oh, so sorry, I took Gerson at face value as an objective if pretty dim commentator. He is in fact co-counsel representing the MKO in the case to take it off the US Government’s terrorist list.)
2055 GMT: Former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Hashemi Rafsanjani have written messages of condolence to the family of President Professor Ali-Mohammadi.
2030 GMT: Battling with the Clerics. A series of skirmishes between Government and clerics today. Ayatollah Sadeghi Tehrani, taking offence at remarks by Esfandiar Rahim-Mashai, has declared that the retention of the former First Vice-President and current Presidential Chief of Staff in any official position is “haram” (religiously forbidden).
And Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani, a persistent post-cleric of the Government but relatively quiet in recent weeks, has re-emerged to declare that the principle of velayat-e-faqih (ultimate clerical authority) is not a principle of Islam and denying it is not a sin.
Look also for some repercussions from the Government’s arrest of Mohammad Taghi Khalaji (see 1745 GMT). He is the father of prominent Mehdi Khalaji, who is based at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Expect WINEP and their allies in the Washington network of “think tanks” to get vocal — indeed, WINEP has put out a special alert and Danielle Pletka, a Bush-era proponent of US power now at the American Enterprise Institute, has already jumped in, “Iran’s Nazi-Fascism and How You Can Help Fight It”. (John Hannah, former advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney, has now joined the chorus.) Read the rest of this entry »
2030 GMT: US Walks Tightrope on Green Movement. Earlier today we posted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s declaration about the “ruthless repression” of the Iran Government. Now State Department official John Limbert, who has direct responsibility for Iran, has put out a longer, more balanced statement.
On the one hand, Limbert continues the rhetoric criticising and cautioning the regime, “I think it’s very hard for the government to decide how to react to the legitimate demands of the people. The more violence it uses, the more it will hurt itself in the end….We will never remain silent in the face of state violence and the mistreatment of people.”
On the other, Limbert is also assuring that the Obama Administration will not break off discussions with the Ahmadinejad Government: “As you know, the U.S. president is determined to renew ties with Iran despite all the problems — which we don’t underestimate — based on a new beginning.”
2225 GMT: Today’s UN Condemnation of Iran. The Third (Human Rights) Committee of the United Nations General Assembly has “expresse[d] its deep concern at serious ongoing and recurring human rights violations” in Iran. The non-binding resolution passed 74-48, with 59 abstentions.
The Committee voiced “particular concern at the response of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran following the Presidential election of 12 June 2009 and the concurrent rise in human rights violations”, including “harassment, intimidation and persecution, including by arbitrary arrest, detention or disappearance, of opposition members, journalists and other media representatives, bloggers, lawyers, clerics, human rights defenders, academics, (and) students”.
The outcome, the Committee asserted, had been “numerous deaths and injuries” Iwith “forced confessions and abuse of prisoners including … rape and torture”.
2115 GMT: The Brussels Non-Talks and Non-Sanctions. The New York Times has snippets of the statement issued by the delegations of the “5+1″ powers after their review of the nuclear talks with Iran (see 1240 GMT): Read the rest of this entry »
UPDATED 1335 GMT: The Washington Times also has a report on the speech. The headline points are the same as those in the Wall Street Journal as is the description of Makhmalbaf, who “has become a spokesman outside Iran for the so-called Green Movement since the country’s disputed June 12 presidential
election”.
UPDATED 1045 GMT: EA’s Mr Smith has done some checking on the important question, raised by our readers, “To what extent does Makhmalbaf represent the Green Movement and Mir Hossein Mousavi?” The response, from those well-connected and well-versed in Iranian politics, is that “Makhmalbaf is not really connected with Mousavi. Nevertheless, Makhmalbaf acts at the least as a roving public ambassador for him.”
Earlier this month, we learned of attempts from inside and outside the Green movement to persuade the Obama Administration to back away from an agreement with Tehran on uranium enrichment and the nuclear programme. That effort is in the open this morning.
The Wall Street Journal reveals the Washington mission by Mohsen Makhmalbaf, the filmmaker, “Presidential campaign spokesman for Mir Hossein Mousavi”, and “international spokesman for Iran’s main opposition movement”. Speaking at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he called for “President Barack Obama to increase his public support for Iranian democrats and significantly intensify financial pressure on Tehran’s elite military unit, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps”. Read the rest of this entry »
I had not intended to touch this story when I saw it being pushed by the polemical magazine The Weekly Standard — why devote attention to an American political squabble, even if it had an “Iran” label, when there were matters concerning Iran that have far more significance than the point-scoring and agendas in Washington? Unfortunately, one cannot let barking dogs lie.
On Friday Eli Lake of The Washington Timesparaded an alleged exposé, “Iran advocacy group said to skirt lobby rules”, of the status and activities of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC). The article is lengthy, offering the appearance of background and context to frame its accusing “questions about whether the organization is using that influence to lobby for policies favorable to Iran in violation of federal law” and its warning to “prominent Washington figures” that they “could come to regret their ties to the group”.
Neither length nor the article’s placement in the news rather than opinion-editorial section should disguise, however, its intent. This is not journalism but a political attack. Read the rest of this entry »
2030 GMT: US Walks Tightrope on Green Movement. Earlier today we posted Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s declaration about the “ruthless repression” of the Iran Government. Now State Department official John Limbert, who has direct responsibility for Iran, has put out 
2000 GMT: Widespread reports of loud “Allahu Akhbar” rooftop chants tonight. We’ve 
2225 GMT: Today’s 
I had not intended to touch this story when I saw it being 
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