Margaret Warner updates the political situation in Iran, where concerns are growing about the treatment of demonstrators arrested after the disputed election.  Originally Aired on the Online NewsHour on July 29, 2009.

Iason Athanasiadis interviewed by Joe Rubin on Frontline/World’s iWitness,  24 July 2009

This is not your expected tale of a three-week stint in an Iranian prison. Photojournalist Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden, who was in Iran covering the recent disputed elections and massive protests that followed, was trying to leave the country ahead of his visa expiring when he was arrested and charged with espionage. He spoke to us over Skype from his parents’ home in Greece shortly after being released from prison. 

As you will see, there are moments in his retelling that are both humorous and terrifying. The fact that Athanasiadis-Fowden has spent several years reporting from Iran, speaks the language, and understands the culture certainly helped his cause.

His work frequently appears in The Washington Times and is supported by our partners at the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

His work frequently appears in The Washington Times and is supported by our partners at the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

More Reporting from Iason Athanasiadis-Fowden

Nieman Reports: Understanding Iran: Reporters Who Do Are Exiled, Pressured or Jailed

Athanasiadis-Fowden describes the shifting fortunes of reporters in Iran and, in particular, the work of American-Iranian journalist Roxana Saberi, who was jailed for several months in Iran earlier this year on charges of spying. She was released in May.

Tehran Bureau

This online magazine and virtual reporter’s bureau has become a vibrant destination for news about Iran since the election protests began in June. Much of the context comes from ex-pat Iranian journalists wanting to provide a deeper more nuanced coverage of their country’s political crisis.

Pulitzer Center: Iran on the Edge

Blogging for the Pulitzer Center, Athanasiadis-Fowden wrote regularly about the growing social and political turmoil in the Islamic Republic prior to his arrest in June.

Iran’s internal affairs: Keep the U.S. out

Submitted by Shervin Boloorian on July 22, 2009 on the FORpeaceBlog.

As Congress prepares to consider more Iran sanctions, it should also consider that confrontational U.S. policies have come nowhere close to changing Iran’s behavior in the last 30 years. On the other hand, in reaction to a contested election, the Iranians have formed an unprecedented home-grown movement for political expression through their own resources, their own desire for democratic progress, and their own sacrifices.

No coercive American government policy — be it threat of force or punitive sanctions or negative broadcast propaganda — is responsible for the wave of mass public protest that has taken Tehran by storm and split its political and religious establishments over the last month.

Even still, Democrat and Republican House and Senate members alike still believe (remarkably) that more U.S. sanctions or anti-government broadcasts will somehow help improve the situation. According to activists in Iran, so long as these programs are backed by the U.S. government, they stand to backfire and do more harm than good, and we should resist the urge to support them.

It’s true that the violence from the government crackdowns has been brutal and appalling but, as Stephen Kinzer noted in a recent article, the U.S. government simply lacks the moral authority to intervene in Iran’s internal affairs.

This harsh reality may anger some people, but it’s difficult to dispute that we have a poor track record when it comes to “imposing democracy” in Iran and the Middle East, and that an aggressive reaction to the Iranian government’s practices has historically proven dangerous.

Nobel Laureate Shirin Ebadi’s call for a United Nations human rights monitor to Iran is one option that seems to make sense. This would be a multilateral measure that should put pressure on the Iranian authorities while also placating those who say that the U.S. should do more to help Iran’s people. Of course, it will not placate everybody.

As historic as the current situation is inside Iran, it is also our best opportunity as Americans to do what we have seldom done with respect to Iran — and that is to pause and listen to the will of seasoned civic leaders working tirelessly within the current political system to develop change. Ebadi is a human rights leader and an established and respected name among Iranians as well as the international community. She understands what is needed and I trust that she knows better than certain Iranian exiles, who have not been to Iran in decades.

Iran is one of the founding members of the U.N. and wants to avoid further international fallout. By backing Ebadi’s call for an envoy and not pushing for more coercion, the Iranian government would be placed on the defensive and our message to the Iranian people would be clear — we want to help but we first accept that Iranians should be the masters of their own destiny; democracy in Iran should come from within; it is not and should not be the American government’s struggle. The American people stand in solidarity with your cause, and we accept that it is not our place to dictate the terms of democratic change.

Such gestures may also help reverse years of Iranian disdain and mistrust of America and its intentions in Iran. The Iranian people must believe that coerciveness is not the goal in Washington, and that people working intelligently within the establishment can be more nuanced in their approach to Iran. As an American of Iranian descent, I believe Iranians deserve to see that the American policy world can get it right and that America’s values, goals, and aspirations for peace and progress do not depend on Iran’s surrender.

As has been demonstrated in protests in Washington D.C. and elsewhere in the country, there are a growing number of Americans who genuinely care about the nonviolent struggle for change in Iran, and showing concern and unity of purpose is good. Still, the best bet for our government is to heed the advice of Iran’s civil society until we can redefine the wounded U.S.-Iran relationship through sorely needed trust-building. The belief that America can listen to Iranians within Iran, rather than add to a laundry list of demands and punitive actions, can help rescue this relationship.

Americans can further do their part by asking Congress not to continue the policies of overreaction and intimidation during this delicate time. Asking Congress to reconsider new sanctions legislation and ignore those who would see Iran’s present condition as a weakness to be exploited for self-interest is particularly essential.

Iranian protestors have gained fierce admiration for their courage. Shirin Ebadi and other activist leaders within Iran have been preparing their people for this moment for years. They deserve our attention now more than ever.

Shervin Boloorian is an Iranian American based in Washington DC. Mr. Boloorian just completed a two-year appointment as Washington representative of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists.  Prior to that position, he worked as a legislative coordinator for the National Iranian American Council.

_____________

If you want to support just US foreign policy towards Iran, let the White House know by signing this petition.

Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani’s harsh rebuke of Ahmadinejad supporters is followed by renewed violence, suggesting the discontent over recent election results is as strong as ever.

AP Video of July 17 Protests (Click image to see video)

By Borzou Daragahi and Ramin Mostaghim in the Los Angeles Times July 17, 2009 (9:24 AM PDT)

Reporting from Tehran and Beirut — Security forces fired tear gas and plainclothes militiamen armed with batons charged at crowds of protesters gathered near Tehran University after a Friday prayer sermon delivered by the cleric and opposition supporter Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, his first appearance at the nation’s weekly keynote sermon since before the election.

Rafsanjani, in a closely watched speech, lashed out at the hard-line camp supporting President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, criticized the June 12 election results and promoted several key opposition demands. However, he failed to offer a solution to what has emerged as Iran’s worst political crisis in decades.

His inconclusive speech and the Muslim Sabbath clashes between security forces and supporters of opposition figure Mir-Hossein Mousavi that followed suggested the political firestorm unleashed by the marred vote would continue and that the movement it had inspired was as strong as ever.

“We could have taken our best step in the history of the Islamic revolution had the election not faced problems,” he told worshipers in and around Tehran University. “We are in doubt today. Today, we are living bitter conditions due to what happened after the announcement of the election result. All of us have suffered. We need unity more than any time else.”

Even before Rafsanjani’s speech began, security forces were stuffing young men into waiting police vans. Helmeted Basiji militiamen aboard motorcycles began pushing forward.

After the speech, downtown Tehran erupted in violence as security forces attacked crowds of demonstrators, older and grayer than recent gatherings, who were chanting “Death to the dictator!” and “God is great.”

Tear gas filled streets as demonstrators sought to enter the gates of Tehran University, which riot police had locked. The crowds swarmed through downtown, chanting slogans as the afternoon wore on, lighting cigarettes and putting them in front of one another’s faces to ward off the effects of the tear gas.

Masked demonstrators also set trash fires in the middle of roadways to burn off the tear gas, videos posted on YouTube showed. Another group shut down two highways, while yet another handed flowers to smiling policemen and kissed them on the cheeks, according to witnesses.

Another large group gathered in front of the Ministry of Interior, which is under the control of Sadegh Mahsouli, a wealthy ally of Ahmadinejad.

“Mahsouli! Mahsouli! Give my vote back,” they chanted, according to a video posted to YouTube.

Demonstrators also began to head north to approach the headquarters of state broadcasting, which has barely reported on the unrest and aired a cooking show on television during Rafsanjani’s speech.

“Last Thursday five of my friends were arrested, and they are in Evin Prison, and it’s my duty to come and participate,” said Nahid, a 22-year-old law student who asked that her last name not be published.

Reformist websites estimated that more than 1 million people participated, and even indignant supporters of the hard-line camp at the prayer session to show support for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei acknowledged the crowds were unprecedented.

“Mousavi caused all these problems,” said Hossein, 50, who regularly attends Friday prayers. “This is his fault.”

Mousavi and fellow reformist presidential candidate Mehdi Karroubi attended the sermon, according to photographs published by the semi-official Iranian Students News Agency. Former President Mohammad Khatami had vowed to attend, but could not be spotted.

At times the two camps appeared to be shouting directly at each other, exposing the still-festering election rift within Iranian society and the political establishment underneath both at the Friday prayer enclosure on the university campus and on the streets outside.

As Mousavi supporters chanted “Death to the dictator,” against Ahmadinejad, his supporters chanted “Death to opponents” of Khamenei.

As hard-liners repeated their signature cries of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel,” riled-up Mousavi supporters overpowered them with chants of “Death to Russia” and “Death to China,” the Islamic Republic’s powerful United Nations Security Council protectors.

But Mousavi’s backers came not so much to show support for Rafsanjani, who is widely viewed as a cynical power broker serving his own interests, but to voice opposition to Ahmadinejad and continue to register discontent over the election results they view as rigged.

Rafsanjani’s long-awaited sermon neither cooled protesters’ anger or appeared to alter the dynamics within the ruling establishment and Iranian society. But it gave explicit clerical backing for some of the key demands of the burgeoning political movement built on Mousavi’s presidential campaign and the protests that followed.

Rafsanjani, a key force behind Mousavi, urged tolerance, dialogue and obedience to the law, but criticized the election results and the treatment of dissidents.

“All of us — the establishment, the security forces, police, parliament and even protesters — should move within the framework of law,” Rafsanjani said. “We should open the doors to debates. We should not keep so many people in prison. We should free them to take care of their families.”

He criticized the powerful Guardian Council for its review of the election results, and said all Iranians needed to “restore public confidence, because it was badly damaged.”

He said healing will take time and that utilizing the blunt instruments of state to quiet dissent would only make matters worse.

“It is impossible to restore public confidence overnight, but we have to let everyone speak out,” he said. “We should have logical and brotherly discussions and our people will make their judgments.”

He demanded freedom of the press. Media-monitoring groups say dozens of Iranian journalists have been jailed in last weeks of unrest.

“We should let our media write within the framework of the law and we should not impose restrictions on them,” he said. “We should let our media even criticize us. Our security forces, our police and other organs have to guarantee such a climate for criticism.”

He also urged respect and sympathy for the families of those killed in the violence. “We should try to console them,” he said.

Ahmadinejad, who was on a trip to the northeastern city of Mashhad, announced several new Cabinet positions, including the U.S.-educated Ali Akbar Salehi, a former envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, as head of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization.

Related:

“Rafsanjani condemns Iranian regime’s handling of post-election unrest,” in the Guardian (UK) on Friday 17 July 2009 (13.55 BST)
Police clash with tens of thousands of protesters as cleric uses Friday prayers to claim people have lost faith with regime

Tear Gas Used to Disperse Crowds During Friday, July 17, 2009 Protests

Dear All,

I send you a special window to let you know that this Friday will be an eventful day in Iran. Ayatollah Rafsanjani, the second most powerful politician in Iran, and a person viewed as supporting Mr. Mousavi, will lead the Friday prayer in Tehran and deliver the sermon. The reformists are asking their supporters to come out in large numbers. At the same time, there is an air of uncertainty about whether Mr. Mousavi himself will attend the event and whether Mr. Rafsanjani will make a decisive move against the system.

The general mood of the protesters in Iran is that of defiance. The fact that the official media does not acknowledge the crisis and acts as if everything is in perfect order leaves people frustrated and angry. Women continue to be most visible on the streets.

New Statement Released by Mr. Reza’i

Mr. Reza’i, one of the four candidates for presidency who is ideologically closest to Mr. Ahmadinejad, issued a new statement today asking the government to acknowledge the people’s grievances concerning the election and to attend to their complaints. More important than the response that he will get is the fact that he is not convinced at all that Mr. Ahmadinejad’s government will be able to move forward under the current circumstances.

Attacking a Person filming the Events

NIAC blog posted this  video taken on July  9 when a person filming the protests is attacked by the riot police and  miraculously saves the brief video clip:

Anonymous E-mailer

Anonymous e-mailer returning from a demonstration (most probably July 9) described the police as anxious, frustrated and worn out, and the people as “not in an aggressive mode and in control of their behavior.” The e-mailer estimated the demonstrators about 10,000.  People living in neighborhoods which have substantial “revolutionary guard” residents report loud Allaho Akbar chants at night which indicates clear support among that group.

The Allaho Akbar Nightly Chants Loud on July 9 and on July 12

This  video posted on the night of the demonstrations on July  9 shows that the nightly chants were particularly loud:

A video from the July 12 chants. For the first time, people seem to be using megaphones to get their voices heard more clearly:

Sajjadpour and Parsi’s Excellent Analysis of the July 9 Events on the Newshour

Sohrab A’araabi

Many predict that when dust of current clashes in Iran settles, the number of the casualties among the street protesters will turn out to be much higher than what is thought to be now (which is in the twenties).

One such figure is Sohraab A’araabi, a 19-year old man killed apparently on the same day as Nedaa Aghaa-Soltaan, and in a similar manner.

He was scheduled to take the university entrance exams in a few days’ time.  His mother is a member of Mothers for Peace.  He was buried yesterday in plot number 257 at Behesht-e Zahraa cemetery, Tehran, about 20 meters from Nedaa’s
grave-site.

Last night, in the Ekbaataan, Sohrab’s Neighborhood in Tehran,  in addition to the roof-top shouts of “Allah-o Akbar” and “Death to the Dictator,” there was, “Our Sohraab is not dead, it is the Velaayat [the rule of the [Islamic] jurisprudent] which is dead.”

For more pictures and videos of Sohrab, please visit:

Gooya News Archives (1)

Gooya News Archives (2)

Iran: The Story of Sohran A’araabi

Report of the funeral (in Farsi) on Roozonline on July 14, 2009.

Good Night,
F.

The teenager disappeared June 15, when hundreds of thousands rallied in Tehran. Officials notified his mother of his death only on Saturday, despite her repeated inquiries at courts and prisons.

By Iason Athanasiadis | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor from the July 13, 2009 edition

Athens – In Iran, the burial Monday of 19-year-old student Sohrab Erabi has caused a fresh flood of sympathy similar to that occasioned by the killing of Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman whose death at a protest last month was caught on video and watched by millions around the world.

In a country steeped in the martyrdom culture of Shiite Islam, some are trying to link Mr. Erabi’s death to a greater legacy. But many Iranians shy away from characterizations reminiscent of the rhetoric imposed over the past 30 years by the Islamic Republic.

“He isn’t a martyr,” writes Maryam Namazie, a human rights activist based in Britain, in an e-mail. “Many of the people killed during the recent protests are opposed to an Islamic regime and religion’s brutal role in every aspect of their lives. Neda and Sohrab represent another face of Iran, one that refuses to kneel even after 30 years of medievalism and brutality.” [Editor's note: The original version misidentified Ms. Namazie's home base.]

Erabi was reportedly killed on June 15, when a member of Iran’s ideological basiji militia opened fire on a crowd of protesters close to central Tehran’s Azadi Square, according to his aunt Farah Mohamadi, who was informed of his death by security forces.

“There’s a lot of conflicting information about his death,” she told BBC Persian. “I sense that they’re scared to say whether he died in prison or if he was hurt by gunfire at the march and bled to death later in [the] hospital.”

Without an identity card on his body, he went unrecognized for nearly a month, according to the Farsi-language blog Khasokhashak.wordpress.com.

Typically, individuals who sacrifice their lives for the sake of Islam or one of its precepts are called martyrs.

“It has to do with the idea of death for a noble cause, one which is not in vain but has rewards both in this world and after death,” says Asef Bayat, a professor of sociology and Middle East studies at Leiden University in the Netherlands. “It is at the same time an attempt to connect Sohrab Erabi’s death to a familiar legacy, that of the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad who died in his struggle against injustice.”

An additional 190 people arrested late last week

Erabi’s mother, Parvin Fahimi, had made numerous inquiries at prisons and courts since he disappeared, according to the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. On Saturday, she was finally called in by officials and asked to identify her son in several photographs of corpses.

“The lack of transparency and calculated delay in releasing the information about [Erabi's] unexplained death only raises anxieties about scores of others who are among the disappeared as well as those who have been held in incommunicado detention, with no contact to family members or lawyers, many for almost a month,” said the group in a statement. “An additional approximately 190 persons were arrested following the most recent demonstrations on 9 July.”

Erabi was buried on Monday in Tehran’s enormous Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, one of the largest in the world, monitored by large numbers of plainclothes security forces. Within hours, videos circulated on YouTube showing Erabi’s head-scarved mother sobbing as he was laid to rest. About 500 people attended the service and short speeches were given by Erabi’s male relatives.

“I think they told them [Erabi's male relatives] not to kick up too much of a fuss,” said Mrs. Mohamadi. “No one told me this, but you’d think that’s what happened given how quickly it ended.”

Attempt to connect Erabi to greater legacy

In Iran, at least 20 people have been killed so far in countrywide rioting protesting the June 12 presidential election that returned Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to power with a 63 percent share of the vote. Defeated presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi contested the election and is refusing to relinquish his claim despite a partial recount of the votes by the Guardian Council, that found no evidence of vote-rigging.

During the 1979 Islamic revolution, dead demonstrators were dubbed martyrs, inspiring crowds of religious Iranians who felt that the ruling shah’s troops were seeking to suppress Iran’s Islamic identity. Attitudes are more muted this time, with few of the casualties being universally accepted as martyrs.

“There is a cultural divide with many not wanting to use the term because they feel the term has been overused by the government and is infused with religion,” says Hadi Ghaemi, director of the International Campaign of Human Rights in Iran. “But calling someone a martyr can also merely signify that this person did not die in vain but his death had a purpose.”

Dear All,

Earlier today, Mr. Mousavi’s facebook posted a call for a massive rally to be held next Friday, July 17 toward Tehran University where  Ayatollah Hashemi Rafsanjani will deliver the Friday prayer’s sermon  after a month of absence from public. Mr. Mousavi, and Mr. Khatami will  both be present at this important event. This appears to be the move (on  the part of Mr. Hashemi) that everyone was waiting for. Please find the flyer below.  Iranians can access e-mail. Please distribute widely.

Let us hope it will go ahead successfully and peacefully.

Majid Ghaemi Heidari is welcomed at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport. He and four other Iranians were freed after 30 months in U.S. custody in Iraq. (Photo: Javad Moghimi / Fars News Agency)

After a long absence, pro-Mousavi cleric Rafsanjani to lead prayers.  Former President Mohammad Khatami reportedly will also attend Iran’s weekly keynote sermon Friday. The reformists’ return to the event can be seen as a challenge to hard-liners or a sign of a truce.

By Borzou Daragahi in the Los Angeles Times on July 13, 2009

Reporting from Beirut – A powerful cleric who has been a driving force behind the opposition movement challenging the reelection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will lead Friday prayers this week after a two-month absence that was considered a sign of conflict within the Iranian establishment.

The semiofficial Iranian Labor News Agency reported Sunday that Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani will deliver the nation’s weekly keynote religious sermon. Rafsanjani, who chairs powerful boards that oversee the office of the supreme leader and adjudicate disputes between government bodies, is the highest-profile backer of opposition candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who lost to Ahmadinejad in an election marred by allegations of vote-rigging.

Mousavi’s Facebook page ( www.facebook.com/mousavi) said that he and his ally, former President Mohammad Khatami, would attend the prayer sermon. The Facebook page invited supporters who poured into the streets in recent weeks to attend, though Mousavi’s website, Ghalamnews.ir, carried no such announcement.

News of the return of reformists and moderates to the official Friday prayer ceremony could serve as a challenge to hard-liners, led by supreme leader Ali Khamenei, on their home turf. Alternately, it could be a sign that the two sides have brokered a truce in their continuing political conflict. The election and subsequent demonstrations, attended by hundreds of thousands of Iranians, have led to numerous deaths and arrests.

On Sunday, news websites and human rights groups reported the killing of Sohrab Arabi, a 19-year-old who was apparently shot in the chest by government security forces or allied Basiji militiamen during a June 15 demonstration and had been missing since. His funeral is to be held today.

On Sunday, Maj. Gen. Hassan Firouzabadi, army chief of staff, blamed such deaths on unruly demonstrators.

“The rioters, armed with weapons from the U.S., Israel and England, opened fire on people in a futile attempt to accuse the police and the Basiji, with the cooperation of foreign media,” Firouzabadi said in an open letter addressed to Imam Mahdi, a venerated Shiite Muslim who disappeared hundreds of years ago and whose messianic return, it is believed, will herald a new age.

“Our security forces never used any arms and they were beaten up, injured, martyred and crushed under wheels,” he wrote in the letter, published in multiple news outlets. “On the other hand, the rioters mourned their fake dead.”

Meanwhile, five Iranian officials described as diplomats by Tehran arrived in the capital Sunday after 30 months in U.S. custody in Iraq. They were detained in early 2007.

Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said the Iranian government was entitled to sue the Bush administration “for this savage act.”

Statement and Call to Action

July 9, 2009

Dear Friend of United for Peace and Justice,

Over three weeks ago, Iranians held a presidential election. What followed remains unclear, but one thing is for certain: the Iranian government engaged in the suppression of the rights of Iranians to protest their government.

While UFPJ strongly supports the principle of non-interference in the affairs of others, we also feel compelled – as a coalition which has protested the policies of our government for more than six years now – to stand in solidarity with the people of Iran and their struggle for the elementary right to protest their government and its actions without the threat of death, arrest, or censorship. What has happened in Iran is more than unfortunate; we hope that the people of Iran, regardless of their politics, can remain resilient in their demand for such a basic right.

At the same time, for us here in the U.S., what is even more important is the actions of our own government during this crisis, especially in light of the unfortunate historical role we have played and continue to play in this region. In this regard, signs are mixed.

UFPJ has been encouraged that the Obama administration continues to stick to its campaign promise of direct talks with Iran. At a time of increasing regional instability, the world cannot afford heightened hostilities between the U.S. and Iran.

However, UFPJ is deeply concerned over potential developments in the White House’s policy towards Iran. While official statements have made clear that direct talks remain the key goal, we have heard high administration officials deviate from that official stance time and again. A disturbing example of this discrepancy was Vice President Biden’s comment this weekend in which he indicated that the U.S. would not intervene if Israel decided to militarily attack Iran. These comments are counter-productive, harming not just the potential for constructive talks between the two countries, but also giving an excuse to Iran’s leaders for further reactionary action, such as the suppression of Iranian protestors.

What we need is a White House that is clear in both its promise to engage in direct talks with Iran in the near-future and its principle of non-interference in Iran’s internal affairs. To do this, UFPJ urges you to take the following action:

1] Call the White House at 202-456-1111 and let it know that you want Obama to stick to his promise of direct talks with Iran.

2] Sign-on to Just Foreign Policy’s petition to President Obama, which urges him to keep to the principle of non-interference in Iran’s internal affairs.

And to show solidarity with the people of Iran and their elementary right to protest their government’s actions, we urge you to join up with the United For Iran, Global Day of Action, for a rally in your city on July 25. This Global Day of Action is endorsed by such groups as Amnesty International and Physicians for Human Rights and is a non-partisan event.