Letter from Tehran: Iran’s new hardliners

Who Is in Control of the Islamic Republic?

Iran’s disputed election marked the rise of a new power elite. Now, with more protests looming and a nuclear program facing international pressure, can the Revolutionary Guard and its allies sustain their tightening grip on the Islamic Republic?

(Jerry Guo | Foreign Policy | 30 September 2009) - The headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) are in a European-style palace, replete with Greek columns and a grand staircase, in the eastern suburbs of Tehran. From here, the IRGC orchestrated the crackdown that followed Iran’s disputed presidential vote in June, beating protestors on the street and torturing those behind bars. More ominously, the IGRC and other extreme hard-liners have sidelined fellow conservatives in the Iranian government, carving out their own power base in a regime that is becoming increasingly insular, reactionary, and violent. Read the rest of this entry »

March with the Green Scroll Across the Brooklyn Bridge

Join us in New York City as we raise our Voices for Iran and demand Ahmadinejad be held accountable for crimes against the Iranian people. March with the Green Scroll across the Brooklyn Bridge this Thursday, September 10:30 (ET). Gather at Cadman Plaza Park in Brooklyn.

Please find more information at Voices for Iran.

Ahmadinejad attacks Western “hypocrisy”

(Mike Hanna | Al Jazeera English | 23 September 2009) - Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, launched a scathing attack on Western powers, accusing them of spreading “war, bloodshed, aggression, terror and intimidation” in the Middle East and Afghanistan.  He called for the “awakening of nations” worldwide to counter the “hypocrisy and vicious attitudes.”  Iran’s leader did not directly address the issue of its nuclear programme but called for the “eradication of arms race and elimination of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons to pave the way for all nations to have access to advanced and peaceful technologies.”

Al Jazeera’s Mike Hanna reports from New York on the speech that prompted a walkout by several delegations, including the US one.

Sign the Petition Requesting UN members to walk out on Ahmadinejad on September 23rd, 2009

To:  United Nation members

I am writing to ask you to take a stand against the atrocities being inflicted on the Iranian people by their current government under the leadership of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Please do not acknowledge this person’s assumed role as President of Iran.

Regardless of the results of the June 12 election in Iran, this individual and his government have exhibited blatant disregard for basic human rights and have broken the international treaties of the Geneva Conventions. Rape, torture, and murder have been thrust upon the Iranian people and their families by the hands of the Iran government.

I ask you to reproach your decision that extends an invitation to Ahmadinejad at the annual General Assembly meeting on September 23rd, 2009. If Ahmadinejad is still allowed to attend, I respectfully ask that you refuse to share council chamber with him and leave the meeting.

The people of Iran have not asked the rest of the world for money, intervention or interference, all they ask is for our support in their struggle for a free, democratic Iran. As representative of your country and its people, I urge you to demonstrate that support and walk out on Ahmadinejad on September 23.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned – Sign the Petition

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 »

Iran’s president unveils cabinet

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose disputed re-election triggered a political crisis in the country, has unveiled his list of cabinet ministers.

(BBC | 20 August 2009) - For the first time in the 30-year history of the Islamic republic it includes three women. Read the rest of this entry »

Will Iran’s Basij stay loyal?

At any opposition demonstration in Iran they materialise from nowhere. For opposition supporters, they have become notorious. (See BBC video).

(Jon Leyne | BBC News | 13 August 2009) – The government’s Basij militia have become President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s chief enforcers, as he tries to consolidate power in the wake of his disputed re-election. Read the rest of this entry »

Throwing Ahmadinejad a Lifeline

(Hossein Askari and Trita Parsi | New York Times Op-Ed | 14 August 2009) – In an effort to squeeze Iran into submission over its nuclear policy, Congress and the White House are edging toward a gasoline embargo. This would do nothing to force Iran into submission. In fact, it would be a blessing for the hard-line government to once again be able to point to a foreign threat to justify domestic repression and consolidate its base at a time when opposition to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is increasing among conservatives. Read the rest of this entry »

Friction among Iran authorities heats up

With street protests quiet, factional disputes intensify. Hard-line clerics call for opposition leader Karroubi to stand trial, and reformist lawmakers want supreme leader Khamenei investigated.

(Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim | Los Angeles Times | 15 August 2009) - Rival camps within Iran’s corridors of power intensified their threats against each other Friday, signaling potentially dangerous clashes within elite circles and the security establishment after the disputed June 12 reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Read the rest of this entry »

Well-informed Larijani congratulated Mousavi on election day, report says

(Borzou Daragahi | Babylon & Beyond | 11 August 2009) Observers have for weeks heard various theories that purport to prove that Iran’s June 12 presidential elections were rigged. They have come from Western think tanks, mathematicians and, of course, supporters of opposition figurehead Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who ran and lost against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Read the rest of this entry »