“Sanei: Online Ayatollah” by Maziar Bahari

Ayatollah Sanei shares his office and his family meal with film maker Maziar Bahari, revealing a traditional holy man offering very modern advice. Produced for Al Jazeera (English). This documentary was made by Maziar Bahari a Canadian/Iranian journalist that till today August 26th, 2009, has spent 65 days in Tehran’s Evin prison  accused of formenting a velvet revolution and does not have access to a  laywer. Read the rest of this entry »

Iran: Aims, ambition and policies

(Al Jazeera English | Inside Story | 30 August 2009) – Less than a month into his second term, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, is facing criticism about his cabinet nominees.  Iran’s parliament began a session to debate and vote on Ahmadinejad’s proposed new cabinet following his disputed re-election in June.  The outcome is widely seen as a test of the president’s hold on power after the election, which plunged Iran into its deepest internal crisis since the 1979 Islamic revolution.  Despite a parliament controlled by the conservatives, Iran’s MPs are likely to reject a significant number of his ministers, increasing the pressure on Ahmadinejad.  Some of his choices are expected to provoke stormy debate. Will Ahmadinejad have a successful second term and what challenges will he face?  Read the rest of this entry »

Think Again: Realism

(Paul Wolfowitz | Foreign Policy | 24 August 2009) - Amid war and recession, Americans are in a no-nonsense, matter-of-fact mood. But that, says a leading architect of George W. Bush’s foreign policy, is no reason to adopt a misguided doctrine.

“We’re All Realists Now.”

No. Pragmatists maybe, but not “realists.” Barack Obama’s election as U.S. president delighted many people, especially the self-described foreign-policy “realists” who accused his predecessor, George W. Bush, of denying reality in favor of dangerous idealism. Obama has praised the realpolitik of Bush’s father, George H.W. Bush. And a White House official recently told the Wall Street Journal, “[Obama] has really kind of clicked with that old-school, end-of-the-Cold-War wise-men generation.” The elder Bush’s national security advisor, Brent Scowcroft, called Obama’s election a rejection of the younger Bush “in favor of realism.” Read the rest of this entry »

Daily News Digest:  Saturday, August 29, 2009

Ahmadinejad calls for prosecution of Iran’s opposition leaders (LA TIMES) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded the prosecution of opposition leaders today, raising the nation’s political temperature just a day and a half after supreme leader Ali Khamenei sought to cool tempers in a conciliatory speech.

IRAN: Proposed education minister accused of making up his degrees (LA TIMES) - Did President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nominee as head of the nation’s higher education system fake his university degrees?  According to an investigation by a reformist website, Mowjcamp.com, Kamran Daneshjoo, Ahmadinejad’s proposed minister of higher education, has lied about his academic credentials by claiming that he obtained British university degrees.

Interview: Prosecutor In 1994 Argentina Bombing Implicates Iran (RADIO FREE EUROPE) - RFE/RL’s Radio Farda correspondent Mohammad Reza Kazemi interviewed Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor handling the case of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina. The prosecution asserts that the attack, which killed 85 people and wounded 300, can be traced to Hizbullah and Iran. Ahmed Vahidi, recently named to be Iranian defense minister, is alleged to have been involved in planning the attack.

Iran’s opposition leaders (LA TIMES) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad demanded the prosecution of opposition leaders today, raising the nation’s political temperature just a day and a half after supreme leader Ali Khamenei sought to cool tempers in a conciliatory speech.

IRAN: Proposed education minister accused of making up his degrees (LA TIMES) - Did President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nominee as head of the nation’s higher education system fake his university degrees?  According to an investigation by a reformist website, Mowjcamp.com, Kamran Daneshjoo, Ahmadinejad’s proposed minister of higher education, has lied about his academic credentials by claiming that he obtained British university degrees.

Interview: Prosecutor In 1994 Argentina Bombing Implicates Iran (RADIO FREE EUROPE) - RFE/RL’s Radio Farda correspondent Mohammad Reza Kazemi interviewed Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor handling the case of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish center in Argentina. The prosecution asserts that the attack, which killed 85 people and wounded 300, can be traced to Hizbullah and Iran. Ahmed Vahidi, recently named to be Iranian defense minister, is alleged to have been involved in planning the attack.

Source: Iran News Digest

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Showing Who’s Boss

Iran’s hard men purge opponents and line their pockets

(The Economist | Aug 27th 2009) - BACK in 2007 the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced an important change of mission. From now on the main task for his 120,000 guards, as well as for the 3m or so members of the baseej paramilitary volunteer force that had just, and for the first time, been placed formally under his command, would be to deal with what he called internal threats. Just what he meant has grown increasingly clear since the disputed presidential elections in June that returned Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, an ex-guardsman, to power. The hardline faction centred on the IRGC embraces a network of former officers and like-minded men in other security branches. Despite outrage over the post-electoral crackdown, this faction has escalated its offensive against dissent even as it consolidates its hold over Iran’s politics and economy.

Read the rest of this entry »

Daily News Digest:  Friday, August 28, 2009

Ahmadinejad calls for prosecution of Iran’s opposition leaders (Los Angeles Times) -  The president says post-election unrest was part of a foreign plot carried out by ‘subversives.’ His demand runs counter to supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who gave a conciliatory speech Wednesday.

Nuclear drive a casualty of Iran’s turmoil (Los Angeles Times) – Iran’s political crisis could prevent the nation from making any swift move to ratchet up its nuclear program, said analysts and officials, giving President Obama and Western allies more time to grapple with the issue.

Iranians Say Prison Rape Not New (New York Times) – On Friday, Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad floated a bizarre conspiracy theory: that any rape or torture of political prisoners in Iranian detention centers in recent months had been carried out by “enemy” agents, not the government.

US Says Iran Still Not Addressing International Nuclear Concerns (Voice of America News) – The State Department said Friday the latest International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report on Iran’s nuclear program shows it is still not being responsive to concerns that it might be seeking nuclear weapons. Senior diplomats from major world powers meet next week in Germany to discuss nuclear diplomacy with Iran.

Iran’s Vice President Blogs From Prison (Radio Free Europe) - Iran’s former Vice President Mohammad Ali Abtahi, who was arrested in the postelection crackdown, has updated his blog from prison.

What Really Happened At Behesht Zahra Cemetery On The Nights Of July 13-15?  (Radio Free Europe) - In this blog post, the author, who says he/she is the child of a Behesht Zahra cemetery worker, writes about reports of the secret burials of many victims of Iran’s post-election violence.

Ahmadinejad Wants Opposition Tried (AP | New York Times) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for the prosecution of Iran’s top opposition leaders Friday, backing hard-liners pushing for escalation of the post-election crackdown.

The grip of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (The Guardian) – In his will, Ayatollah Khomeini asked that the military be kept out of politics. But as President Ahmadinejad’s list of cabinet nominees reveals, the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) control more of the country than ever.

Iran may postpone university openings (WashingtonTV) — Iranian authorities may delay opening university classes in major cities across the country, amid continued political turmoil over June’s disputed presidential election, the Washington Times reported on Friday.

North Korean arms for Iran’ seized by UAE (Financial Times) - The United Arab Emirates has seized a ship secretly carrying embargoed North Korean arms to Iran, say diplomats.  The interception comes at a sensitive time. North Korea has invited the US for bilateral talks on nuclear issues and the UN Security Council’s western members are pressing for greater Iranian co-operation over its nuclear programme.

One Larijani who won’t bring change (Haaretz) – The appointment of Ayatollah Sadegh Ardeshir Larijani as head of Iran’s judiciary is unlikely to fix the country’s dire judicial and prison conditions, which have only been exacerbated by the turmoil following the June elections. If anything, it is likely to frustrate efforts by the United States and its allies to secure the release of foreigners and dual citizens being detained for political reasons.

Current Government Is Neither Islamic Nor a Republic (Rooz Online) - Grand ayatollah Montazeri declared in his response to a letter by 293 of the nation’s journalists, scholar and intellectuals, “This government is neither Islamic nor a republic.”

The Paranoid Style in Iranian Politics (Tehran Bureau) - Political polemics in Iran are replete with such terms as tuteah (plot), jasouz (spy), khianat (treason), vabasteh (dependent), khatar-e kharejeh (foreign danger), cummal-e kharejeh (foreign hands), nafouz-e biganeh (alien influence), asrar (secrets), naqsheh (designs), arosak (marionette), sotun-e panjom (fifth column), nokaran-e estecmar (servants of imperialism), posht-e pardeh (behind the curtain), and posht-e sahneh (behind the scene).

Finger-wagging won’t help Muslim women (Guardian UK) – By Allah, we’re an arrogant lot.  By “we”, I mean modern western feminists, a group among which I am generally proud to be included. Except when we’re full of ourselves.

Time Should not be Wasted With Trials! (Rooz Online) – As military commanders in Iran continue to issue political statements, the Passdaran Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander of Tehran’s force Abdollah Araghi said, “This was a big plot that the enemies of the regime had been planning for at least the last 4 years. They had intended to resort to street protests regardless of who had won the June 12 elections.”

Ayatollah Khamenei moves to protect dissidents from death penalty (Telgraph) - His intervention will almost certainly curtail punishments meted out by special courts against scores of high-ranking and prominent dissidents rounded up for involvement in opposition campaigns. The opposition had condemned “show trials” of leading activists that heard abject admissions of ties to British and other governments, as well as pro-democracy organisations.

Why Do Muslims Fast During Ramadan? (Time) – One of the five pillars of faith for Muslims, Ramadan is the the ninth month of the lunar calendar and the holiest period of the Islamic year. It’s thought to be the month that the Koran was first revealed by God to the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the year A.D. 610.

Upheaval in Iran Adds to Complexity of U.S. Strategy (Wall Street Journal) - America’s most vexing enemy is plagued by growing internal dissension, a vocal opposition movement that won’t die and a crisis of legitimacy. All good news for U.S. policy makers, right?  Not necessarily.

Iran’s Fear of a ‘Velvet Revolution’ (New York Times) - This week, at start of the fourth mass trial of opposition supporters in Tehran, an Iranian prosecutor read another indictment accusing leading reformist politicians and an Iranian-American scholar named Kian Tajbakhsh of plotting to overthrow Iran’s government.

An evening in support of the Baha’is in Iran (San Francisco Examiner) – For over 150 years, the Baha’is have been oppressed in Iran. Waves of systematic persecution at the hands of the government and clergy has sought to expel, intimidate, and eliminate those who would believe in Baha’u’llah.

Can Netanyahu and Obama rein in both the Israeli right and Iran’s clerics? (Haaretz) - “Settlement freeze in exchange for Iran sanctions” – that was the gist of an article published in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, in advance of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s meeting with U.S. envoy George Mitchell in London later that day.

Source: Iran News Digest

BBC Persia Interview: Frozen Bodies Buried in the Dark of Night

In this interview, the investigator reporter, Haniff Mazroee of Norooz website , gives BBC  Persian the chilling account of the report of tens of graves in the Behesht-Zahra cemetery with unknown names. The frozen bodies were brought to Behesht-Zahra and buried in the middle of the night on two different dates. The officials of Iran deny the existence of such graves.

Ahmadinejad Wants Opposition Tried

(AP Tehran | New York Times | 28 August 2009) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday called for the leaders of the opposition to be prosecuted over Iran’s postelection turmoil, stepping up pressure against the pro-reform movement that says he won the election by fraud. Read the rest of this entry »

Daily News Digest:  Thursday, August 27, 2009

Iran’s Supreme Leader Softens Tone on Reformists (New York Times) - Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, appears to have undercut President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s attempt to convict dozens of former government officials, journalists and academics of collaborating with the West to overthrow the government, saying a connection had not been proven.

Cleric calls Iran leaders despotic (Al Jazeera) - A senior Iranian religious cleric has sharply criticised the country’s supreme leader, saying the country is being ruled by a dictatorship following the disputed June presidential election.

Iran’s Presidential Election Shifts Its National Politics (NPR) – Morning Edition has focused this week on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and what they mean for U.S. policy. Iran’s presidential election two and a half months ago threw the country into turmoil. The fallout could change how Iran proceeds with its nuclear program, and how it approaches negotiations with the West. Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, talks with Steve Inskeep about the political shifts in Iran.

France and Germany Warn of New Iran Sanctions (New York Times) - On the eve of the release of a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and President Nicolas Sarkozy of France have threatened tough new sanctions if Iran does not demonstrate a willingness to negotiate on its nuclear program.

Gulf States Stuck Between U.S., Iran On Nuclear Issue (NPR) - Nowhere is the concern over Iran’s nuclear ambition felt more strongly than among Iran’s Arab neighbors in the Persian Gulf region. Even as U.S. companies rush to sell Saudi Arabia and other oil-rich Gulf states an elaborate missile defense system, Arab leaders worry that the Obama administration will fail to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran ’show trials’ make sorry spectacle (BBC) - It was, as it was surely intended to be, a grim spectacle. Iranian state television showed the defendants – sitting in rows in a courtroom in Tehran, dressed in pyjama-like prison uniforms – as they confessed to taking part in a plot to undermine the Islamic Republic.

Netanyahu to Press Merkel on German Trade With Iran, Sanctions (Bloomberg) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will press Chancellor Angela Merkel during talks in Berlin today to curb German trade with Iran and steer efforts to tighten sanctions against the Iranian government.

Widespread Reactions to Televised Confessions (Rooz Online) – The fourth trial session of political activists and journalists opposed to the election results was met with widespread reactions, which pointed to the amazement of observers over what a real trial looked like.

Legal complaint filed against Iran president (Financial Times) - The family of Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, Iran’s former president, has filed a legal complaint against Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, amid signs of continuing tensions at the highest levels of the Islamic regime.

Iranian Nobel Laureate Ebadi Condemns Reformists’ Trials As ‘Illegal’ (Radio Free Europe) – Nobel Peace prize-winner and prominent Iranian lawyer Shirin Ebadi has condemned the ongoing trials of hundreds of people detained following the unrest that followed the country’s contentious June elections. In an exclusive interview with RFE/RL’s Golnaz Esfandiari, Ebadi described the trials as “wizardry” and a “parody” of Iranian justice.

Ayatollah: U.S., UK not meddling in Iran (CNN) – Foreign influences are not to blame for Iran’s post-election violence, the nation’s supreme leader has said, according to state-run media.

Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel wants ‘crippling sanctions’ against Iran (Telegraph) - After talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Germany, he said: “There is not much time.

Iranian women activists not fooled by president (AP) -Women’s rights activists say they aren’t fooled by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s nomination of the first female Cabinet ministers since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, calling it a ploy to improve his popularity that will actually hurt the cause of women.

Neighbors / The power of opposition (Haaretz) - After passing the test of presidency, albeit via beatings, arrests, dispersing demonstrations and, according to his rival Mehdi Karroubi, by raping detainees, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad now faces his next test. On Sunday, the Iranian parliament will debate the president’s list of 21 candidates for the new cabinet. This is not an easy test, and is one Ahmadinejad repeatedly failed during his first term in office.

Iranian MP claims sexual abuse of protesters has been proved (The Guardian UK) – An Iranian MP said today there is proof that some reformists were sexually abused in prison after the disputed presidential election in June. Comments by member of investigative team are first official acknowledgement prisoners were violated.

Iran’s leader says Western agents not to blame, after all (Christian Science Monitor) - Late Wednesday, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei directly contradicted the narrative the country’s hard-liners have spun about their reformist opponents in recent months: the reformists are not part of an international conspiracy to destroy the Islamic republic and move Iran into a US-controlled sphere of influence, after all.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards showing who’s boss (The Economist) – BACK in 2007 the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) announced an important change of mission. From now on the main task for his 120,000 guards, as well as for the 3m or so members of the baseej paramilitary volunteer force that had just, and for the first time, been placed formally under his command, would be to deal with what he called internal threats.

Most Shameful Sham Trial of 30 Years (Rooz Online) – The fourth trial session of political activists and journalists opposed to the June 12 disputed presidential election was held yesterday at branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court in Tehran. Instead of defending themselves, the detainee activists were forced to testify against themselves and their colleagues while also expressing satisfaction with the treatment they had received from interrogators and prison guards.

Shame On Iran (New York Times) – Longer than many people might have predicted, Iran’s political opposition is continuing to challenge the ruling hard-line mullahs. The street protests that shook the country after the bogus June 12 presidential election have faded, but the courage to speak out against the regime’s mounting abuses has not.

Iraq Shia leader mourned in Iran (BBC) - Mourners have gathered in Tehran as the coffin of the powerful Shia Muslim political leader Abdul Aziz al-Hakim begins its journey to Iraq for burial.

Iran says pursuing stronger ties with Latin America (Washington TV) - Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said on Thursday that his country was committed to strengthening ties with Latin America, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Iran: Desperately Unwired (Radio Free Europe) – For such a notoriously wired country (as least among urban youth), Iran certainly has slow download speeds. According to an international Internet speed test website, Iran ranks number 189 among countries in terms of download speed.

U.S. eyes 12 giant “bunker buster” bombs (Reuters) – The U.S. military wants to speed production of 10 to 12 huge “bunker buster” bombs, the Air Force said on Thursday, amid concerns over suspected underground nuclear sites in Iran and North Korea.

Source: Iran News Digest

Iran’s Presidential Election Shifts Its National Politics

Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, talks with Steve Inskeep about the political shifts in Iran.

(NPR | Morning Edition | 27 August 2009) – Morning Edition has focused this week on Iran’s nuclear ambitions and what they mean for U.S. policy. Iran’s presidential election two and a half months ago threw the country into turmoil. The fallout could change how Iran proceeds with its nuclear program, and how it approaches negotiations with the West. Hamid Dabashi, professor of Iranian Studies and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, talks with Steve Inskeep about the political shifts in Iran.  (Listen to the program) Read the rest of this entry »