“The reason why Mr. Mostafaei is under fire is no doubt because of the worldwide attention concerning the Ashtiani case…”
Archive | July, 2010
The Seditious Ahmadinejad?
The Diplomat | July 27, 2010 By Meir Javedanfar Ultra conservative criticism of Ahmadinejad is growing and Khamenei’s fatwa looks desperate. Will regime in-fighting boil over? Since the Iranian revolution of 1979, an ongoing and constant battle has been raging between different factions of Iran’s ruling elites over whose opinion should have more sway with [...]
Issa Saharkhiz’s Lawyers Object To His Court Appearance in Handcuffs
International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran | July 26, 2010 In an interview with the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, the attorney of prominent Iranian journalist Issa Saharkhiz’s expressed outrage over Saharkhiz’s appearance in court with handcuffs and shackles. “Such treatment is most inappropriate for a prominent journalist such as Mr. Saharkhiz [...]
Prominent Iranian Journalist and Prisoner of Conscience, Isa Saharkhiz, Presents Written Statement of Defense to Court
by Negar Irani on July 19, 2010 Translator’s Note: I am translating Isa Saharkhiz’s moving defense behind closed doors of the Revolutionary Court in parts as it is too long to translate in one piece. In Part I Mr. Saharkhiz provides an overview of the circumstances in which he was forcefully and illegally arrested on [...]
RFE/RL: ‘Convincing’ Revolutionary Guards Who Support Green Movement ‘Better Than Eliminating Them’
RFE/RL | July 26, 2010 by Golnaz Esfandiari July 26, 2010 The commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has officially acknowledged that some members have been supportive of the country’s opposition movement. General Mohammad Ali Jafari said that it is better “to convince” guards who support the opposition than to get rid of them. [...]
CNN: Iran denying woman will be executed by stoning
CNN | July 8, 2010 By the CNN Wire Staff (CNN) — Iran’s government is denying reports that an Iranian woman convicted of adultery will be executed by stoning, though her death sentence may still be carried out by some other method. In the Islamic republic’s first public statement on the case of Sakineh Mohammedie [...]
P2E: “My Bitter Memories” | A Letter by Majid Tavakoli on the Occasion of 18 Tir
Persian2English | July 8, 2010 HRANA – Majid Tavakoli, imprisoned Amirkabir University (AUT) student writes a letter on the occasion of the anniversary of attacks on the student dormitories that took place on July 9, 1999 (18 Tir). According to HRANA, the full content of the letter is as follows: My Bitter Memories By MAJID [...]
L.A. Times: Iran: Bazaar strike triumphs as government retreats from tax hike
L.A. Times | July 7, 2010 After just one day of protests, the Iranian government has retreated from its proposed 70% hike in the income tax for merchants and traders in bazaars. On Tuesday, gold and jewelry vendors shut down Tehran’s old bazaar in protest of the government’s proposed tax hike. The discontent spread throughout [...]
WSJ: Iran and Hezbollah’s Spiritual Leader
During the ’90s, Fadlallah had a falling out with Hezbollah and Iran. The sticking point was the concept of Velyat-e Faqih, or guardianship of the jurist, which held that the supreme religious and political authority for Hezbollah was Iran’s Supreme Leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Pride played an issue for Fadlallah, who was a true scholar—a marja al-taqlid, or source of emulation—for millions of Shiites around the world. Khamenei was a mid-level cleric whose stature rested on his ability to maneuver among allies and adversaries in Tehran.
NYT: A Little Off the Top? Only if Tehran Approves
New York Times | July 6, 2010 By Robert F. Worth WASHINGTON — The photos, disseminated on Iran’s semiofficial news sites, look ordinary enough: young men with short haircuts, some with 1950s-style quiffs and a touch of gel on top. But these haircuts are not just a summer fashion. They are being promoted by Iran’s [...]
NYT: European Union Adds Most of Iran Air’s Jets to Blacklist
A spokesman for Iran Air, Shahrokh Noushabadi, called the decision unfair, saying that the airline would continue contacts with the union to get the ban rescinded…
MACLEANS: The Canadian connection
A Canadian accused of aiding Iran’s nuclear program may be a key asset or a dupe—but his case shows how serious Iran is
Video: Merchants Strike, Keep Shops Closed at Tehran’s Bazaar
The following three videos purportedly show closed shops at the Tehran Bazaar, the result of a strike by Bazaari merchants in response to a tax hike. Enduring America reports: In what appears to be an immediate reaction to the strike, Mehr News reports that Iran’s Ministry of Commerce has reversed its decision to raise business [...]
Featured Photo: Green paint splashed on picture of Islamic Republic Supreme Leader
The following picture was posted to Twitter today, purportedly taken at Tehran University (though we can’t confirm this), showing the picture of Ayatollah Khamenei, the so-called Supreme Leader of Iran with green paint splattered on it, next to the untarnished picture of his predecessor, Ayatollah Khomeini. If this picture is authentic it is very telling [...]
AFP: EU urges Iran to halt woman’s stoning execution
European Union foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton urged Iran on Tuesday to stop the execution of three people including a woman who faces death by stoning for adultery.
Around the world, freedom is in peril
So at decade’s end, the correlation of forces, as the Communists used to say, looks bleak. Three assertive powers — China, Russia and Iran — not only resist democratization but actively seek to disseminate their model of authoritarian rule in their spheres of influence. Europe, the engine of democratization of the 1990s, looks inward, more interested in appeasing Russia than reforming it. Newer or less wealthy democracies such as South Africa, Turkey, Brazil and India seem stuck in anti-colonial mind-sets that discourage cooperation to promote democracy. And the Obama administration remains skittish about adopting a “freedom agenda” that its predecessor had tarnished in the minds of many Democrats.
