Green Brief #60
NUR
I'm NiteOwl AKA Josh Shahryar - twitter.com/iran_translator on
twitter. I'm a journalist and a human rights activist and NOT Iranian.
This is a compilation of news from Iran that I've gathered through
twitter and Iranian sites that were advertised on twitter. Remember,
this is all from tweets. (My work is released under Creative Commons
(CC).)
These are the important happenings that I can positively confirm from
Thursday, August 20 - Mordad 29.
In German: http://tinyurl.com/nhzc3a
Protests / Unrest
1. Reports indicate that on Thursday night, dozens of youngsters
gathered on streets in the Apadana district of Tehran and chanted
against the government and Ahmadinejad. The timing coincided with
Ahmadinejad’s speech and his introduction of the new cabinet.
Protesters chanted “Death to Dictator”, “Our pain is your pain; join
us!” and sang Yaare Dabestani – a patriotic song. Apadana district is
where deceased protester Sohrab A’rabi lived.
2. Thursday also coincided with the 40th day of his murder and his
family held a short ceremony at Beheshte Zahra. The family later
released a statement saying that they didn’t want to create unrest,
thus, they didn’t invite people to join them in the ceremony.
3. Reports indicate that factions within Qom, who are displeased with
Grand Ayatollah Sane’ie’s support for the reformists, are planning on
holding a protest to denounce him. Leaflets have been distributed
across the city for this purpose. There is also word that supporters
of Sane’ie will be gathering in front of his office to counter the
protest. No word of when the protests will be held has reached out
yet.
4. Sane’ie in the meantime, has asked people not to gather in his
support, saying that this would give a tool to those who wanted to
create tensions.
5. Reports have also surfaced that people all around Iran chanted
against Ahmadinejad and the government during his speech last night.
According to confirmed sources, chants were heard throughout Tehran.
In several parts of Tehran, people gathered on streets and chanted.
People in their cars and motorbikes honked their horns in support.
6. There are reports of chanting from other cities in Iran as well;
indicating the Sea of Green is very active in many places throughout
Iran. Cities include Isfahan, Shiraz, Ahvaz, Abadan, Kermanshah and
Qazvin.
7. Unconfirmed reports indicate that the government is still reviewing
whether it should close universities for a semester for fear of
student protests. It had earlier been dismissed by the government that
such a plan was being considered.
8. Mohammad Araghi – the commander of IRG in Tehran – has alleged that
over 300,000 people had formed a clandestine organization called “Vote
Organization” or “Sazemane Rai” that had orchestrated that mass
protests after the elections. He added the organization had been
formed before the elections.
9. Confirmed reports indicate the police violating people’s right to
privacy in Iran. According to these reports, the police are frequently
entering homes forcibly and break down the doors if no one opens the
door to them. Most of the time, these operations take place without
any warrants – a clear violation of the Iranian constitution.
A picture of police climbing over a door: http://www.mowjcamp.com/files/file/19809
Note the green graffiti on the wall that says, “Marg Bar
Khamenei” (Death to Khamenei)
Opposition
10. Fatemeh Rake’ie, the Secretary-General of the Innovative Muslim
Women’s Society, today said that Mir Hossein Mousavi’s new movement
was a representation of Imam Khomeini’s ideals. Rake’ie, a former MP,
said Mousavi was expected by Iranians to lead the reformists and those
in search of change.
11. 72 alumni and current university students have sent a letter to
the members of the Assembly of Experts calling for the removal of
Khamanei.
Government / International
12. Ali Larejani – the speaker of the Iranian Parliament – today said
the parliament was ready to receive Mehdi Karroubi’s complaints and
evidence. Larejani added that they would hear Karroubi’s words and
would contact the victims through their phone numbers and addresses,
after they’ve been given to them by Karroubi. He further said that
they had no desire to keep secrets from the people and this would be
done efficiently and transparently.
13. Mahmood Ahmadinejad today in his speech said that the Ministry of
Intelligence had not done its duty, thus, the unrest took place. He
didn’t blame Mohseni Ejaie – the former Intelligence Minister –
personally. He also added that change was needed in the ministry. He
added that “God willing we will get to a 70-million strong
intelligence system.” (Gestapo anyone?)
In another part of his televised speech, Ahmadinejad criticized deputy
speaker of parliament Bahonar for saying that five of his ministers
would possibly be rejected by the parliament and said that it was not
a good thing for the country.
Ahmadinejad during his speech said that he really liked the husband of
Marzieh Dastjardi – the proposed Minister of Health – and sometimes
thought he was like a peach and felt like eating him:
Link to video (Farsi):
YouTube - ‫ا.ن دکتر لنکراني را هلو دانست و...
14. Confirmed reports indicate that Tehran’s Attorney General Saeed
Mortazavi – another government official thought to be responsible for
the suppression of protesters, arrests and tortures – will be replaced
by Morteza Bakhtiari – a former head of Iran’s Prisons Department.
15. Reports have emerged that Ahmadinejad’s pick for Defense Minister
Ahmad Vahidi, is wanted by the Interpol. He was listed in an
international arrest warrant issued by an Argentine judge on November
9, 2006 for being a suspected participant in the Argentine-Jewish
Mutual Association bomb attack in Buenos Aires in 1994. Vahidi is also
considered by many to be the founder of IRG’s Lebanon Corps.
Link to Vahidi’s wanted page on Interpol’s website: http://tinyurl.com/nzj44f
16. Kazem Seddiqi will now be appointed to the list of clerics leading
Friday prayers; while this week’s prayers will be lead by Ahmad
Jannati – reports indicate.
17. Conservative MP Hamid Rasa has published an OP-ED severely
criticizing Ayatollah Sane’ie’s speech in Gorgan, calling him the Imam
of Zarar Mosque – a prayer center established by enemies of Mohammed
who claimed to be Muslims which was later destroyed by Mohammed’s
decree.
18. Reports indicate that Hamid Reza Foladgar – a member of the
Article 10 Commission on Political Parties – has said that any
political party joining the Green Path of Hope would lose its permit
to operate.
19. The Supreme Audit Court of Iran has convicted Esfandyar Rahim-
Mashaei, of a series of financial charges. He was sentenced to two
months suspension from his government post, the Jomhuriye Eslami daily
reported on Thursday. The paper did not give further detail on the
nature of the charges, but said they were in connection with the
period that Rahim-Mashaei served as the head of Iran's Cultural
Heritage, Handcrafts and Tourism Organization.
20. Kerman Friday prayers Imam Hojjatoleslam Seyyed Yahya Jafari, has
also said that Mehdi Karroubi should get 80 lashes for raising the
issue of rape. He criticized Karroubi for not sending the letter to
then head of Judiciary Hashemi Shahroudi instead of Rafsanjani.
Arrested / Released / Killed / Torture
21. Short report by Mehdi Saharkhiz on what happened to one of the
victims of violence during peaceful protests: http://onlymehdi.tumblr.com/post/167723567
22. Journalist Emsael Azadi’s son Mohammad Azadi, was arrested last
night in front of Etemaade Melli newspaper. Mohammad’s father spent
several hours begging and going from one department to another to get
his son’s insulin to him as he has diabetes. At one point, during his
search to find his son’s whereabouts, he was told by security
officials his son should die because he had written slogans against
the government. He was finally able to get the insulin to him; but is
still unable to locate where he is being kept.
23. Security forces broke into a Baha’i woman’s house on Wednesday, in
the city of Sari, searched her house without a warrant and took her
away using a search warrant that had been issued for a date three
weeks ago. The 24 year’s whereabouts are unknown.
24. Mostafa Tajzadeh contacted his family today telling them he might
remain imprisoned throughout Ramadan – the Islamic holy month of
fasting which is starting on Saturday. Faizullah Arab-Sorkhi also
called his family for the first time after 45 days of being in
detention.
(Correction: In the last Brief, we erroneously reported that Ramadan
would be starting next week.)
25. The families of three Americans arrested in Iran, while on a
hiking trip, have yet again pleaded with the Iranian government to
free their loved ones. They asked the Iranian government to grant the
three Americans consular access. They have also created a website and
will update information about the detainees’ whereabouts:
Link: http://www.freethehikers.org
Media
26. Reports from Tehran’s Islamic Court have emerged, that Keyhan has
not been banned. Abolhasan Pour-Hosseini – an official from the court
– told IRIB that no such order had been given. Earlier it had been
reported, that a court in Iran, had banned Keyhan after complaints by
Mousavi and the order had been referred to Attorney General Mortazavi
for his approval.
International Protests / Events / Warnings / Efforts
27. A flash protest against Nokia, near Madison Square Garden in New
York and another protest in front of Nokia’s flagship store in New
York today.
Full report: http://tinyurl.com/lwy5pv
28. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: Safeguard Your Personal
Info and Your Finances! - Why We Protest - IRAN
29. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US: Protesting
for Iran until they don't have to
30. For a list of protests that are being planned in Germany, please
visit this link: Julia's Blog: Protests and rallies in Germany
(subject to change w/o notice) (Courtesy of @jkshalmani)
31. A to the point website for help traumatized Greens: Healing the
Green Soul
(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events,
protests or doing something else related to the Iranian election
internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give
you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is:
[email]dbo...@gmail.com
To Helpers
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This page contains a listing of external mirrors of the GB, as well as
various information about the GB. Links to translations are also
encouraged: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief
- (A list of all the Green Briefs): http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html
- A hearty thanks to S joon for helping me out with proof-reading and
very valuable tips. Also, a BIG THANKS to all the translators who're
spending their precious time on getting this to as many people as
possible.