Middle East
Political prisoners: ‘Don’t give legitimacy to elections’
Iranians are witnessing an undeclared martial law in their country, according to a group of political prisoners held in the notorious Evin Prison. In a statement published on Wednesday on Kaleme, an opposition website affiliated with Green Movement leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, the 39 political detainees said that the forthcoming parliamentary elections in March 2012 would "bear no resemblance to the elections mentioned in the country s constitution."
The Battle Within — Ahmadinejad v. Rafsanjani in 5Â Scenes
Why the Concern Over the March Elections
Speaking at a seminar for public, revolutionary and military prosecutors on March 2 of this year, cleric Hossein Taeb said, "In addition to military and diplomatic measures, the Americans have devised three domestic plans to contain and control. Their hopes have been to get results by linking the (international) sanctions to the (domestic) targeted subsidies. But they failed. For this year, their plan is to first link the sanctions to the next round of targeted subsidies and thus create a new round of chaos. At the same time they want to increase the security threats and keep us engaged in greater security and law enforcement activities and thus exhaust ourselves. And (finally when the election time comes) then plan to launch their "velvet revolution."
The Fire Under the Ashes
Who’s in favour of sanctioning Iran
The loudest, most influential organisations pushing for sanctions against Iran have an open pro-Israel agenda, regardless of their positioning on the political spectrum. The best resourced of all is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), self-described as "the most influential foreign policy lobbying organisation on Capitol Hill". AIPAC lobbied aggressively for the recent bellicose bill proposals, featuring them and its lead sponsors on the front page of its website. Sanctions are "having an impact" and "more are needed", the accompanying captions read. AIPAC is also a key backer of the push to sanction Iran's central bank, a move that some Iranian officials consider an act of war.
Video Interview: Hillary Clinton with BBC Persian – The Unfortunate Decision of the Green Movement
To Help Or Not: Iranian Opposition Figures React To Clinton Remarks
Can An Imprisoned Reformist Lead A Movement
"We must use every opportunity to get together, hold discussions, and publish news of these gatherings, and to tear down the walls of fear. If Iran s youth, boys and girls and all its aware citizens display their will and form small and large gatherings, depending on circumstances and possibilities, and in practice condemn the illegal actions of the authoritarian officials, I am sure that the ruling faction would retreat a lot sooner than expected, and would provide a chance for all Iranians to benefit from their rights and to realize their ideals."
Is Tehran Immune from the Arab Spring Â
Iran has so far remained relatively unaffected by the winds of change that have swept through the Middle East and North Africa. Yet this was not a foregone conclusion. Given the opposition s ability to build on a recent wave of mobilisation to revive the calls for protests triggered in 2009, why has it not taken advantage of the regional domino effect?
‘News Of A Kidnapping’ A Hit In Iran After Opposition Leader’s Recommendation
"If you want to understand my situation, read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's 'News of a Kidnapping,'" Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Musavi was quoted as having said in a recent meeting with his daughters. Musavi, who together with his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, has been under house arrest for more than six months, reportedly made the comments some three weeks ago. Opposition websites posted an account of the meeting and Musavi's comments last week.
Mir Hussein Moussavi Toughens Line on Iran’s Leaders
Iran opposition leader Karroubi adamant son says
Green Movement Council warns Iran regime, sides with Syrian protesters
Thoughts on Resistance and the Green MovementÂ
A Green Manifesto for Iran
Two years after Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's fraudulent re-election to the Iranian presidency, it would be fair to say that Iran's pro-democracy reform movement is on the ropes. Key leaders of the Green Movement have vanished from public view, confined to house arrest or simply "disappeared" by the regime.
Revolt in the Arab World, But Not in Iran – Why?
Iran is a different case because the country already had a revolution in 1979. Even those Iranians who are in the opposition called for reform within the system rather than revolution. It is not a climate of fear that explains the survival of the Islamic Republic but the absence of revolutionary fervour. No state can cling to power merely through brute force
Iran Special Analysis 5 Points for Discussion of the New Green Manifesto
Throughout the spring, there has been an ongoing debate amongst the Iranian opposition. The strict house arrests imposed on Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi silenced front-line figures in the movement, and former President Mohammad Khatami's call for "reconciliation" between people and the regime --- a call from which he has now pulled back --- was a catalyst for tension inside and outside Iran. Reformists and activists have been in tense discussion of specific questions, such as participation in the 2012 Parliamentary elections, and on the general issue of protest and tactics.
Green Movement in Iran Issues New Manifesto in Wake of Arab Uprising
We, dozens of groups of Green activists in Iran, have decided to offer several recommendations for the reform and strengthening of the Green Movement. These recommendations have emerged as a result of our experiences in Iran over the past two years as well as the experiences of those in other countries in the Middle East that recently have had popular revolutions aimed at overthrowing their dictatorships.
The people and the regime in Iran
Iran’s Green Movement has actually achieved its goal
Iran Without Nukes
I do. It s been two years since the Iranian people rose up to protest a stolen election with a bravery that stirred the world and presented Americans with a truer image of a young and highly educated nation than the old specter of the bearded Islamic zealot. The Green Movement was suppressed through barbaric violence but its example helped kindle the Arab Spring.
Iranian Green protests to continue on June 15 and 16
Report Iran security forces attack pro-reform demonstrators
‘Mubarak, Ben Ali, Seyed Ali’s turn,’ chant mourners
More Battles in Cyber-SpaceÂ
Supporting the Workers
With May Day approaching, the opposition Coordination Council of the Green Path of Hope has expressed support for Iranian workers while expressing concern over the regime's treatment of the workers' rights to organise, mobilise, and protest and declaring, "Without resolving the flaws in the country's political system, it is not possible to speak of any economic revival.
Iran and the Green Movement Life, Death, RebirthÂ
Can Non-Violent Resistance Work
Tehran citizen talks to VOA on reform and street protests
Hossein is an Iranian citizen who spoke to Voice of America via phone. He speaks on reform in Iran, focusing on the actions of a newly established green party group that organized and called on the most recent wave of protests in Iran. The following is the English text of the Persian language interview.
Iran’s Opposition Calls for Further Nation-Wide Demonstrations on March 1st
In response to a calling by the youth and political and social institutions, The Council for the Coordination of the Green Path of Hope has issued its 4th statement inviting the nation of Iran to demonstrations from Imam Hossein Square to Azadi Square in Tehran and in all main squares across other cities in Iran, this Tuesday, March 1st, 2011, in protest to the continued illegal house arrests of the two loyal companions of the Green movement of Iran, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.
Iran’s Green Movement Lie
Marching in Tehran
I was at home on the morning of February 14th, a gray, wintry day in Tehran, when I heard the unbelievable news: a young man had climbed up onto a crane, where Ghasr crosses Shariateri Avenue in east Tehran, and was holding a green ribbon in one hand and two big photos - apparently of martyrs, though that wasn t clear - in the other.
Iran’s post-Islamist generation
There's no question the military dictatorship of the mullahtariat - that conglomerate uniting President Mahmud Ahmadinejad's faction, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and his clerical circle, and the military/business complex ruled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) - very much followed to the minute the extraordinary chain of events in
Iran is no Egypt
Iran's Green movement, the squelched democratic hope of 2009, isn't dead after all. Wearing green scarves and chanting "Death to the dictator!", tens of thousands turned out in Tehran, Shiraz and other Iranian cities Monday to demand political change. The size of the protests surprised and embarrassed the regime, but it's important to understand why revolution will be harder than in Egypt and Tunisia.
Iran opposition Green Movement evolves under pressure
It is clear that Monday's demonstrations in Iran came as a big surprise to both the government and the leaders of the opposition Green Movement. The fact that people were willing to come out onto the streets in defiance of the security forces showed just how much anger there still was against the government among some sections of the population.
25 Bahman and the Green Revival
It appears that up to 350,000 people turned out on the streets of Tehran for the 25 Bahman protests. The reason so many people came out was the relative restraint shown by the security forces and the fact that mobile phones worked till 4 p.m. -- once the first few thousand people showed up, they were able to inform many others that the anti-riot cops and Basijis were not, in general, acting as viciously as was widely feared.
Guess Who’s Back Back Again
And so we awake to the day after the rallies of 25 Bahman, in which the opposition to the Iranian regime was again on the streets. After 20 months of oppression and more than a year without a significant public rally, despite the house arrests of its key figures, and in the face of intimidation and beatings, the Green Wave proved that it could still surge
Fear of disobedience among IRGC ranks ahead of Monday rally
Iran opposition planning protests
Iran’s green opposition calls rally despite government ban
Activists in Iran will go ahead with a banned rally in central Tehran on Monday in defiance of warnings by the regime and a heavy security presence, a figure in the green movement has told the Guardian. Ardeshir Amir-Arjomand, a spokesman for the former presidential candidates Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, accused the government of hypocrisy in voicing support for protest in Egypt and Tunisia while refusing to allow a peaceful demonstration at home.
An Interview with Mehdi Karroubi – The Movement is Alive
8 more arrested as regime step up crackdown ahead of 14 Feb rally
As Iran's opposition Green Movement gears up for a new round of demonstrations on 14 February, authorities have launched a fresh wave of arrest against journalists, politicians and activists including close associates and relatives of opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard.
Karroubi says planned march will test regime
Iran’s opposition green movement calls for renewed street protests
Iran's opposition has called for renewed street protests next week on the back of the wave of demonstrations that have swept across the Middle East. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the green movement in Iran, have issued a call for what they have described as "a solidarity move to support the protests in two Muslim countries of Egypt and Tunisia" on Monday
Green movement calls for renewed street protests
Iran's opposition has called for renewed street protests next week on the back of the wave of demonstrations that have swept across the Middle East. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, the leaders of the green movement in Iran, have issued a call for what they have described as "a solidarity move to support the protests in two Muslim countries of Egypt and Tunisia" on Monday.
Former President Khatami’s Manoeuvre on ElectionsÂ
Our demands in the past as well as the present are clear, and have been emphasized even in the aftermath of the recent [2009 presidential] election. [Favourable] conditions for broad participation of people [in the elections] and guaranteeing their rights must be provided. In addition, the elections must be held in such a way that there will be minimum hindrance of free voting by the people and maximum conditions for materializing their demands and ideals.