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POPSHow The Mousavi-Karroubi Request to Hold a Rally ... ... in support of Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings reveals hypocritical and totalitarian nature of regime They are forcing the regime to basically put their money where their mouth is. (1) Khamenei, members of parliament, IRGC and Basij leaders have all expressed support for the protests in Tunisia and Egypt — trying to lay claim to them as Islamic in nature. (2) The regime, by publicly supporting democratic uprisings in other countries, uprisings that at their core are in the name of freedom, justice and equality, is implicitly making the claim that the Islamic Republic believes in these same values. Mousavi and Karroubi have deftly cornered the regime. On the one-hand, if the regime grants the requested permission to hold the protests, it will open up a space for Iranians to vent their opposition to the regime — as they did so in the millions in the 2009 uprisings against the fraudulent presidential election.
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POPSIran moving to military dictatorship, says Clinton The Revolutionary Guard has long been a force separate from the ordinary armed forces. It now has a hand in every critical area, including missile development, oil resources, dam building, road construction, telecommunications and nuclear technology. It also has absorbed the paramilitary Basij as a part of its command structure, giving the militia greater funding and a stronger presence in Iran’s internal politics. Asked if the US is planning a military attack on Iran, Clinton said "no." The US is focused on gaining international support for sanctions "that will be particularly aimed at those enterprises controlled by the Revolutionary Guard, which we believe is in effect supplanting the government of Iran," she said.
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POPSHuge Rally and Protests Mark Iran Revolution
Security forces also briefly detained the granddaughter of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the architect of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and her husband, who are both senior pro-reform politicians, according to the couple's son, Ali. The granddaughter, Zahra Eshraghi, and her husband Mohammad Reza Khatami, who is the brother of a former pro-reform president, were held for less than an hour before being released, his son told the AP. Tehran residents also reported Internet speeds dropping dramatically and e-mail services such as Gmail being blocked in a common government tactic to foil opposition attempts to organize. Heavy numbers of riot police, members of the Revolutionary Guard and Basij militiamen deployed at key squares and major avenues in the capital to prevent the opposition protests from marring the annual mass rallies for the revolution's anniversary... more.... Iran--Hundreds of thousands of government supporters http://bit.ly/bNkhC3 http://news.yahoo.com
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POPSIranian Basij Thugs Taking A Beating 1.06.2010 Iran's revolution entered a new phase with Ashura - the protestors, as I noted here, have become far more militant. The protesters are willing to stand and attack the IRGC and basij thugs attempting to brutally repress them. And here is a bit more anecdotal evidence - a video showing a crowd attacking a group of basij on their motorcycles. What A Difference Two Weeks Has Made Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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POPSVirgin Girls Raped Before Execution in Iran At first glance, one may think that it is the religion, Islam, that forbids the execution of virgins, but this is not so. Islam has no problem executing virgins no matter how young they are; after all if one can marry a 9 year old then certainly one should be able to execute a 9 year old. The actual problem is that virgins are promised a place in Paradise; and this is precisely what repulses the Imams in Iran. To prevent these young criminals, some as young as 9 years old, from entering Paradise, they passed a law forbidding the execution of virgins and to make sure they went to Hell, these Islamic old farts also mandated that virgins be raped married on the night before their execution to prevent their arrival in Paradise. As for the rape of female prisoners, Islam not only allows but encourages the rape of prisoners-of-war, slaves, enemies of the Islamic state as well as civil prisoners, male or female
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POPSFor Iran Local Weapon is 'Rape' and Nuclear Bomb for Israel A country with ancient culture is brought down to shame and street level by two men --- A Supreme Leader and his favourite President, with no morals, no scruples, no human feelings, no respect for human dignity as to allow the use of ''R A P E'' as a wepon against his own country men who chose to have opposite views.
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POPSFrench Brands and The Assassins of Iran The French car brands are present in the Islamic Republic of Iran. For example, Renault and Peugeot-Citroen-PSA-producing and selling vehicles priced gold head of the dictatorship. Thus French cars used to Basij (murderers Neda). Just as we boycotted Nokia for its complicity with the murderous regime, boycott these brands until they come out of Iran. Peugeot, Citroen, Renault and the assassins of Iran
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POPSNeda Agha-Soltan's Fiance Has Been Released From Evin Prison in Iran Amnesty International had been calling for Makan's release, claiming he had been ill treated in prison and subject to coercion and torture. The circumstances of his release and his imprisonment are not immediately clear, and Amnesty International has apparently suspended its appeal but is continuing to monitor Makan's situation. Others involved in the circumstances surrounding the now-famous videotaped death of the young Neda Agha-Soltan have fled Iran in fear for their own lives, including Dr. Arash Hejazi, who attended to Neda after she was shot, and the television journalist who interviewed Caspian Makan after Neda's untimely death.
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POPSTEHRAN BUREAU: Updates from 8 Mordad (30 July) From Tehran Bureau staff: I went to the Beheshteh Zahra cemetery today. The police did not permit Mousavi or Karoubi near the graves. When the car transporting Mousavi and his wife approached, police did not even allow them out of the car. But more than 3000 people were out on the streets near Mosalla. Basij was there too. People flashed V signs with their fingers. Traffic was crazy; people kept honking their horns. People put trash bins, and one motorcycle, on fire. Police and Basij started to use tear gas. They even used it at the cemetery. The gathering at the Beheshte Zahra cemetery was supposed to be at 4 pm, but before that could happen, baton-wielding Basij and the special guard were there to break it up. Police told mourners that if they didn’t leave, they would attack. They arrested many people at the cemetery and in the streets around Mosalla. Some people started attacking police with stones; police then started to attack them.
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POPSNeda's Murder Was Not Staged
But, according to Iran's Press TV, police chief Esmaeil Ahmadi-Moqadam declared Wednesday that the shooting was a "prearranged scenario" — a "premeditated act of murder" that could not have been committed by Iranian police. The White House called that allegation part of Iran's "ongoing campaign of misinformation" about the country's widely-disputed June 12 presidential elections, which returned President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to office and sent hundreds of thousands into the streets in fury over what they claim was a stolen election. "I think the notion that the death of an innocent woman would be staged is — even with them — it's shocking," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday. Moqadam led the investigation following an order from Ahmadinejad inquiring about the "suspicious" nature of the shooting. The Iranian president said even before the investigation that anti-government "elements" were behind the killing — presumably fingering either foreign agents or even the
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POPSPeople Driving Movement, Not Politicians In my last days in Tehran, beginning with the nightly rooftop “Allah o Akbar” chants, which quickly escalated to chats of “Death to the Dictator,”then “Death to the Supreme Leader,” and finally “Death to the Islamic Republic,” it became pretty clear to me that this was a battle between a society and the state that governs it. It’s from within that struggle, furthermore, that the desired change will either emerge or fizzle en route. My bet is with the former, as I witnessed something different within people those weeks that I was there that I have never seen anywhere, specifically in Iran. To me it was a birth of sorts. A decision made by vast numbers of people that they were ready to take responsibility for their own destiny, both personally and politically. I continue to feel very proud of those people and want to support them in their quest for self-determination. It’s a right that belongs to everyone, but unfortunately it has to be forcibly claimed sometimes.
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POPSMoussavi to Appear in Public in Tehran He has also called on authorities to release hundreds of people detained in the turbulent aftermath of the election, including leading reformists, journalists and rights lawyers. Rafsanjani will lead the prayers after two months of absence. Some of his relatives, including his daughter Faezeh, were arrested briefly for taking part in pro-Mousavi rallies. State media say at least 20 people were killed as protesters clashed with riot police and members of the Basij militia, but some rights activists believe the figure is higher. The authorities and Mousavi blame each other for the bloodshed. Hardliners have called for Mousavi to be put on trial. Iran has accused Britain and the United States, which have criticised a crackdown on opposition protests, of interfering in its internal affairs. London and Washington reject the charge.
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POPSUnited For Neda by Mams Taylor, Friends & Family Members Special Thanks to All Other Participants as well: KamyR, Houshang Touzie, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Parviz Sayyad, Sussan Deyhim, Tehran, Stephen Michaels (The Kid), Nazanin Bonyadi, Navid Negahban, Ismail Bashi, Shahrzad Sepanloo, Tina Manouchehri, Kamyar & Payam Jaffari, Necar Zadegan, Nadereh Salarpour, Parviz Rahmanpanah, Fereshteh Ariz, Roxana Rastegar & Fariborz Davoudian and many other friends and family members. There were also a number of very famous Iranian-American artists who lent us their voices and time, but who shall, along with our brilliant Italian-American director, remain anonymous.
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POPS7.9.2009 Iran Blogging 18 tir Tonight, via reader Wilcoy, a new post. 7:30 PM ET -- "Russia, Iran will never forgive you." From a reader, "Just wanted to say that one of the photos you linked to says 'Russia, Iran will never forgive you'. Iranians care a lot about how other countries respond to this crisis." Russia, as readers know, has celebrated Ahmadinejad's election "victory" and said little about the subsequent violence. 7:27 PM ET -- Allah-o Akbar! Earlier today, the NYT reported: An Iranian blogger wrote on Twitter about one hour ago that in the Amirabad district of Tehran, "people are all on the roofs" to resume the nightly ritual of shouting "Allahu Akbar!" ("God is Great!") -- a form of protest turned against the Shah in the 1970s. Video from tonight... 7:12 PM ET -- "We are in this together." New York Times: A young woman, her clothing covered in blood, ran up Kagar Street, paused for a minute and said, "I am not scared because we are in this together."
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POPSUpdates from 18 Tir July 9th Keshavarz Boulevard All the friends I spoke to today have been relatively depressed for the past few days. But today they sounded very different. They said while the security forces were trying their best to separate the demonstrators, the city overall was alive and filled with peaceful protests. Their voice sounded excited, and much more confident and determined than in recent days. On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at noon (US Eastern) “I just spoke to my friend who was there. He said on a scale of 1 to 10, (1 being most peaceful) it was a 7 out there. The other thing he said was that there were a lot of people around the university where he was, there was tear gas everywhere, and two basij militias badly beat the guy right in front of him (blood and everything), but that the guy was helped by those around him. The two militias ran away though before anyone could get to them. Apparently there were basij militias scattered beating the heck out of people with batons and then runni
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POPSLive-Tweeting The Revolution: Day 18 29 Jun 2009 Tonight, people shouted AllahAkbar much louder and stronger than prev nights in objection to GC's certification People in Melat Park, Valiasr Sq., Vanak and sidewalks of Vailasr St. are holding hands and are trying to form a human chain. But reports of sporadic clashes indicate that the armed forces are trying to prevent the formation of the human chain. Reports: About 3000 Protesters clashing with Hezbollah at Vali Aasr Sq. (not conf) Larijani (head of Par):CNN has given money&cellphones 2 protesters 2 portray a wrong image of Iran
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