Wordout

The Green Brief #69 (September 5 – Shahrivar 14)

By: Josh Shahryar – twitter.com/iran_translator

(This report has been compiled through reports by twitter users in Iran and aboard, as well as contacts inside and outside Iran. Media outlets have been credit where used. As reports coming from Iran cannot be fully authenticated, if the report confirms something, at best it confirms that several reliable sources agreed upon it. This report is released under Creative Commons (CC) and can be republished under the condition that a link to the original source is provided.

Protests / Unrest

1. Dozens of people have been arrested in Sistan o Balochistan province in the past ten days. The whereabouts of the detainees is not known at this point. The detainees are all linked to Baloch nationalist groups or Baloch opposition movements. This comes as the government is battling Kurd nationalists on the northeastern border, where clashes have left tens of people dead in the past several weeks.

2. Partially confirmed reports indicate that dozens of people held a gathering, in front of the Supreme Court building in Tehran and demanded that their relatives be released. There are confirmed reports that gatherings in front of Evin Prison, by families of detainees, continue even though the government is trying to force them to stop the daily ritual. About 50 broke their fast in front of the prison again today.

3. Nightly chanting in Tehran and other parts of Iran continue. Even though news about this is scarce, multiple witnesses have come forward and testified that this has been going on non-stop. The government is actively trying to catch and fine people who climb on their roofs to engage in this form of protest. This is a video of a young child chanting ‘Allah o Akbar’ and ‘Marg Bar Dictator’ from his window with his neighbors responding to his chants from September 4.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEzE7Mw_gnE

4. This year’s Eid Prayers, will not be held in Imam Khomeini Mosalla. (Mosalla is usually a large area, close to a mosque, designed specifically to be used for huge prayer processions.) The reason that has been cited, is ongoing construction. Even though the construction has been going on at the site for years, it has never been used, as a reason, to move Eid prayers from the site. There is speculation that the government has moved the procession because they fear Greens would use it as a gathering point. This year’s prayers will be held in Tehran University’s mosalla, which is considerably smaller than Imam Khomeini’s, which can house up to 2 million people at a time.

Opposition

5. Mir Hossein Mousavi released his 11th statement today calling for continued civil disobedience. Mousavi, yet again, decried the clamp down on peaceful protesters and accused the government of creating crises. His rather long statement contains praise for protesters and harsh criticism of the government’s actions.

He outlines a series of demands, which hardliners must meet, to get the country out of the crisis in which it finds itself. He also speaks about the movement “The Green Path of Hope”. According to Mousavi, the government must help the situation by:

Forming a truth commission, one whose findings and verdicts are likely to be accepted by all sides, to investigate the violations of law, fraud during and after the election, and punishing those who were responsible.

Revising the election law in such a way that free and fair elections can be held.

Identifying and punishing those who were responsible for the crimes committed by all organs of the government, including military, police, and the media.

Helping those who have been hurt and injured after the elections, especially those who have lost loved ones; releasing from prison all the campaign workers and political activists; dismissing the bogus charges against them; restoring their credibility, and ending all the threats against them.

Putting into practice Article 168 of the Constitution by defining precisely what constitutes a political offense, and using a jury when the offenders are put on trial.

Guaranteeing freedom of the press, and changing the biased behavior of the Voice and Visage in order to eliminate all the limitations on its programs so that the political parties can use the Voice and Visage to express their positions regarding various issues, and revising the law that governs the Voice and Visage to make it responsive to people’s demands.

Putting to practice Article 44 of the Constitution regarding privatization so that private radio and television stations can also be created.

Guaranteeing the right of the people to gather and demonstrate by putting into effect Article 27 of the Constitution.

Passing legislation forbidding the military from intervening in political as well as economic affairs.

(Because of the importance of this statement given the current situation, I am not going to copy and paste portions which I believe are more important than others because frankly, my view is rather subjective and I think it does not do justice to the whole statement to pick and choose. Reading it in full is highly recommended.)

Full statement in English with valuable commentary

(Courtesy of Tehran Bureau) http://tehranbureau.com/mousavi-gree…hope-movement/

6. At an Iftar Party, Mehdi Karroubi today said that he would continue to move, towards the realizations of the objectives of the revolution and its martyrs and vowed to carry on ‘till death. He said, their greatest cause for concern, after the election, was the danger to the republic, but since both the republic and Islam were inseparable, they were also worried about the fate of Islam. He added, they feared that the republican dimension of the government might gradually be forgotten.

He added that, “the people are completely ready for any action that is in line with a legal Islamic framework.” Karroubi said that post-election incidents should not be hyped but nor should they be buried and overlooked. “We must make an attempt at damage control and find the perpetrators. We must find out how and why we were blindsided.”

Regarding the ban on his newspaper Etemad-e Melli and his party’s website, Karroubi said, “Journalists should not be worried; they close one newspaper, we can always open another.”

He also addressed the crackdown on the internet. ”You filter sites, [but] there is always filter-breakers [proxy software]! No matter how hard you try to impose limitations, the intelligent children of our country will know what to do [how to confront you].”

“Limitations can make things difficult but they will not limit action; these days there are plenty of websites and news can [always] get out.”

(Translation courtesy of Tehran Bureau.)

7. In a meeting with a group of reformists students, Ayatollah Montazeri, yet again, asked for the release of detainees and criticized the government. He asked the students to pay heed to their studies and said that the future would be theirs. He criticized the government for detaining people in the name of Islam and said, “They speak of the regime, but they mean an individual,” a clear jab at Khamenei.

He yet again criticized Khamenei, without being explicit, by saying, “They say that one individual’s vote is the standard; Imam Khomeini said that the standard is the people’s vote.” (Another clear jab at Khamenei, considering how his vote swayed the parliament’s selection of ministers.) Montazeri called the trials illegal and unIslamic.

8. Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dastegheyb’s latest remarks, from September 2, are a stinging rebuttal to his critics. During a sermon, he reportedly said, that those who had brutally suppressed the protesters, were going to hell for what they have done. He said people who had beaten others during the protests, on the street, had committed great sins.

9. Qudratullah Alikhani – a reformist MP and a member of Foreign Affairs Commission in the parliament – criticized Jafari’s statements, in which he had accused reformist leaders of attempting to weaken Khamenei. Alikhani said that Jafari’s statements, were doing nothing but creating distrust amongst the populace and were hurting the regime further.

He added that Imam Khomeini, had explicitly asked the Basij and IRGC, not to mingle in politics or they will both hurt themselves and the country.

10. Mohammad Hashemi, one of the leader of Kargozaran Party – which is considered close to Rafsanjani – said that if the gatherings at Imam Khomeini’s shrine, have been cancelled because of political considerations, then he was not sure where the country was really headed. “When Imam and his shrine are no longer safe, then it’s not certain where the revolution is really going.” Due to mounting pressure by the government, on the family of Khomeini, Ihya prayers, held annually at his mausoleum, have been canceled this year.

(During Ramadan, Shia Muslims stay awake on three nights — the 19th, 21st, 23rd — to pray for salvation and mercy, as they believe their fate, in the following year is determined on these nights. The prayer ceremony held on these three very important nights, on the Muslim calendar, is known as Ihya.)

Every year, Imam Khomeini’s mausoleum, was the site where thousands gathered on Ihya nights in Ramadan. Ali-Akbar Nateq-Nouri, Seyyed Mohammad Khatami and Hassan Rohani each led the ceremony on one of the three nights.

Government / International

11. Ahmadinejad warned the West today, that he was not going to back down, in the face of pressure, to halt Iran’s uranium enrichment program. “If some believe that through accusations, impoliteness, insults, and spreading of lies they can force us to retreat from the values of the revolution, they are gravely mistaken,” Ahmadinejad said, in a meeting with war veterans, according to IRNA. The remarks came after diplomats, from the six world powers known as P5+1, met in Frankfurt to discuss Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and warned Tehran over their nuclear activities.

12. Hasan Sobhani-nia, an MP from Khorasane Razavi, told ILNA that a former IRGC commander, was likely to be appointed as the governor of Khorasane Razavi, after the province’s incumbent governor was appointed as the head of the Department of Environmental Protection.

13. Khamenei called on the artists, during a meeting in Tehran with members of the Iranian arts community, to make a strong presence in the ‘ongoing soft war’. He added that the ‘ongoing soft war’ could not be fought through a ‘political approach’, offering the presentation of ‘the truth’ through a “full-fledged and influential artistic manner” as the alternative.

His remarks are the first acknowledgment, that Iranian and International Greens, who have spent the past three months creating songs, videos, posters, paintings and numerous other works of art to fight the regime, are starting to really get under his skin.

14. Afshin Ghotbi – the head coach of Iran’s national soccer team – said in an interview, he had received an invitation letter, from Khamenei’s office, to take part in Ahmadinejad’s inauguration and his attendance was not a political statement but a show of respect to the leader.

15. Hugo Chavez met with Ahmadinejad on his trip to Tehran today.

Arrested / Released / Killed / Torture

16. Alauddin Boroujerdi, Chairman for the Committee for Foreign Policy and National Security of the Parliament, rejected the claim by Norooz – the media outlet of IIPF – that they had a confirmed list of 72 people who had, so far, been killed in the unrest and many more may have died in the violence.

He said that earlier, Morteza Alviri – a Karroubi aide – had alleged that 69 people had died in the violence, yet after a week’s notice, he still had not been able to provide concrete proof, that the number of people who have died in the violence, was that many.

(I’m still working on a complete translation of the list, as well as further details, should be released some time today.)

17. A leaked interview with Abdullah Ramezanzadeh – a former spokesperson during Khatami’s presidency – has surfaced. According to Parlemaan News – which is a reformist news website – Ramezanzadeh gave the short interview, while in court to defend himself, a couple of days ago. He said he was being interrogated at night, for up to 8 hours, while he was blindfolded and was under tremendous pressure, to confess to having a hand in the unrest, following the election. He said he was yet to be officially charged with a crime.

Ramezanzadeh also reported that he had been badly beaten while being arrested. He claimed to have had a fractured skull and broken teeth because of the initial beatings. He added that he had been kept in solitary for the initial two months and had only been moved to a better cell after Ramadan started.

18 Reports coming out of Iran, suggest that several prominent political prisoners; Ghouchani, Abtahi, Hajjarian and Ramezanzadeh, might be released by the end of Ramadan. These reports indicate that newly-appointed Judiciary Chief Sadegh Larijani, plans to speed up the release of many prisoners. Full confirmation is not at hand at this point.

19. Arrests continue. Arash Geety, a student activist from Zanjan, has been arrested and is being kept at the Intelligence Department of Zanjan province.

20. Shayesteh Amiri and Roshanak Siasi have finally been released. Siasi is a member of the Kargozaran Party and a women’s rights activist.

21. More than 300 reporters, have sent a letter to the new Attorney General of Tehran Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi, asking for the release of all detained journalists.

Media

22. Jordan has shut down Press TV’s main bureau in Amman. It is still not clear what caused this, however, Jordan had asked Press TV and Al-Alam TV, to renew their accreditation with the government.

Miscellaneous

23. Green graffiti in boys’ dorm, Sharif University: http://bit.ly/urJBc

24. Green graffiti in girl’s dorm of Ferdowsi University in Mashad: http://bit.ly/VOvsI

25. “Leader” Street is changed to “Leader the murderer” Street : http://bit.ly/4I4PO

International Protests / Events / Warnings / Efforts

26. A fundraising event is being held in Richmond, California for the New York City protests on September 23 and 24. Link: http://tinyurl.com/n5adyj

(For more information on the NYC protest, please check http://standbyiran.org or http://united4iran.org/)

27. Payam Parsinejad and Younus Abissy will be cycling from Boston to New York in support of the Green Movement. They will start their three-day long journey on September 7.

26. A petition to be signed and sent to ambassadors as well as their contacts: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnj8jzc_8dxb9vbgf

27. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US: http://protests.sharearchy.com/

28. For a list of protests that are being planned in Germany, please visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/nbzacj

29. A to the point website for help traumatized Greens: http://healingthegreensoul.blogspot.com/

(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events, protests or doing something else related to the Iranian election internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is: [email]dbosca@gmail.com

To Helpers

- Info on republishing the Green Brief: http://tinyurl.com/mjxrz3

- Information on Tor: http://torir.org

This page contains a listing of external mirrors of the GB, as well as various information about the GB. Links to translations are also encouraged: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief

- (A list of all the Green Briefs): http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

- A hearty thanks to S joon for helping me out with proof-reading and very valuable tips. Also, a BIG THANKS to all the translators who’re spending their precious time on getting this to as many people as possible.

The Green Brief #67-68 (September 3,4 – Shahrivar12,13)

I’m NiteOwl AKA Josh Shahryar – twitter.com/iran_translator on twitter. I’m a journalist and a human rights activist and NOT Iranian. This is a compilation of news from Iran that I’ve gathered through twitter and Iranian sites that were advertised on twitter. Remember, this is all from tweets. (My work is released under Creative Commons (CC) under the condition that you provide a link to the original source.)

These are the important happenings that I can positively confirm from Thursday-Friday, September 3-4 – Shahrivar 12-13.

Protest / Unrest

September 3

1. It can be confirmed that the September 18 protest, now has the endorsement of Mir Hossein Mousavi, Zahra Rahnavard and Mehdi Karroubi and they will all be joining the protest. Where and when exactly, on that day, the protest will be held and the scope is not yet clear.

2. It has now been confirmed that a few days ago, families of detainees who had gathered outside Evin Prison, to break their fast, were attacked and scattered by security forces. Reports indicate, the attack took place on September 1. Some sources, however, also cite September 2 as the day of the attack. As yet, we cannot confirm the exact date.

3. As more news of dissent amongst laborers reaches across Iran, economic reasons are being cited as the driving force behind the dessent. According to several websites, the cost of living, since Ahmadinejad’s election in 2005, may have risen by more than 100%, yet many workers are vocally complaining about not being paid their meager wages in the past several months.

4. The Mourning Mothers Association will be holding another vigil at Laleh Park Saturday, September 5.

September 4

5. For the first time in 20 years, nightly vigils at Imam Khomeini’s shrine will not be held. It was feared the Greens would flood the premises and try to get their message out using this gathering.

Opposition

6. Karroubi in response to IRGC Commander Ali Jafari’s allegations, that reformists were attempting to weaken the Supreme Leader, hinted that certain people should stop meddling in politics, as politics were a totally different area than the military – a clear indication that IRGC should stay out of politics.

Karroubi who was at the mourning for the deceased Iraqi cleric Abdul Aziz Al-Hakim, also added he had met with the three-member commission, set up by the Judiciary and had explained to them the evidence he had, at hand, of the instances of rape. He said they would be holding more meetings in the near future.

He also added, one of the victims, that had been referred to the authorities, had gone missing for several days. He did not clarify when the victim had returned or what had happened while he was missing.

7. Hasan Rohani, a member of the Assembly of Experts and a former national security chief – said that attacks on prominent personalities, during the trials, were against Islamic Sharia and the national interest of Iran. Rohani also added that Jafari’s statement – mentioned above – and the IRGC press secretary Sardar Javani’s statement calling Mousavi a hypocrite, would only hurt the regime and weaken people’s trust in it.

Reza Tabish – the Secretary General of Imam’s Way faction of MPs – had earlier also blasted such accusations against reformist leaders.

September 4

8. Faezeh Hashemi, the daughter of Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani, in an interview today, said that the health of the election was still very questionable and what happened after the election, while very important, should not overshadow the importance of what happened to the election. She also strongly condemned the “show trials” and the crimes committed after the election. She went on to stress that all these were indicative of a “velvet coup” and it was clearly a deception, that people were being accused of starting a “velvet revolution’ instead.

Faezeh Hashemi added that an independent commission, to investigate the election, should had been set up instead of leaving it up to the Guardian Council to decide. She also added that only investigating what happened at Tehran University or Kahrizak was not enough and the killings and havoc that was wreaked during the protests should be investigated as well.

She also blasted the IRIB for its one-sided coverage of events and added that what has happened, in the aftermath of the election, were signs that the system was about to become both undemocratic and unIslamic.

9. Reports indicate that Karroubi has openly encouraged people to join the Qods day Friday prayers. Keyhan had earlier reported that Rafsanjani was going to lead the prayers on that Friday. This could not be confirmed through independent sources.

(However, should Rafsanjani lead the prayers, I will be live-blogging his sermon in English on Anonnet and later release a transcript.)

10. Partially confirmed reports indicate that Grand Ayatollahs Sane’ie and Montazeri have held another meeting. Both clerics have expressed concern over the current crisis and showed their displeasure over the continued arrests of political activists. Both later prayed that the country could come out of the crisis sooner and that all prisoners be released.

Government / International

11. The parliament voted on Ahmadinejad’s proposed cabinet and approved 18 of 21 ministers. Here is a list of the approved cabinet members and their posts:

Agriculture: Sadeq Khalilian

Commerce: Mehdi Ghazanfari

Communications and IT: Reza Taqipour

Cooperatives: Mohammad Abbasi (Retains his post)

Culture and Islamic Guidance: Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini

Defense: Brigadier Ahmad Vahidi

Economy and Financial Affairs: Seyyed Shamseddin Hosseini

Foreign Affairs: Manouchehr Mottaki (Retains his post)

Health: Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi (Female)

Housing and Urban Development: Abdolreza Sheikholeslami

Industries and Mines: Ali Akbar Mehrabian

Intelligence: Heyder Moslehi

Interior: Mostafa Mohammad Najjar

Justice: Morteza Bakhtiari

Labor and Social Affairs: Ali Nikzad

Oil: Masoud Mir Kazemi

Road and Transportation: Hamid Behbahani (Retains his post)

Science, Research and Technology: Kamran Daneshjoo

These proposed ministers failed to get the required vote of confidence:

Education: Sousan Keshavarz (Female)

Energy: Mohammad Aliabadi

Welfare and Social Security: Fatemeh Ajorlou (Female)

12. The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Mohammad Reza Bahonar, has disclosed that Khamanei had sent a message to the parliament, stating that he wished to see Ahmadinejad’s cabinet passed – although no one should feel any pressure. It has been indicated, by unnamed MPs, that many more ministers would have been rejected, if Khamenei had not sent the message to sway the opinion of the Parliament. “If we had not received the leader recommendations, probably eight or nine ministers would have failed to win the vote of confidence, and that would not have been a good start for the government,” he added.

13. Reports indicate that the newly appointed Minister for Labor Ali Nikzad’s work plan, that he submitted to the parliament, shows unemployment numbers that are vastly different from those claimed by Ahmadinejad. According to confirmed sources, the numbers actually match those provided by Mousavi and Karroubi during the election campaign.

14. Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani, Mohammad Hossein Saffar Harandi, the former Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance, together with many hardliners who have been accused of having a direct hand in the violence against peaceful protesters, joined the 40th day mourning ceremony of Mohsen Rohulamini at his house. Rohulamini died under torture at Kahrizak.

15. The live broadcast of the cabinet vote was disrupted when a parliamentarian was overheard saying, “If anyone cheats [in counting the votes for the cabinet member], we’ll send them to Kahrizak.” The live broadcast was promptly cut after the remark was made. The broadcast resumed later.

September 4

16. The Czech Republic reportedly declined to sell pepper spray and taser guns to Iran last year, over fears that these might be used, by the government for torture, according to Al-Arabiya.

17. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Tehran early Saturday morning to meet with the Iranian Supreme Leader and Ahmadinejad.

Arrested / Released / Killed / Torture

September 3

18. Partially confirmed reports say the body of a teenage detainee has been returned to his family after more than a month. Alireza Azadpour – a reisdent of Kermanshah – disappeared on July 19 while attending a rally. His family was unable to find him, even though they had tried to inquire about his whereabouts from the various security agencies. His body was handed over to his family on August 23 on the condition that they would not hold a funeral.

September 4

19. A list of the 72 people, that can be confirmed, who have died during the protests or in prison, has been released by The Participation Front and published on Norooz.com. (I am going to translate and release the list after writing this Green Brief later in the day.)

20. Unconfirmed reports suggest that reformists, who have been forced to confess, are being tortured at one of the IRGC headquarters in Qasre Feirouzeh, a locality in eastern Tehran province. Further details are ambiguous at this point.

21. Amnesty International has confirmed that Caspian Makan – the fiancé of Neda Agha-Soltan, is in detention and might be facing torture. (This was reported by media organizations weeks ago including GB.)

22. Abbas Mirza Aboutalebi has been released from prison after nearly three months in detention. He was arrested on June 12 and is a top campaign manager for Mousavi, as well as an important reformist.

Miscellaneous

23. Scroll down to see more Marg Bar Dictator and Marg Bar Khamenei: http://bit.ly/NHNmg - http://bit.ly/gjWXL

24. Green graffiti for Quds Day celebrations: http://bit.ly/6RwhP

International Protests / Events / Warnings / Efforts

25. A petition to be signed and sent to ambassadors as well as their contacts: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnj8jzc_8dxb9vbgf

26. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: http://tinyurl.com/r2ow2c

27. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US: http://protests.sharearchy.com/

28. For a list of protests that are being planned in Germany, please visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/nbzacj

29. A to the point website for help traumatized Greens: http://healingthegreensoul.blogspot.com/

(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events, protests or doing something else related to the Iranian election internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is: [email]dbosca@gmail.com

To Helpers

- Info on republishing the Green Brief: http://tinyurl.com/mjxrz3

- Information on Tor: http://torir.org

This page contains a listing of external mirrors of the GB, as well as various information about the GB. Links to translations are also encouraged: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief

- (A list of all the Green Briefs): http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

- A hearty thanks to S joon for helping me out with proof-reading and very valuable tips. Also, a BIG THANKS to all the translators who’re spending their precious time on getting this to as many people as possible.