ROME (AFP) – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini would have annulled the results of Iran’s presidential elections in June, defeated reformist candidate Mehdi Karroubi told an Italian newspaper. In an interview with La Stampa, published on Saturday, Karroubi said the leader of the Islamic revolution in 1979 would have recoiled at the bloodshed that followed the re-election [...]
Report: Iran opposition candidate blasts ‘clear lies’
“How do they try to say that they do not confront people violently or to blame others? All of this took place in front of people’s eyes,” Karrubi told supporters, according to Aftab. “They kill the youth in front of people’s eyes and then say that they didn’t have firearms. As a member of this system, I am embarrassed of these thoughtless and clear lies.”
Green Report #16 – Fresh News from Iran – Summary of tweets on Iran from Thursday, July 2
I’m NiteOwl AKA Josh Shahryar – twitter.com/iran_translator on twitter – and I’ve been immersed in tweets from Iran for the past several hours. I have tried to be extremely careful in choosing my tweet sources. What I have compiled below is what I can confirm through my reliable twitter sources. Remember, this is all from [...]
Green Report #15 – Fresh News from Iran – Summary of tweets on Iran from Wednesday, July 1
Khatami criticized the government in a new, harsher tone that suggested outright contempt today. He called the elections a “coup d’état against democracy.” He asked, “How can the Iranian people calm down when their votes were stolen? When their blood is and has been shed? When they are being hauled away and arrested en masse? When the government and media blatantly ignore them?” He asked, “How is a National reconciliation even remotely possible in a country that is turning into a police state?” He went on to say that what’s happening now in Iran “is a direct violation of the very rights people are promised in the constitution.” He accused the media of attempting to provoke further unrest and violence and denounced the governments’ attempts at censorship. He predicted that Regime’s establishment would fail if this were to continue.
Green Report #14 – Fresh News from Iran – Summary of tweets on Iran from Tuesday, June 30
Maziar Bahari was forced to confess at a press conference that the protests were pre-planned and organized from abroad. Bahari is an adroit Iranian-Canadian Journalist and filmmaker, who has written for Newsweek and the New Statesman. Meanwhile,the torture of university students continues in the Ministry of Interior. Some Iranians traveling to Iran for the holidays have been taken in for questioning directly at the airport as they tried to leave the country. They were questioned because of updated information on their Facebook accounts.
Green Report #11 – Fresh News from Iran – Summary of tweets on Iran from Saturday, June 27
Reports have suggested that there is a bitter divide developing between military leaders on what the military’s role should be in the current unrest and whether they should step in. (This could be not confirmed unfortunately through the most reliable sources). Reports of clerics meeting in secret to discuss the current unrest have surfaces from Qom, Tabriz and Mashhad. It is being suggested that even though clerics had participated in the protests a few days ago, they might join in larger numbers if further protests are held.
Iran reformers face Ahmadinejad
Two leading reformist challengers to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have registered to run against him in 12 June presidential election.
Former PM Mir-Hossein Mousavi, backed by former President Mohammad Khatami, is seen as the leading challenger.
Former parliamentary speaker Mehdi Karroubi has also put down his name – a day before the deadline expires.
Militia must stay out of election: Iran reformer
By Hossein Jaseb
Reuters
TEHRAN (Reuters) – A reformist challenger to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called on Iran’s Basij militia and armed forces on Saturday not to intervene in June’s presidential election, countering comments from a senior commander.
The comments from cleric Mehdi Karoubi, a former parliamentary speaker, highlighted concern among moderates that the hardline president will win crucial support from the Basij religious militia in his bid for a second four-year term.





