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 Crumbling Judiciary

(Muhammad Sahimi | Tehran Bureau | 15 August 2009) – Iran’s judiciary is facing a deep crisis. The Stalinesque show trials alone would be comical if not for the serious and grave nature of them. Dungeons in the Interior Ministry, torture to the point of death, and all around lawlessness have come to characterize the judicial system over the past few weeks. Read the rest of this entry »

Iran Reformists Challenge Supreme Leader

An Open Letter to a Senior Clerical Assembly Demands an Inquiry into Whether Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Is Fit to Rule

(Farnaz Fassihi | Wall Street Journal | 15 August 2009) – In a daring move, a group of former reformist lawmakers, now supporters of the opposition, have challenged whether the Islamic Republic’s top man in power is fit to rule. 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 »

Iran Tries to Suppress Rape Allegations

Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, in a sermon at Tehran University on Friday, denounced claims that protesters had been raped. (Abedin Taherkenareh/European Pressphoto Agency)

(Robert F. Worth and Nazila Fathi | New York Times | 14 August 2009) — Iran’s clerical leadership on Friday stepped up a campaign to silence opposition claims that protesters had been raped in prison, with prayer leaders in at least three major cities denouncing the accusations and their chief sponsor. Read the rest of this entry »

Iranian hardliner calls opposition leader US agent

By Ali Akbar Dareini (Associated Press) – Sat Jul 4, 1:07 pm ET

TEHRAN, Iran – A top aide to Iran’s all-powerful leader has accused the country’s main opposition leader of being an American agent who should be tried for treason, increasing the pressure on reformists disputing the outcome of last month’s presidential election. Read the rest of this entry »

IRAN:  Women at Forefront of Popular Defiance

By Sara Farhang

Iran is home to one of the most vibrant women’s movements in the region. (Photo credit: faramarz/flickr/creative commons)

TEHRAN, Jun 25, 2009 (IPS) – When tens of thousands of protesters braved the ongoing government crackdown to gather in Tehran’s Baharestan Square in front of the Parliament building Wednesday in response to a call by supporters of Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, they were met with some of the harshest violence seen since Iran’s post-election turmoil erupted nearly two weeks ago. Read the rest of this entry »

Iranians rally at Ghoba (Qoba) Mosque

Mousavi supporters join Beheshti commemorators

Published by Press TV – Sun, 28 Jun 2009 20:36:24 GMT

Hundreds of Iranians have gathered in a mosque to commemorate the martyrdom of former chief justice Ayatollah Mohammad Beheshti.

Supporters of defeated presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi also marched down Tehran’s Shariati Street from north to south and silently gathered outside the Ghoba Mosque — where the event was being held.
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