Category: Need2No

The Green Brief #56 (August 16 – Mordad 25)

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 Sunday, August 16 – Mordad 25.

== Don’t Miss Out The First Item in Media Section ==

Protests / Unrest

1. There are plans for a protest on Monday, in front of Etemaade Melli’s office. (By the time you read this Brief, it will be past that time). Confirmation whether it has been officially sanctioned by Karroubi have been denied. But there are newer reports, suggesting he may have blessed it and may take part. Nothing can be said with any certainty as to what is going to happen. (Or has happened)

2. Families of detainees gathered in front of Evin prison once again, to demand any information about their loved ones and asked for their unconditional release. In the past, some have been arrested for taking part in the gathering.

3. Even though it is not mentioned in the Briefs every day, people are continuing to chant Allaho Akbar and other slogans directed against Ahmadinejad and Khamanei from their rooftops.

4. Reports suggest that 121 well known doctors and university professors, have released a joint statement expressing concern over what they call psychological trauma being inflicted on all members of society. The statement calls on the government to; stop broadcasting the trial of reformists live; punish the culprits of recent violence upon peaceful protesters; punish those who have committed acts of torture on detainees and the release all political prisoners unconditionally. Otherwise, the statement says, ordinary Iranians will continue to be scared and suffer from emotional and psychological problems going through these dreadful times.

5. Reports are emerging, the government is continuously threatening citizens, accusing them of trying to get news out or even discuss the political situation online. Multiple people have received calls, from blocked numbers, telling them to stop emailing information, about what is happening inside Iran to their friends. Others have received emails, telling them they are being watched and they should immediately cease discussing the Sea of Green online. Many others have been arrested.

Opposition

6. Mir Hossein Mousavi and his wife Zahra Rahnavard, met with the family of Behzad Nabavi, who has been imprisoned for the past 2 months. Nabavi is a high-ranking member of the Association of Combatant Clerics and was a former minister during Mousavi’s tenure as Prime Minister of Iran. During the visit, Mousavi asked the government again to release all political prisoners.

7. Mousavi and Rahnavard also met with the family of slain protester Amir Javadifar today, as did some other reformist leaders. Mousavi told Amir’s family that the blood of Amir would not be wasted and Iranians would get their rights. There were also unconfirmed reports that the couple met with the family of Abbas, a shopkeeper who was killed during the violence after the elections by security forces.

8. Karroubi released another statement today, stating that he had full evidence and that he will not back down from his claim that rape of detainees had taken place. He said that he will not reply to the criticism of Qom’s Friday prayers’ leader out of respect for his deceased father– even though the leader had criticized Karroubi harshly.

9. A video of Grand Ayatollah Sane’ie’s speech in Gorgan has emerged from August 12 – Mordad 21. Speaking to a group of clerics, Sane’ie criticizes the government in words not used before. He said he had never been so shocked before in his life, as he has been because of what had happened in the events after the elections, especially detentions, deaths and torture – not even during the Islamic Revolution in Iran, when his friends were being tortured by the Imperial regime.

During his speech, he praises Mousavi and other reformist leaders and asks the government as to why they are being oppressed. He declared that all these people who have been detained, tortured and are accused of violence are well-known men that he has known for many a year and none of them were planning to topple the regime, adding, that in terms of piety, Mousavi was the best or one of the best people in Iran.

He said that in Islam, no one had the right to torture someone so severely. He blasted the confessions and said that no confession was valid under any circumstances, if the confession had been obtained through torture. He said the name of Imam Khomeini was being tarnished by the atrocities committed – all in the name of the constitution.

He asked the government, to cease torture, stop persecution and immediately release all political prisoners.

His full speech in Farsi:

Parts 1-5

YouTube – ‫سخنرانی آیت الله العظمی صانعی 21 مرداد 88 – قسمت اول‬‎

YouTube – saanei in gorgan part2

YouTube – saanei in gorgan part3

YouTube – saanei in gorgan part4

YouTube – saanei in gorgan part5

10. The Association of Combatant Clerics has released its seventh statement since the start of the unrest calling the attacks and insults, directed at Mahdi Karroubi, a crime. The statement further adds, propaganda directed at Karroubi and his newspaper – Etemaade Melli – was a cause for concern. It further states that the real people who should be punished are those, who have committed the atrocities, that Karroubi is providing evidence of.

Government / International

11. Reports emerged earlier in the day, that the government had taken down Ayatollah Dastegheib’s official website. Later, it was reported that it had been hacked. After logging on – it seems to be back to normal.

12. Ahmadinejad, yet again, slammed Western powers – especially Europe – for its meddling in Iran’s internal affairs during the post-election events. (It appeared, as if he was reading the same statement he has repeated, several times in the past, in regard to the West. Maybe he needs a new speech writer?)

13. Ahmadinejad introduced six members of his new cabinet on Sunday for ministerial posts. Among them, for the first time in the regime’s history, two women have been introduced.

The ministers include:

Ali Akbar Mehrabian: Industries and Mining

Seyed Shamseddin Hosseini: Economy

Hojjatoleslam Heidar Moslehi: Intelligence

Mohammad Abbasi: Cooperation

Fatemeh Ajorlou: Welfare and Social Security

Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi: Health

Reports indicate that Ahmadinejad’s offer for a ministerial post was rejected by at least one individual. The un-named psychology professor – as it is being reported – had refused to take up a post in Ahmadinejad’s cabinet and replied later that, “Ahmadinejad needs to contact a psychiatrist because he’s mentally unstable”.

14. Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad’s trip to Iran has been postponed.

Arrested / Released / Killed / Torture

15. The third session of trials took place on Sunday for another 25 people, without any reformist political prisons amongst the accused. The prosecutor accused them of taking part in a plot, that had been hatched years before the election, held them accountable for sedition, taking part in illegal protests and using violence, including the manufacture and use of hand-made explosives. One of the people on trial is a teenage Jewish-Iranian who was accused of throwing stones at a Bank in Tehran. Others are facing similar charges. Footage of protests and gatherings were also shown during the trial.
A short video of the trial: YouTube – France 24 Third Stalinesque trial over post election unrest 16August2009

16. More torture methods have now been disclosed. Here is a summary:

– One prisoner was beaten with lead balls tied up in a cloth. The torture blinded him in one eye and he has lost most of his sight in the other. After being kicked repeatedly in the stomach, his kidneys have also been affected.

– Another released detainee, who had been arrested after getting shot, was first taken to a hospital and then moved to a detention center. He complained that his wounds were caused by being kicked, punched and beaten with batons and that he didn’t stop bleeding for hours.

– Shocking reports are also emerging about the sexual abuse of prisoners. In yesterday’s Brief we reported that three detainees, who had told the parliamentary committee, set up to assess the condition of detainees about sexual abuse, had later disappeared from Evin. Today, sources have revealed that one of the detainees, Abbas Begdeli who is just a teenager, had told the committee members that he had been repeatedly beaten with batons first, then for days after guards had forcefully raped him with a baton. The abuse had continued for so long that he had started to bleed internally. This had taken place at Kahrizak. He was taken out of Evin two hours after his confession.

17. Karroubi has confirmed the rape and death of Taraneh Mousavi. According to Karroubi, the woman in Canada, also named Taraneh Mousavi and her family had been tricked, by the government, into believing that the blogosphere was reporting her death and rape. Her family came forward and denied that their daughter had been raped and killed on IRIB. The story was reported extensively in the past few days by IRIB and other government-owned media in Iran, touting the rape and death of Taraneh Mousavi as a lie, that was being spread against the regime. Karroubi also announced that he had evidence of the atrocity.

18. Saeed Shirkavand – a former Deputy Minister of Finance and a lecturer at Tehran University, has been released, he had been in prison for 50 days. Mir Hamid Hasanzadeh, the manager of the website Ghalam was also released.

19. Some detainees that are being released from prison, are knocking on people’s doors and begging for fresh clothes, as their own clothes are too blood-stained and they don’t want to scare their family and friends by going home in them. Others have been stripped naked before being thrown out onto the streets from moving vehicles.

20. French citizen Clotilde Reiss was released on bail and will stay at the French Embassy in Tehran until the verdict of her trial is reached.

21. Abdollah Ramezanzadeh was able to speak to his family and tell them that he was in very bad health and has been receiving medication for a viral infection.

22. Abtahi’s wife and daughter have been threatened severely in the past few days by security forces. According to some reports, they have even been told they would be raped.

23. Shirin Ebadi, a Nobel Peace Prize winning lawyer and human rights activist – told the BBC that Iran should release the 7 Baha’is accused of spying for Israel. Ebadi is also their official attorney. Their second attorney is currently in detention. Their court date today was postponed yet again.

Media

24. The highlight of the day was an article on PressTV’s website. Although the article itself is about the trial, the interesting point to note, in the first line of the third paragraph from the bottom:

“Iran’s disputed presidential vote, which resulted in the re-election of incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was claimed as fraudulent by defeated reformist candidates, Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi.”

So far, no government-owned media outlet had called the elections disputed.

Here’s the link (Unless it has been altered by the government by the time you read this): Iran post-vote detainee denies charges

25. Etemaade Melli was not published today because according to authorities, the paper’s press faced technical difficulties. The paper’s editor-in-chief, however, disputed the allegation claiming that people from the judiciary had come and stopped them from publishing the newspaper. The reason cited was the publication of Karroubi’s statements about Taraneh.

Later, it was reported by credible sources, that Etemaade Melli had been published on Sunday. However, this was disputed by equally credible sources. The editor-in-chief finally announced the paper would be published on Tuesday. But it has now been revealed that the government has banned the newspaper for what they call publishing illegal material that was causing insecurity in society.

26. Keyhan Daily today called Mousavi the main culprit behind the unrest after the elections.

27. A very good article about rape in Iranian detention centers in English: For a democratic secular Iran. For peace and prosperity in the Middle East.: Fath-ol-mobin, Codename for Rape Operations in Iran’s Prisons

28. Dad’s piece on rape in German: Irannews: Babak Daad 15. August 2009 – Deutsch

Miscellaneous

29. Green graffiti on the main gate of the Islamic Court in Qazvin which reads “Ma Hastim!” In English Ma Hastim put in context means “We Are Still Here!” or “We Exist!”: http://i27.tinypic.com/21913dd.jpg

30. Dariush’s concert in Armenia is filled with Greens:

31. Free Iran Large Digital Billboard St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.A. – Manchester Rd & Mason Rd:

International Protests / Events / Efforts / Warnings

32. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: Safeguard Your Personal Info and Your Finances! – Why We Protest – IRAN (Jon’s note – US citizens READ THIS!)

33. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US: Protesting for Iran until they don’t have to

34. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US: Protesting for Iran until they don’t have to

35. 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) (English and German) (Courtest of @jkshalmani)

36. 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: dbosca@gmail.com

To Helpers

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

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: Category:Green Brief – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

– (A list of all the Green Briefs): The Green Briefs

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

The Green Brief #55 (August 15 – Mordad 24)

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 Saturday, August 15 – Mordad 24.

Protests / Unrest

1. Etemaade Melli’s office was not attacked today, even though it seemed that many radical elements, within the security forces, were planning on executing an attack. The newspaper’s office was under strict police supervision. Eyewitnesses reported seeing suspicious people watching the office from afar. Some identified plainclothes members of different radical militant organizations. Work went on at the newspaper as usual.

2. It was rumored that the attack might take place later at night. However, no attacks were reported; neither was there any tension. As reported yesterday, fliers had been distributed to members of Ansar Hezbollah, calling upon them to gather and protest in front of Etemaade Melli’s office.

Here’s a picture of one of the fliers: تصویر اعلامیه انصار حزب*الله برای تجمع جلوی روزنامه اعتماد ملی – The picture calls upon Hezbollah members, to gather in front of Etemaade Melli, to show that the defeated candidates and their supporters’ plans would fail. It also called Khatami a liar and attacked reformists as the minions of Hashemi Rafsanjani.

3. About 100 members of the Mourning Mothers group tried to gather at Laleh Park today during the evening. However, they were not allowed by security forces to gather at the park or to enter and were told they were not allowed to gather there. Among the women, Neda’s mother was also present.

4. 200 friends of Eng. Hamzeh Ghalebi are going to fast and pray for his release after the authorities refused to budge. Ghalebi was the manager of the youth wing of Mousavi’s campaign and has been in prison for almost two months.

5. The government has denied that it is planning to cancel the upcoming college semester across the country.

6. Reports suggest that the government is now using new and improved technology – possibly from Nokia – that allows them to track calls made and read text messages sent, even if phones are turned off. The only remedy appears to be taking out the phone’s battery to prevent access.

International Protests / Events / Efforts / Warnings

7. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: Safeguard Your Personal Info and Your Finances! – Why We Protest – IRAN(Jon’s note: This is for US CITIZENS as well!)

8. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US: Protesting for Iran until they don’t have to

9. 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) (English and German) (Courtest of @jkshalamani)

10. 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: dbosca@gmail.com

Opposition

11. Mir Hossein Mousavi has finally announced the name and existence of a political front he had promised to form with other reformists. According to Etemaade Melli the front is called Jombeshe Omideh Sabz (The Green Path of Hope). He said that many independent and self-sustained networks, throughout Iran, had banded together to form the movement. His main aim he said, was to get people’s rights and stop the law-breaking that had been unleashed by the government following the rigged elections, adding that they would never succumb to lies.

His statement came at a meeting with members of an association of Iranian doctors. He added that if the news about rape and torture, in Iranian prisons was true, then one should bury one’s head in dust – a sign of shame.

In another part of his speech, he yet again reiterated that he was the legal president of Iran, Ahmadinejad was nothing but a usurper. He said his campaign office had received word from a multitude of people and sources on election day, telling them that wide-spread fraud was taking place.

He further blasted the government for unleashing the Basij and IRG upon peaceful protesters and said that these forces were to fight enemies and not Iranians. He also said that the trials of reformists in Tehran, was another sign of the government’s paranoia and added that such trials, even if held for enemies of the Islamic Republic, would be inappropriate. He said the government should look for its enemies, not within peaceful protesters, but within people who’d been using propaganda as a tool to damage people’s trust in the regime.

12. Mahdi Karroubi criticized Friday prayer Imams who had criticized his letter to Rafsanjani. He said he would soon answer those who sold their faith in order to slander him. Karroubi’s son, later in the day, said that his father had evidence that proved, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that rape had taken place in Iranian detention centers. He criticized the IRIB for attempting to falsify the case of the rape and murder of Taraneh Mousavi.

13. Ali Hossein Mohammadi – the head of IIPF (Participation Front) in the Central province of Iran – said that the government’s trials of reformists were baseless acts. He asked the government to release these people, as they were only fulfilling their duties and responsibilities, while performing their jobs or within the umbrella of a registered political party. He said that all charges leveled against the reformists, were the creations of a few conservative extremists.

14. Families of detained political prisoners released their fifth statement, calling the trials a dark chapter in the history of Iran. The statement calls for a speedy release of the detainees and adds they will continue their efforts to free their loved ones.

Government / International

15. Hojatoleslam Agha Shaykh Sadegh Amoli Larijani has been appointed as the new head of Iran’s Judiciary as Shahroudi’s term has come to an end. Larijani is the brother of Ali Larijani – the head of Iran’s parliament. He is a hardline critic with very close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard and intelligence agencies. He is also currently a member of the Guardian Council.

16. Some government officials, mainly Hojatoleslam Taeb have asked the government to apply Shariah law punishment on Karroubi, if he fails to provide proof that detainees had been raped at detention centers. The rule in Shariah is, if someone accuses another of rape, he must provide four Muslim, sane adult males, who saw the act in person. If he/she is unable to provide the four witnesses, the accuser receives 80 lashes to the back.

17. Partially confirmed reports suggest that Qom Seminary Teachers Association – a conservative association of clerics whose membership includes Mohammad Yazdi and Ahmad Khatami – has called upon the government to deal with illegal acts committed while detaining people, make sure detainees rights are safeguarded and stop willful activities by individuals it did not name. The statement was the headline story of the association’s newsletter that is distributed in Qom.

The statement further asserts, even though the arrests after the elections may have seemed to authorities to be a good way to curb unrest, certain actions during the process of arrests and detentions have raised an alarm in the society. The statement adds, even though concerns are always raised when people are arrested, this time due to the crisis in the air, even the leadership was forced to take action and close down a detention center [Kahrizak].

It is worth noting that this association is composed of hardliners and not reformists.

18. Karroubi’s son claims that Saeed Mortazavi – the Attorney General of Tehran and a prosecutor working with IRG – asked him for the names of reporters at Etemaade Melli who had spoken to victims of rape, he did not provide him with any names for fear of the reporters’ safety.

19. The Parliament is working on a new law to curb the use of fake degrees by government officials.

20. Reports indicate that several high-ranking clerics from Qom and other cities have sent a letter to the Assembly of Experts, asking them to review the actions of Khamenei following the elections. The letter states that since Khamanei has committed acts of gross injustice during the unrest, based on Islamic law, he should be removed from his position as Iran’s supreme leader automatically. The letter especially points to article 111 of the constitution, that outlines the process of removing the Supreme Leader and the conditions under which that can take place. No names have been provided and confirmation is only partial at this point.

21. Human Rights Watch has accused officials, in the Iranian security forces, of gross human rights violations. The organization has especially targeted Police Chief Ahmadi-Moghaddam and head of Basij Hossein Ta’eb. The article further adds that the activities leading up to the abuse was highly coordinated ordered at the highest levels.

Read full article here: Iran: Investigate Security Chiefs in Post-Election Abuse | Human Rights Watch

22. The US has, yet again, asked the Iranian government to free Tajbakhsh and the three US hikers arrested two weeks ago.

23. Fars reports that Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso, has sent a letter to Ahmadinejad, congratulating him on his election. The letter also asks to further the ties between the nations of Iran and Japan. So far, no one other than Fars has confirmed this.

24. The Secretary General of Amnesty International, Irene Khan, called upon Khamenei today, to urgently and independently, investigate instances of torture following the elections in Iran. She also asked Khamanei to invite international experts to help carry out the inquiry.

Full Article: Iran: Supreme Leader must act on torture, says Amnesty International | Amnesty International

Arrested / Released / Killed / Torture

25. Babak Dad – an Iranian reporter in Iran – has written an article about rape in Iranian detention centers the English translation of which is here (Warning – Graphic Content): Keeping the Change: Babak Dad on the Rapes Inside Iran’s Prisons: The Story of One Anonymous Victim and a Call to the People of Iran by Maryam

A video of his interview with VOA (Farsi):

26. More reports of horrific torture are emerging from Kahrizak. New reports suggest that detainees were stripped naked, forced to step into water-filled containers and were given electric shocks repeatedly. A member of Iran’s parliament, whose name has not yet been divulged, has claimed that he talked to one of the victims – a woman who has now been transferred to Evin.

27. Three detainees who had spoken to the parliament’s committee on investigating the condition of detainees, have disappeared from Evin. The detainees, Abbas Begdili, Reza Rastagar and Majid Mogheemi had shown torture wounds on their bodies to the committee members and spoken openly about the torture of other detainees.

28. One detainee, Hangameh Shahidi, has been repeatedly harassed by guards and told that she is going to be hanged. She has been taken down to the area in Evin, where executions are carried out as if she was going to be hanged, but then returned back to her cell.

29. Fars News reported that the government had dismissed a dozen guards and suspended several judges involved with Kahrizak. Quoting Parviz Sarvari – a member of the parliament’s committee for assessing the condition of detainees – the agency reported that those involved in illegal activities, have been or are being punished. This included “suspension of a number of judges, disciplinary punishment, imprisonment of offenders and referring culprits to the judiciary for further trial”. Kahrizak’s warden has been dismissed and arrested, according to Iran’s police chief.

30. Amir Hossein Sarhadi – a student activist – was arrested from his father’s house in Zanjan today. His belongings were searched and no reason was given for his arrest.

31. Saeed Noormohammadi and Zoya Hasani were released from prison today.

32. A number of human rights activists and women’s rights activists met with the family of detained journalist Isa Saharkhiz today. It has been reported that Saharkhiz’ family will soon be able to meet with him in prison. He has been detained for almost two months and has only been able to speak to his family over the phone for two minutes.

33. Besides the election related violence, the government has been specifically targeting Kurds in northwestern Iran, along the border. Many have been killed in the past 20 days, without the government providing any reason as to why many of them have been killed.

Human Rights Activists in Iran – an Iranian organization for safeguarding human rights – has compiled a report on this, links are here:
English: Statistics on Kurdish Merchants Killed Over the Last Twenty Days in Western Iran
Farsi: آمار کشتار کاسبکاران کرد در غرب کشور در طی 20 روز گذشته

Media

34. Keyhan Daily – a newspaper considered the mouthpiece of Khamenei – attacked Karroubi today. According to the newspaper, Karroubi’s allegations of rape had damaged people’s honor. According to Keyhan, women who have been released from prison are complaining that their families have been shamed by Karroubi. Keyhan further adds that these people plan on protesting in front of Karroubi’s house and demand his prosecution.

Miscellaneous

35. Iranian banks in Paris getting green stickers!

To Helpers

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

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: Category:Green Brief – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

– (A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

The Green Brief #54 (August 14 – Mordad 23)

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 Friday, August 14 – Mordad 23.

Protests / Unrest

1. During the Friday prayers, it is being reported that many Basijis openly talked about attacking the office of Etemaade Melli newspaper. There were also reports that leaflets were being distributed to people urging them to attack Etemaade Melli’s office on Saturday. This cannot be fully confirmed.

2. In response to a possible Basiji attack on Etemaade Melli’s office on Saturday and expected clashes, Karroubi has asked those protesters, who were considering gathering in front of Etemaade Melli on Saturday, to refrain from doing so – Iranian website Aftaab reported. Instead, he asked them to hold a peaceful gathering in front of the newspaper on Monday, where he would join them. 100% confirmation of this could not be obtained at this point but the source seems legit.

3. As the Friday prayers went on, security forces thoroughly checked people to see if they had any green bands or green symbols. They asked questions of anyone who had them. Also on Friday, youngsters were being stopped around the city and questioned about where they were going and what for.

4. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Higher Council of the Cultural Revolution in Iran, is planning on closing down universities across the country, to stop university students from protesting. University students – especially those who live in dorms – have been very active in the protests and this could confine them to the provinces and have an impact on the number of protesters.

5. Partially confirmed reports suggest that Yahoo! messenger has been unblocked in Iran after two months.

International Protests / Events / Efforts / Warnings

6. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: Safeguard Your Personal Info and Your Finances! – Why We Protest – IRAN(Jon’s note: This is for US CITIZENS AS WELL!)

7. A German organization Deutsch-Iranischer Verein Flensburg is organizing mothers in city of Flensburg, Germany to gather at parks in the city every Saturday from 3-4 PM. This is being done in solidarity with Mourning Mothers in Tehran who do that same every week.

8. For an unofficial list of upcoming protests in the US: Protesting for Iran until they don’t have to

9. 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) (English and German) (Courtest of @jkshalamani)

10. 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: dbosca@gmail.com.

Opposition

11. Tehran Beareau Reports: [Ali Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani, head of Iran’s Assembly of Experts, has met with the powerful head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Sayyed Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who is undergoing cancer treatment in Tehran. A source close to Hashemi revealed that the Iranian cleric had visited Hakim at his residence in northern Tehran. During the meeting, Rafsanjani stressed the importance of unity among Iraqis and the formation of a coalition government in Iraq. Abdul Aziz al-Hakim has been receiving treatment in Tehran for the past year.

12. Eng. Torabi – a reformist MP – criticized the government and the parliament openly in the parliament on August 9. However, the video only got to us today. In the video, Torabi criticizes the parliament for its inaction in the face of the unrest and its silence about the atrocities being committed against the people. He also criticized the government for what he calls unanswered questions about the deaths and arrests. He keeps asking the government stinging questions throughout his seven minute speech and calls what is going on in Iran unjust. Here’s the link (Farsi):

13. This is not news, but related to past news that I was unable to cover.

Karroubi’s Latest Interview in English (Courtesty of Enduring America): Text: Latest Karroubi Statement on Detainees, Rafsanjani, and Larijani (13 August) | Enduring America

Karroubi’s Letter to Rafsanjani about the rape of detainees:

English: Khordaad 88 � Blog Archive � A Letter from Karoubi to Rafsanjani

German: slkrf

Government / International

14. Ahmad Khatami in his Friday prayer sermon called the contents of Karroubi’s letter “lies” and said that it was a cause for celebration in the US, Israel and other foreign countries. He said that Karroubi had slandered the Iranian government and played with its reputation.
Khatami praised the trials being held by the Judiciary and asked them to continue with them and stand firm against foreign interventions into Iranian affairs. He yet again blamed the UK and other countries, saying that their embassies had been involved in the unrest. He also used his sermon to say that foreigners were using websites to spread lies about the Islamic regime.
He also complained about the fewer number of people attending the prayers!

15. Across the country, it has been reported that many other Friday prayer leaders criticized Karroubi. Here’s a brief synopsis of several cities.

– In Mashhad, the Friday prayer Imam Ayatollah Ahmad Elmolhoda, said people who play with the Islamic regime’s reputation are ‘soldiers of the enemy’. He added that it was not fair for one person to compare Iranian prison to Abu Ghraib. He added that the Judiciary should ask this person to provide evidence otherwise he should be prosecuted because he has used character assassination tactics against our officials and is a terrorist.

– In Isfahan, Mohammad Taqi said that those who have ignored the 40 million votes of people and had created unrest should be prosecuted. He further added that someone who has spent 40 years within the Islamic Revolution was saying things that were clearly damaging the reputation of the Islamic Revolution and Imam Khomeini – a clear indication that he was referring to Karroubi.

– Sayed Mohammad Hossein Saeedi – the Imam of Qom’s Friday prayers – while referring to allegations of rape in Iranian detention centers, said that the people wanted the Attorney General to arrest the person spreading this and prosecute him. He said that such slander was damaging to the regime and people, at the very least, wanted this person to face the consequences of his crime.

16. Ali Larejani dismissed allegations by Karroubi that the parliamentary committee for investigating the condition of detainees had called instances of rape in Iranian detention centers false in haste. He said that Karroubi was the one who hastily went ahead with his allegations, without first contacting the committee and showing it his evidence. He added that the committee had already investigated the same allegations as they had been published in various sites and had found nothing during their assessments.

17. Yadullah Javani – the director of the political office of the IRG – said that Mousavi should be brought to court. He added that information suggested that reformists were planning on gaining power at any cost – whether it was by forcing their way into the government again or by getting help from foreign countries to topple the regime.

18. It has been reported that the National Security Council of Iran was presented with the suggestion that Mir Hossein Mousavi and ten other important reformists, be arrested to stop the unrest. According to reports, besides Mousavi, the list includes the names of Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, Mahdi Karroubi, Mohsen Alveri, Reza Khatami, one of Hashemi Rafsanjani’s children and others. Khatami was absent from the list for fear of extreme international reaction because of his fame in the outside world as a reformist leader.

Although the suggestion had the backing of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, members of the Council insisted that this would severely damage the regime. The suggestion was finally rejected by Khamanei who apparently said that Mousavi’s arrest could topple the regime. The report could not be fully confirmed.

19. Khamenei’s representative in the Basij force, Ali Mohammadi today said that it was their duty to destroy the secular thoughts and plans of the enemy – in a clear reference that the establishment was not going to yield to reform. He condemned the ‘enemies’ of the regime for what he called, their ever-continuing attempts at toppling the regime and said that the Basij were an effective deterrent to such schemes.

Arrested / Released / Killed

20. A reformist MP, who belongs to the Imam’s Way faction, has alleged that the man responsible for Kahrizak was Hossein Fedaie, an MP from Tehran and the head of Council of Sacrificers (Jamiyat Eesargaran). He also added that so far, the committee for assessing the condition of detainees, has received two written documents detailing two specific types of torture – the first is keeping detainees naked and the second, not allowing them bathroom breaks. He added that further investigations were being carried out into Kahrizak.

21. BBC Persian interviews a detainee who was been tortured (Persian): YouTube – ‫گفتگوی بی بی سی با یکی از شکنجه شدگان بازداشتگاه کهریزک‬‎

22. Morteza Alveri – a reformist linked to the Green Movement – stated today that if people responsible for keeping records at Beheshte Zahra Cemetery cooperated, they would be able to prepare a complete list of people who have met violent deaths during the unrest. He asked the parliament to order those responsible to cooperate with them so they could prepare the list.

23. The French Ambassador in Tehran met with detained French citizen Clotilde Reiss today. Reiss is on trial on charges of espionage.

24. Iranian-American student Esha Momeni was released from prison after a ten-month detention and flew back to Los Angeles.

25. One member of parliament told Rooz Online, “During the special Majlis committee’s visit of the Evin Prison, several prisoners openly talked about sexual abuse; even though they did not specifically use the word ‘rape’ and only spoke about sexual abuse.”

Media

26. Etemaade Melli has asked the provincial government to provide them with security in case they are attacked because of Karroubi’s stance with regard to the rape of detainees.

27. Conservative newspaper Jomhoori Islami (Islamic Republic) criticized Mesbah Yazdi’s statement yesterday which equated, obeying the president with obeying God. The newspaper called such comments “deifying government officials”.

Miscellaneous

28. Green stain in Rasht: http://bit.ly/CqEbt

29. Iranian-born singer Laleh shows her Green band during her performance in Sweden: Bilder från Laleh, Götaplatsen / Göteborgs Kulturkalas (Göteborg) – ROCKFOTO.NU

30. In response to the government’s issuing of a stamp commemorating the selection of Ahmadinejad, the Greens have issued a stamp of their own: onlymehdi, RT THE REAL ELECTION STAMP #iranelection

To Helpers

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

– Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_54; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

– (A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

The Green Brief #53 (August 13 – Mordad 22)

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 13 – Mordad 22.

Protests / Unrest

1. Unconfirmed reports suggest that the Green Movement might attend the Friday prayers. (The Friday prayers will probably be over when most readers get this brief). There are also rumors that Mousavi will be attending the Friday prayers. Nothing can be confirmed at this point.

2. Reports from Evin confirm that 30 detainees have announced they will be holding a hunger strike starting Saturday. They have warned that the authorities need to pay attention to their plight. This was reported to Amir Kabir News Agency by a detainee, who had just been released from Evin. The news has also been forwarded to the Iranian government and to the parliamentary commission, set up to assess the condition of detainees.

International Protests / Events

3. Fatemeh Khezrie, 44, has been holding a hunger strike in front of the US Embassy in London, with others, for the past 17 days. Her condition is deteriorating as she has refused to take a fluid drip.

Full Story: Hunger striker Fatemeh Khezrie seriously ill outside US embassy in London | UK news | guardian.co.uk

4. A Swiss-Iranian Green-supporter, who we affectionately call the Epic Protester, has been protesting in front of the Iranian Embassy in Bern for the past two months non-stop, generating quite a lot of buzz. There is a blog dedicated to his efforts which you can reach here:

Epic Protester

And you can read his interview here: Interview with the Epic Protester � Epic Protester (Courtesy of @Nedjarsen)

5. Amidst the stories of brutality being circulated, there are also some heart-warming instances of human compassion. One Hearts View is one such project that a world citizen is undertaking. Visit and comment at: One Hearts View: Iran wanted me to bear witness…and I have.

6. For a list of protests that are being planned in Germany, please visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/nbzacj] (English and German)

(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: dbosca@gmail.com

Opposition

7. Partially confirmed reports suggest that the Supreme (Iranian Dictator) Leader Ayatollah Khamenei’s brother, Hadi Khamenei – an eminent cleric in his own right and a supporter of Mousavi – has traveled to Mashhad. Hadi Khamenei has been holding meetings with freed detainees for the past few weeks and on his trip to Mashhad, has reportedly held a closed door meeting with Ayatollah Mousavi Aradabeli about the current situation in the country. Information about what happened during the meeting has not yet been disclosed.

8. Nasrullah Torabi – a reformist MP – today asked the government to present evidence about the alleged death of nine Basijis. He was speaking about Karroubi’s claim that detained protesters had been raped at detention centers when he changed the subject and asked the government to provide documents of every allegation it has also made. According to Torabi, if Karroubi is supposed to provide evidence about his claims, then why was the government not providing evidence for their claims?

9. An Aide for Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi, today told PressTV that the Ayatollah had not sent any letter of congratulations to Ahmadinejad. As reported yesterday, an alleged letter of congratulations to Ahmadinejad by Shirazi was being circulated for several days which, as reported yesterday, is a FAKE.

10. Mahdi Karroubi is soon to present Ali Larejani with evidence about the instances of the rape of detainees. Larejani said he will review the evidence. It has also been reported that witnesses are also willing to testify about these incidents to the parliament.

11. Karroubi stated, in an interview today, that his letter to Rafsanjani had been sent to Hashemi Shahroudi – the Judiciary Chief – who had ordered the contents of the letter be reviewed. Karroubi also added that Dari Najafabadi – Iran’s Attorney General – has contacted them and might send people to Karroubi, to ask him about the allegations of rape and forward that information on to government officials.

Karroubi also criticized government officials – mainly Larejani and Burojerdi – for calling the allegations false without forming a commission to investigate the allegations. He added that even though people’s voices were being forcefully silenced, he would never stop speaking the truth in this matter or other matters.

Karroubi further said that detainees had been tortured to death at Evin and other detention centers. He also added that some prisoners had been forced to take off their clothes and were ‘ridden’ by the guards. (This is like riding a horse or a donkey and is considered an act of extreme disrespect in the Middle East.)

12. There are unconfirmed reports circulating that a number of important members of the Iranian parliament have sent a letter to Rafsanjani asking him to review the 111th article of the constitution. This article concerns the replacement of the Supreme (Iranian Dictator) Leader. The letter alleges that, in his capacity as the Supreme Leader, Khamenei is responsible for the unrests and illegal clamp down on citizens, following the election. Full confirmation is not yet available.

Government / International

13. Ali Larejani today blasted Western countries and said they had interfered in Iran’s internal affairs. He specifically targeted the US and France and called their comments on Iran’s affairs a sign of failed diplomacy. He called upon them to assess the consequences of their actions.

14. PressTV published a report on Khamenei today: [Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has advised officials to obtain further “insight” to differentiate between friends and foes in the aftermath of the June 12 election. “If I was to give you one advice, it would be for you to increase your insight [into state affairs],” the Leader said in a meeting on July 27, his remarks were released on Wednesday.

Ayatollah Khamenei, meanwhile, urged officials present at the meeting to abandon their personal agendas and set aside their political affiliations to uncover the truth behind the events. “If you do not have deep insight, if you cannot distinguish your friends, if you cannot spot your enemies, then your attacks, dialogue and your actions may target your friends instead of your enemies,” the Leader added.

15. Ahmad Khatami against urged the government to prosecute Mahdi Karroubi for defamation against the regime.

16. Partially confirmed reports indicate that Syrian President Bashar Al-Asad is soon to make a visit to Tehran.

17. Germany summoned the Iranian ambassador to Berlin on Wednesday, to protest against the show trials of 100 people on charges related to the post election protests and unrest. Andreas Peschke, a spokesperson for German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said the action was coordinated with other EU States.

18. AKI – [United Nations human rights experts voiced serious concern on Thursday over accusations of torture and rough interrogation tactics used against protesters jailed during the recent unrest in Iran following its disputed presidential election. “No judicial system can consider as valid a confession obtained as a result of harsh interrogations or under torture,” stressed Manfred Nowak, the UN’s special rapporteur on torture. Nowak said he had brought more than 300 cases of alleged torture and ill-treatment to the attention of Iranian authorities. The allegations came from ex-detainees as well as relatives and lawyers of people still being held, Nowak said. The UN rights experts said they continue to receive reports of people dying in custody, and whose families are given false or contradictory information regarding the cause of death.]

Arrested / Released / Killed

19. Reports indicate, so far, at least three dozen members of Iran’s Artash – the main army besides the IRG – have been arrested during the unrest following the election.

20. The detention of Iranian mountaineer Kazem Faridian has now been confirmed.

21. Kianoosh Asa’s brother Kamran Asa has clarified that their other brother, Daneshvar Asa has not been arrested. According to Kamran, Daneshvar has been interrogated several times, but is still free.

22. Including Hamid Chobineh, reports indicate that about 20 other detainees have been released in the past two days or so. The names of other detainees could not be confirmed at this point.

23. The prosecution of seven Baha’i leaders will commence next week on the 18th. The accused have been imprisoned for months and have limited, to no access to lawyers for their defense. Here is a report on an event from yesterday held in San Francisco to highlight their plight and to the human rights situation in Iran. (Courtesy of @dakster9): Mideast Youth – Thinking Ahead � Evening in Support of Iranian Baha’is in San Francisco

24. Two members of the parliament’s committee to assess the condition of detainees have met with Tajzadeh, Abtahi and Atrianfar. According to one of the members, Farhad Tajari, Tajzadeh is alive and well – contrary to rumors of his death.

25. Lara Setrakian’s report about a victim of rape in Iran’s prisons.
(courtesy of @LaraABCNews): A Protester’s Purported Account of Rape in Detention – larasetrakian

26. Mohsen Armin – a member of the Combatant Clerics Association has released a confession in order to make sure that if he is arrested, any forced confessions obtained from him could be nullified. Full confession: IRAN: Activist issues preemptive retraction of future confession | Babylon & Beyond | Los Angeles Times

27. The Association of Defenders of Human Rights of Iran has released a statement calling all confessions obtained from detainees unreliable and without legal merit.

Miscellaneous

28. Iran has issued a commemorative stamp for Ahmadinejad’s reelection. The stamp bears his likeness and other symbols, including a symbol recognizing 40 million votes.

29. Khamenei’s giant poster, greened by protesters: YouTube – ‫لکه سبزی بر صورت خامنه ای بزرگراه کردستان تهران‬‎

*Correction: Yesterday we erroneously reported that Ali Larejani had personally dismissed that the rape of detainees had occurred in Iranian detention centers. @sp4rrowh4wk corrected the statement and his correction is accurate which I post here:

@sp4rrowh4wk: (Parleman, Fars and others) report [that] he said the committee itself had found no truth to the allegations. He further stated [that] he would turn over the evidence he had (from Karroubi, et al) to the Majlis as a whole, making for a very public investigation of these terrible events. Ali Larijani also asked others to come forward with their evidence many are beginning to do so.

To Helpers

– Thank you for the generous donations to Anonymous to keep their servers running for the month of August.

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

– Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_53; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

– (A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

The Green Brief #52 (August 12 – Mordad 11)

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 Wednesday, August 12 – Mordad 21.

Protests / Unrest

1. Tehran’s Grand Bazaar was more crowded than usual yesterday. In the streets leading up to the bazaar and inside the bazaar itself, there was a large concentration of security forces. Many of them taunted the people that were in the bazaar and tried to provoke confrontations. However, for the most part, it seems that the call for protest hadn’t caught on with the Green Movement.

2. There were reports of skirmishes inside the bazaar and it was reported that some people were injured and others may have been arrested. Reports indicate that these clashes were not wide-spread, but rather confined to a few incidents.

3. It was reported that Zahra Rahnavard – the wife of Mir Hossein Mousavi – had indeed come to the bazaar, but as people chanted around her, she was promptly escorted out by security forces. This could not be fully confirmed and eye-witnesses have not been found to corroborate the story.

4. But it doesn’t end there. Some very reliable sources indicated that nothing actually happened in the bazaar, beyond the presence of security forces and people shopping. They reject that there were any clashes, injuries or arrests. However, they are in the minority.
(The above information is from various sources and not MSM. However, in the absence of any YouTube videos or witnesses, which show anything other than many people in the bazaar, together with a lot of security forces, it is difficult to confirm exactly what happened.)

5. Unconfirmed reports indicate that Baloch fighters attacked Iranian security forces who were escorting detainees to a prison in Kerman province. Casualties were reported. This could not be confirmed independently.

6. Prayer services for the dead and detained protesters will be held on Thursday, as in the past few weeks. The prayer service this week will be held at the Daruzahra Cultural Institute in Tehran. One of Ayatollah Sane’ie’s important aides, Mohammad Taghi Khilji, will be speaking at the service.

International Protests / Events

7. A Swiss-Iranian Green-supporter, who we affectionately call the Epic Protester, has been protesting in front of the Iranian Embassy in Bern for the past two months non-stop, generating quite a lot of buzz. There is a blog dedicated to his efforts which you can reach here: Epic Protester

And you can read his interview here: Interview with the Epic Protester � Epic Protester — (Courtesy of @Nedjarsen)

8. Amidst the stories of brutality being circulated, there are also some heart-warming instances of human compassion. One Hearts View is one such project that a world citizen is undertaking. Visit and comment at: One Hearts View: Iran wanted me to bear witness…and I have.

9. The meeting of Baha’is in support of human rights in San Francisco at Herbst Theater yesterday was a major success.

10. 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) (English and German)

(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events, protests or doing something else related to the Iranian elections internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is: dbosca@gmail.com

Opposition

11. In a meeting with members of the Central Committee for Organizing Reforms today, with his wife Zahra Rahnavard present, Mousavi staunchly defended Karroubi against the attacks by Keyhan Daily. He said that what had taken place in the prisons and detention centers, had hurt Iran far more than America ever could. Mousavi added that the show trials were a good indicator that Iran needed profound reforms and the IRIB’s greatest mistake was to call people’s hunger for change, a foreign plot. It has been indicated that Mousavi might join the Friday prayers this week which are going to be led by Ahmad Khatami. Full confirmation is not yet available.

12. Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization, today released a statement blaming Ahmadinejad and Sadegh Mahsouli, the Minister of Interior, for the inhumane treatment of detainees at Kahrizak. The statement read that the two individuals were directly responsible for the torture and abuse of detainees at the detention center. The Organization also stated that it was in solidarity with the families of those affected.

13. Karroubi’s son, Hossein Karroubi today said that criticism of his father’s letter about prisoner abuse was unfounded. He added that it took people only one day to criticize his father and no investigation could be done in 24 hours to determine if prisoner abuse had taken place and how wide-spread it had been.

14. More than 200 former and current government officials of Iran sent a letter to the government asking it to pay heed to Rafsanjani, Karroubi, Khatami and Mousavi’s suggestions and stances on the country’s future. Signatories included former and current ministers, directors, governors, mayors and academics.

Government / International

15. Ayatollah Dastegheyb has asked for an immediate session of the Assembly of Experts to be held, in order to review the demands of the people and the current situation in Iran. He added that Mousavi and Karroubi were the representatives of the people and the people demanded nothing but the upholding of the constitution.

16. It is being reported that Judiciary Chief Shahroudi will be appointed to the Guardian Council. This cannot be confirmed at this time. The same source also indicated that Jannati will remain as head of the Guardian Council.

17. Jamshid Ansari – a reformist MP from Zanjan – has asked the government to sack Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, the police chief of Iran. According to Ansari, Ahmadi-Moghaddam is responsible for the illegal arrests, beatings and the deaths of protesters during the unrest that followed the election. He also connected Ahmadi-Moghaddam with the torture and abuse of detainees at Kahrizak.

18. Only a day, after stating that the allegations of detainees being raped at government detention facilities be investigated, the head of Iran’s parliament Ali Larejani stated that no such thing had taken place. According to Larejani, the parliamentary committee to investigate the condition of detainees, had determined that the allegations were unfounded.

19. One day, after stating that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had sent a letter congratulating Ahmadinejad on his election, Mr. Ban’s spokesperson, Marie Okabe, said that “It is not accurate to refer to this as a congratulatory letter”. Previously on Tuesday, when she was asked if a congratulatory letter had been sent to Ahmadinejad by Mr. Ban, Ms. Okabe replied, “Yes”. She added that the letter took advantage of “the occasion of the inauguration to express the hope that Iran and the United Nations will continue to cooperate closely in addressing regional and global issues”.

20. Ayatollah Mesbah Yazdi today said that obeying Ahmadinejad was obeying God. Speaking to a group of Basiji artists in Qom, he also praised Khamenei and said the Supreme Leader was a light of the last Imam and that the unrest had been targeted at him.

21. Mohsen Rezaie reiterated his position, yet again today, that all government officials and members of security forces that were responsible for prisoner abuse be dismissed and prosecuted.

22. A letter from Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi, congratulating Ahmadinejad on his selection as Iran’s president is being circulated on the internet. My sources have confirmed that it is a fake. Ayatollah Shirazi has not and does not plan to congratulate Ahmadinejad.

23. The deputy commander of Iran’s police, Ahmad Reza Radan, today dismissed reformist claims that at least 69 people have so far been killed during the unrest. He called the claim propaganda and psychological warfare.

Arrests / Releases / Deaths

24. Majid Ansari – a member of the Combatant Clerics Association – today stated that a report about the rape of detainees had been prepared and sent to government officials for review. He added that there was not just one instance, but several and that they had concrete evidence to back up their claim.

25. Mehr News reported that French citizen Clotilde Reiss has been released on bail. It was reported earlier that the French government had sent a letter to the Iranian government agreeing to post bail for her. Her current whereabouts are unknown but it was indicated previously, by the Iranian government, that if she were to be released on bail, she would be confined to the French Embassy in Tehran. The government also announced today that her trial was over and a verdict was expected in her case shortly. Her release could not be confirmed through other sources.

26. Reports indicate that the Iranian government, has officially informed the Swiss Embassy, about the arrest and detention of three American hikers who allegedly strayed into Iran two weeks ago. The Swiss Embassy represents US interests in America, as the US has not had an embassy in Iran since the 1979 revolution, nor diplomatic staff.

27. Alauddin Borujerdi A member of the committee formed by the parliament to investigate the condition of detainees today told reporters that detainees were content with the conditions at Evin. Another member told the press that they had met with Abtahi in his prison cell and found him in good health. He added that Abtahi also had access to a television and a radio whilst in detention. He added they were going to meet Tajzadeh and Mirdamadi soon. Reports indicate that they will only be visiting Evin and not other prisons.

28. Reporters Without Borders have confirmed that Amir Asslani – a student and CEO of an IT company, has been in detention since August 8. He was arrested for sending emails. His house and office were also raided by security forces.

29. Journalist Dr. Chobineh was released today.

Miscellaneous

30. U2’s concert in Zagreb was overwhelmingly pro-Green Movement. Watch the YouTube video:

U2 in Zaghreb, asking to turn on Radio Tehran 09August2009

31. Swedish policeman supporting Iranian Greens: Sweet Swedes: Stockholm Police solidarity with Iranians #iran… on Twitpic

To Helpers

– Anonymous – the collective that organizes and runs this forum – needs donations to keep the servers running. They only need 15 US dollars more for this month. Donate if you want to: General Expense – Why We Protest

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

– Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_52; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

– (A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

The Green Brief #51 (August 11 – Mordad 20)

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 Tuesday and Wednesday [Mod note: The days were unclear], August 11 – Mordad 20.

Protests / Unrest

1. People are planning on flooding the bazaars of several major cities in Iran. Protesters are planning to go to the bazaars and urge shopkeepers to join them in the protest and call for a strike. (This is already underway at the time of the writing of this Brief.) Bazaars will be targeted in Tehran, Tabriz, Mashhad, Isfahan, Ahvaz and Shiraz.

2. The chants of Allah o Akbar continue every night in all the major cities in Iran and the numbers have increased considerably since the campaign for nightly chants began.

International Protests / Events

3. [The “International Campaign to close down Iranian Embassies” is determined to close the Iranian Embassy in Canada. The campaign demands: all bank accounts of the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran be frozen; the Islamic Republic of Iran be expelled from all International Agencies; all leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran be tried in an international court for their crimes against humanity.] For more information on the campaign’s goals and their upcoming meeting on August 12, visit: International Campaign Against Shari’a Court in Canada

4. Members of the Baha’i religious movement are holding a gathering in San Francisco on Wednesday which will focus on human rights in Iran and the case of 7 Baha’is who are currently in detention in Tehran because of their faith. For information on the event, visit: An Evening in Support of the Bahá’ís of Iran at Herbst Theater (Wednesday August 12, 2009) – Upcoming

5. 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)
(English and German)

(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events, protests or doing something else related to the Iranian elections internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is: dbosca@gmail.com – I am also curious if anyone is doing something for the day of Ahmadinejad’s inauguration OUTSIDE Iran.)

Opposition

6. Mahdi Karroubi’s letter to Hashemi Rafsanjani on prisoner abuse can be found here in English:
Iran: The Karroubi Letter to Rafsanjani on Abuse of Detainees | Enduring America

7. It has now been confirmed that Rafsanjani will be skipping the Friday prayers. Reportedly, he wanted to avoid a government crackdown on protesters, who might join the prayers or hold gatherings outside the prayer venue.

8. It has now been partially confirmed that Rafsanjani spent the past several days in Mazandaran. Details are unclear at this point and full confirmation could not be obtained. We previously reported that Rafsanjani had left Tehran for another city until further notice.

9. Shirin Ebadi today, repeated her request that the government of Iran, promptly free journalists and lawyers that have been held in detention for weeks. She also asked the government to allow foreign journalists to return to the country and allow freedom of speech. In a separate statement, she also asked the government to hold a fresh election under the observation of the United Nations.

10. The Committee Responsible for the Defense of Mousavi’s Votes has released a statement accusing the Guardian Council of clearly taking sides during the election. It also accused the council of turning a blind eye to accusations of clear instances of fraud relating to the election and the counting of votes. The head of the committee, Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour – a former Minister of Interior – also criticized the council for its silence over a variety of other illegal activities – including the violent crackdowns on peaceful protesters – conducted by the government.

11. The government has apparently contradicted itself, again, over the number of protesters who have been detained. Alireza Jamshidi, a spokesperson for the country’s Judiciary – today stated that four thousand people had been arrested of which 3,700 had been already been released and the remainder were in detention. A few weeks ago, the commander of IRG Ismail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, had announced that the government had detained just over a thousand people and most of them had been released.

12. Ayatollah Ezzuddin Hosseini Zanjani has released a statement calling the forced confessions un-Islamic and illegal.

13. Fresh allegations by groups tied to Ansare Hezbollah have surfaced against Rafsanjani and his family. These allegations, which were put forth by Lotfullah Ferozendeh – the head of Jamiyate Esargaran (Council of Sacrificers) – accuse Rafsanjani and his children of taking part in the recent unrests by providing money to protesters. Ferozendeh stated these allegations whilst in a meeting with members of Ansare Hezbollah.

14. The head of Mousavi’s electoral campaign Ghorban Behzadinezhad, vehemently denied any contact between Mousavi’s campaign and foreign embassies in Tehran. He added that the campaign had decided not to hold any meetings with members of foreign embassies from day one of the campaign.

15. In a meeting with lawyers, Rafsanjani on Tuesday asked that detainees’ rights be respected. “Judgment and proxy as well as (protecting) the rights of the accused can provide guarantees for the presence of justice in the final verdict,” Rafsanjani was quoted by ILNA.

16. Alireza Beheshti – a member of the committee formed by Mousavi and Karroubi’s campaigns to investigate the fate of detainees and protesters who have died during the unrest – today said a list of the names of the 220 detainees and the names of protestors who had been killed or died in detention had been handed over to the parliament. He added because of various reasons, information about the detainees was emerging sluggishly.

Government / International

17. A letter signed by 202 MP’s addressed to Ahmadinejad and read in the Iranian parliament, called on him to choose his ministers based on their experience and their professional skills. The letter warned that anyone selected, not meeting the criteria, would not gain a vote of confidence from the parliament.

18. Fars News reports: [Commander of the Basij (volunteer) forces Hojjatoleslam Hossein Taeb here on Tuesday cautioned that enemies of the Islamic Republic have hatched plots to sow seeds of discord among the Iranian nation. Commenting on the recent post-election unrest and developments in Iran, Taeb reiterated, “The enemy stepped into the scene of the presidential election to harness the (Islamic) Revolution and to achieve its goals by means of its agents and elements in Iran”. The commander further elaborated on other aspects of the enemies’ plot, and underlined that enemies made a wide use of the media against the Islamic Republic in an attempt to fulfill their regime change plans in Iran. “Enemies made their utmost efforts to spark and spread pessimism among the people and break integration of the Iranian nation” Taeb stated.]

19. Ali Larejani – the speaker of Iran’s parliament – has called for a probe into allegations that detainees of recent protests had been raped in detention. PressTV reported that Larejani had asked the special committee, assigned to investigate the situation of detainees, to look into allegations of rape as well.
(I confirmed instances of the rape of detainees in the Green Briefs almost six weeks ago and so have other sources. MSM has yet to confirm it, however.)

20. The Iranian Ministry of Intelligence has warned the media not to publish false news about the Intelligence Ministry claiming the media was releasing classified information. This is likely a backlash at reports by the media that Ahmadinejad had shuffled or sacked several high-ranking officials inside the ministry – which was confirmed weeks ago.

21. Iranian Ambassador to Paris, Sayed Mehdi Mirabotalebi said today that Iran had offered to allow the detained French teacher Clotilde Reiss, to stay at the French Embassy in Tehran during her trial, provided the French Embassy guarantee she will not leave Iran. However, he said the French government had not replied to the offer.

22. The British government today denied having any hand in the unrest that unfolded after the elections in Iran. Britain also denied allegations levied against Hossein Rassam – a senior British Embassy staffer, who is on trial in Tehran and questioned his confession that Britain had a hand in the unrest.

23. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, sent a letter congratulating Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on his election as Iran’s president. His spokesperson, however, indicated that the letter does not mean Mr. Ban’s endorsement of the election. The letter will not be released to the press.

24. A spokesperson for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry told Radio Farda he could not confirm that Egyptian President Hosni Mobarak had congratulated Ahmadinejad on his reelection, as claimed by Iranian media.

25. The Swedish government summoned the Iranian Ambassador to Stockholm in protest to the ongoing trials of reformists, journalists, lawyers and foreign nationals in Tehran. Sweden, which heads the EU’s rotating presidency, has previously criticized Iran’s clamp down on protesters.

26. Amnesty International has demanded that international observers be present during the trials that are taking place in Tehran.

Arrested / Released / Killed

27. Mostafa Ghaniyan, a 27 year old university student, is the latest victim who has been identified by his family. He was killed, by a single bullet, days after the elections while chanting Allah o Akbar on his roof. He died in Sa’adat Abad in Tehran in his father’s arms.

28. Arman Astakharian, 16, is another victim of the government’s brutality. He finally succumbed to his wounds, after spending 17 days in coma. He had been savagely beaten by security forces on June 24, during a protest in Shiraz. His family had been told by the security forces not to speak about his death to the press, however, word has finally got out.

29. The Iranian opposition is now claiming they have confirmed the deaths of at least 69 people during the unrest following the election. PressTV is also claiming the official government tally is 30 – up from 20, repeatedly reported by IRIB and the Iranian government.

30. The brother of Kianosh Asa has been arrested. Reports also indicate Caspian Makan – the fiancée of Neda Agha-Soltan – has been in detention for more than a month. Makan’s arrest could not be immediately confirmed. Roshanali Moradi – a political activist from Kermanshah – was arrested on Friday by security forces while he was walking home.

31. Photographer Majid Saeedi has been released on bail. Nazok Afshar – the French Embassy staffer in detention – Kazem Faridiyan – a renowned Iranian mountaineer and Amir Hossein Shamshadi have also been released.

32. The committee for the defense of the rights of detainees following the election, has released a statement calling the conduct of the Judiciary in handling detainees’ cases and the intimidation of detainees’ families unlawful. The committee also accused unnamed organizations within the government of meddling in the affairs of the Judiciary.

33. Ahmad Tavakoli – a conservative MP – in the parliament criticized the government over the illegal arrests of peaceful protesters. He also staunchly criticized the government for tampering with freedom of speech, torture and abuse in prisons, as well as the detention of university professors. He put the responsibility on the shoulders of the Chief of Judiciary Shahroudi and Ahmadinejad.

34. Reports indicate that the Iranian government is also continuing its repression of religious minorities. A Baha’i man was arrested at his home in Sari today. Also two female Muslim converts to Christianity – Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, and Mariam Rostampour, 27, who have been in detention at Evin’s ward 209 for the past five months – were brought to the security headquarters of Tehran’s police and were forcefully asked to recant their beliefs or face persecution. Both women rejected to do so.

35. The government has printed fake copies of reformist newspapers, showing them to detainees to break their morale. One example is this front page from Etemaade Melli in which the headline on the top left reads, “Mousavi and Karroubi Regretfully Tell National Media: No Fraud Has Taken Place”. Picture: 6800_120277771370_109834371370_2867932_6812990_n+( 1).jpg (image)

36. The government is continuously printing news reports denying the rape and death of Taraneh Mousavi, apparently claiming that no one by this name ever existed.
(I have confirmed Taraneh’s rape and death in the past and in the face of mounting criticism, continue to stand by my earlier report. If, in the future, it comes to light that her story was indeed fake, I will not hesitate to retract my earlier report. As with Neda’s case, I am also respectfully going to decline reporting anything about her killer/killers and leave it to Iran’s next government.)

*Apologies for being absent for the past several days. I was out of town and the internet connection where I was refused to allow me to write the Briefs. There will be no further delays or absentees in the foreseeable future. Thanks for all the messages of support.

To Helpers

– Anonymous – the collective that organizes and runs this forum – needs donations to keep the servers running. They only need about 22,500
Cents a month to make this possible. If you do want to make a donation, please chip in your pennies here for the month of August: General Expense – Why We Protest

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

– Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_51 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

– (A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

The Green Brief #48 (August 3,4 – Mordad 12,13)

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 Monday, August 3 – Mordad 12. (Some reports are from August 4 as well)

In German: http://bit.ly/45wbw3

Protests / Unrest

1. Protests were held in Tehran and at least one other city today. They were in retaliation to the official endorsement ceremony of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by Ayatollah Khamenei on August 2.

2. In Tehran, people gathered at Valiasr Square and Vanak Square at 6 PM Tehran time. People also protested in other parts of the city, Keshavarz Blvd, Kargar Street, Azadi Square, Takhte Tavoos, Mirdamad, Enghelab Square and 7 Tir Square, as well as other areas. Protests also took place in front of IRIB’s main office and the Ministry of Interior.

3. People marched peacefully on the sidewalks towards Fatemi Square and Sa’aie park. The number of security forces was in the hundreds.

4. Clashes broke out between protesters and security forces, yet again. Police used tear gas and fired guns in the air. Protesters were, yet again, harshly beaten injuring at least seven women. People retaliated in some areas by setting garbage dumpsters on fire to disperse the tear gas.

5. Clashes were mainly concentrated on Vanak, but were also reported from Fatemi Square and other parts of Tehran – albeit with less intensity. The protestors were joined by a very large number of cars on the streets, honking their horns in support. For the first time today protesters also gathered in South Tehran in Naziabad.

6. Protests continued late into the night with people walking on the streets until past midnight. To disperse protesters, lights were cut off in some parts of Tehran, to force people to go home. Sharif and Tarasht Metro Stations were closed to disrupt the flow of people in and out of Central Tehran. People opened their doors to protesters who were being chased by Basijis on motorbikes.

7. No reformist leaders were present during the protests in Tehran. Initial reports, on various MSM and Iranian websites, claimed that Mahdi Karroubi had passed through a protest in his car – if not outright joined one – but that claim was later denied by Karroubi’s office.

8. Numbers were hard to corroborate. From pictures and from at least one reputed source, it seems that somewhere between 2,000-5,000 people gathered at Vanak, although overall, across the city the number would be closer to 10,000.

9. Outside Tehran, there was a protest in Shiraz. Protesters were fired at by security forces resulting in 15 injuries and 3 deaths. This has been confirmed.

Upcoming International Protests

10. A flash demonstration is being organized in Toronto at Dundas Square on Saturday – August 8 at 12 PM for about 2 minutes. For more information:
Login | Facebook
or
Toronto – Saturday Aug.8 Flashmob freeze

11. A protest is being held today in Atlanta, USA on Lenox Square at the corner of Lenox and Peachtree between 6 and 9 PM. More information: People4Iran | Raising Awareness About The People of Iran

12. August 5 protest against Ahmadinejad’s inauguration, London, in front of the Iranian Embassy from 18:00 to 21:00.

13. More protests being held in Germany. For time, place and information:
Julia’s Blog: Protests and rallies in Germany (subject to change w/o notice)

(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events, protests or doing something else related to the Iranian elections internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is: dbosca@gmail.com – I am also curious if anyone is doing something for the day of Ahmadinejad’s inauguration OUTSIDE Iran.)

Opposition

14. The reformist Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization today released a statement warning that Iran was on the brink of chaos. Their statement was mainly directed at the trial of reformists on August 1. The organization called the trial a ‘show’ and illegal on all counts.

15. The Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers also released a statement today calling the trial a ‘show’. The statement called the trial illegal and another mistake by the government. It called upon the government, once again, to pay heed to people’s demands and stop oppressing peaceful protesters and their supporters.

16. Ayatollah Mohaghegh-Damad has sent an open letter to Shahroudi and harshly criticized the legality of the trial of the reformists. He called the trial “an infamous blot on Islamic Jurisprudence”. He called it outright illegal.

17. 86 faculty members of Tehran University sent a letter to Shahroudi today asking for the release of Eng. Khodayari.

18. The Association of Combatant Clerics also released a statement today calling the trial of reformists a staged act. The statement added that the government was trying to distract people’s attention from the government’s inhumane treatment of its citizens.

Government / International

19. Mohsen Rezaie’s spokesperson today told Al-Alam TV that Rezaie’s attendance was merely a show of respect for the leader. He indicated that Rezaie reserved the right to protest the election and criticize it.

20. Ahmad Khatami today criticized the use of Allah o Akbar by protesters.

21. The King of Oman is on a state visit to Iran. He was one of the first heads of a state that congratulated Ahmadinejad on his ‘historic’ selection as Iran’s president.

22. According to reports, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is not going to congratulate Ahmadinejad on his selection as Iran’s president.

Arrested / Released / Killed

23. Partially confirmed reports indicate that the director of Tehran’s main oil refinery has been arrested. He is considered to be close to Mousavi.

24. IRIB has reported that three detained American hikers, accused of working for the CIA were being questioned. The location of their detention was not disclosed.

25. Saeed Hajjarian’s confession will be shown soon on IRIB.

26. The spokesperson for the parliamentary commission reporting on the condition of the detainees from the recent protests, Kazem Jalali, said today that their report had been handed over to the government. He also added that he was resigning from his position.

27. The deputy prosecutor of Tehran said today that the reformists currently on trial, will be allowed to have attorneys present in the next session of the court on Thursday.

28. A group of families of the reformists, who were put on trial on August 1, have released a statement calling the trial a sham. The statement added that the trial was an indicator of the complete prostration of those who staged it. They further questioned the legality of the trial calling it “devoid of the most basic legal articles”.

Media

29. Etemaade Melli, a newspaper belonging to Mahdi Karroubi’s party of the same name, has been warned by the government to tone down its criticism of the government. The government has also warned Etemaade Melli to stop questioning the legitimacy of the election via its interviews. Etemaade Melli has not been published for several days in the past few weeks because the government did not deem the material suitable for publishing.

To Helpers

– Anonymous – the collective that organizes and runs this forum – needs donations to keep the servers running. They only need about 22,500
Cents a month to make this possible. If you do want to make a donation, please chip in your pennies here for the month of August: General Expense – Why We Protest

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

– Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_48 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

– (A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

The Green Brief #47 (August 2-3)

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 Saturday, August 2 – Mordad 11. (Some reports are from August 3 as well)

Yesterday’s Report on the Trial of Reformists is at the end of this brief as well.

In German: http://tinyurl.com/nnlbla

Protests / Unrest

1. On August 2, there was a gathering of detainees’ families in front of Khamenei’s house. The number of people gathered was estimated at a few hundred.

2. The Sea of Green will be holding protests August 3 and plan on increasing power consumption at 9 PM. Chants of Allah o Akbar are continuing. (By the time this is out, protests will have already taken place.) On August 5 – the day of Ahmadinejad’s inauguration – there will more gatherings and protests. Locations cannot be disclosed at this time, as previous policy.

3. August 3, approximately a thousand people gathered in front of Judiciary Chief Shahroodi’s office. The protesters went to show their opposition to the trial of reformists.

4. August 1, several dozen members of the Mourning Mothers group held a gathering at Laleh Park.

5. Iran’s national cell phone company sent an SMS to all of it’s customers that services will be disrupted for the next 72 hours.

6. Checkpoints are being set up in Tehran by Basijis and police, yet again.

7. Partially confirmed reports indicate that at least 10 more protesters were being put on trial today. Need full confirmation.

8. Reports suggest that when news of the trial of reformists, reached Evin Prison, dozens of prisoners started to chant Allah o Akbar to show defiance against the regime.

9. Protests are being held in Paris August 3 and 4 against the Iran regime. For further details: Where is my vote? – Paris

*85 year old protester demands her vote be given back and says she wants to take it back from Khamenei: YouTube – ‫شیرزن ایرانی در روز 25 خرداد‬‎

(If you, your friends or your organization are holding events, protests or doing something else related to the Iranian elections internationally, please send me an email with details and I will give you coverage. (Will only cost you 10 million dollars!) My email is: dbosca@gmail.com – I am also curious if anyone is doing something for the day of Ahmadinejad’s inauguration OUTSIDE Iran.)

Opposition

10. Mahdi Karroubi on Sunday said that the confessions of political prisoners in court had no value. He asked the government to find a solution the current problem and asked them to stop trials, arrests and creating panic and fear among the people.

11. Shirin Ebadi today said that the trial was not held for the defendants; but for legitimizing Ahmadinejad’s government by forcing people to say that there was no fraud during the elections. She added that the trials held no legal merit.

12. It has been confirmed that Hashemi Rafsanjani may have left Tehran for Kerman in order to avoid participating in Ahmadinejad’s confirmation by Khamenei.

13. Mohsen Rezaie today asked that if reformists could be put on trial, then the government should also put on trial members of security forces, who violated Iranian laws during the post-election unrest.

14. Ebrahim Yazdi – the Secretary-General of the Freedom Movement of Iran – today said that the prosecutor’s claims, during the trial of reformists, was an attack on the integrity of the regime. He called the confessions immoral and said that it was an example of the in-fighting amongst various factions of the regime.

Government / International

15. The confirmation ceremony of Ahmadinejad by Khamenei was held today in Tehran. The ceremony was attended by Ayatollah Hashemi Shahrodi, Ali Larejani, Ahmad Jannati, Mohsen Rezaie, Ayatollah Golpaygani, Mojtaba Khamenei, Ahmad Najafi, Afshin Ghotbi, Hossein Rezazadeh, Hamid Reza Saakit, Jahangir Almasi, Mohammad Reza Sharifinya, Mohammad Saleh ‘Ala and Mahmood Khosravi Wafa. During the ceremony, Ahmadinejad did not kiss Khamenei’s hand as he normally does and instead planted a kiss on the Supreme Leader’s shoulder.

16. Neither Khatami nor Rafsanjani – two former presidents of Iran – attended the ceremony. It had been speculated that at least Rafsanjani might attend, but he has left Tehran and is reportedly in Kerman. No member of Imam Khomeini’s family attended the ceremony either.

17. IRIB did not broadcast the appointment ceremony live. Some government-run news outlets, however, did report the ceremony as it went along.

(Picture Courtesy of Enduring America: The top shot shows the confirmation from today while the shot below is from Ahmadinejad’s confirmation 4 years ago.)
http://enduringamerica.com/wp-conten…uguration3.jpg

18. Ali Akbar Javanfekr, who is a senior advisor to Ahmadinejad on media affairs – resigned on Monday.

19. The office of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Court has warned people to not comment on or criticize the trial of reformist leaders, reporters and other detainees. It added that anyone who did so would be prosecuted. The warning came after not only reformists, but even some conservative Iranian members of parliament openly criticized the trial and questioned its legitimacy.

20. Members of Iran’s Parliament have asked Ahmadinejad to provide answers as to why he sacked two distinguished and high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Intelligence last week. The two officials are Haji Habibullah and Khazayee. The MPs want to know why their sacking was undertaken without consultation with the parliament first.

21. Partially confirmed reports suggest that Iran’s Police Chief, claimed today, that they had discovered books and other material on how to wage a guerilla war campaign, from the election offices of reformist candidates. Full confirmation is still unavailable.

22. Germany’s Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier asked the Iranian regime to release all political prisoners and respect the civil and political rights of the citizens of Iran. He also harshly criticized the trial of reformists that was held two days ago and reminded Iran it had to remain committed to its international commitments of respecting human rights.

23. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s son, Mahdi Hashemi said today that the trial of detained reformists was going to weaken the regime and the Supreme Leader. He called it a show trial and laughable.

Arrested / Released / killed

24. New reports indicate that 103 additional protesters have been moved to Evin that were arrested on Thursday. This number does not include the 50 protesters that the government announced it had detained.

25. New reports emerging from Evin suggest that Behzad Nabavi and Mohammad Ali Abtahi may have been tortured psychologically. The reports suggest that Behzad Nabavi was stripped naked and then taken to Abtahi’s cell and Abtahi was told to perform fellatio on him. Full confirmation is unavailable.

26. Pooya Maghsood Beigi is the newest victim whose death has been confirmed. He was arrested in Kermanshah on June 20 and died after suffering extreme torture in Kermanshah Prison. He died a few days after being released. Now reports have emerged that his mother, Zahra Nowrozi was arrested from Kermanshah yesterday.

27. Iranian media today reported that the three American hikers who were arrested from northwestern Iran, are being held on charges of espionage and were working for the CIA.

28. The commission for investigating the rights of detained protesters and other people who’ve been arrested in relation to the recent unrests, has confirmed the death of at least 62 people that they are aware of during these unrests.

29. The only good news from the past two days is the release of Masood Kordpour.

*A responsible twitter – @NedaAgain – has focused my attention to the issue of the veracity of Abtahi and other detainees’ confessions on August 1. His evidence and similar evidence provided by other Iranian sources seem to make it doubtful that Abtahi’s confession was from August 1. Facts reported by Iranian media say that Abtahi and other detainees were brought to court and after the trial session, immediately met with reporters and then were taken to prison. However, pictures and video show that while he was wearing prison uniform in court, he had on a crisp new shirt during the confession. Does it make sense to anyone else?

Picture during trial on right: http://i29.tinypic.com/25inm6g.jpg

Video of Confession:

Mohammad Ali Abtahi press confession August 1 2009

Important Correction: The Green Brief reported yesterday that: “One of Mousavi’s close aides, Alireza Beheshti – the son of Ayatollah Beheshti – has stated in an interview they have so far gathered the names of 1,700 detainees whose whereabouts are unknown.” Another journalist covering Iran, Fintan Dunne observed and corrected the statement which is rather misleading. The correct statement was that they had collected the names of 1,700 detainees, yet did not know the location and status of an unspecified and undetermined number of those detainees. Thanks Fin!

**In retaliation to the forced confessions being extracted from reformists in Iran, supporters of the Sea of Green around the world have started a new project: Watch Me Confess!

To Helpers

– Anonymous – the collective that organizes and runs this forum – needs donations to keep the servers running. They only need about 22,500
Cents a month to make this possible. If you do want to make a donation, please chip in your pennies here for the month of August: General Expense – Why We Protest

– Info on republishing the Green Brief: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

– Information on Tor: Tor Browser Bundle

– Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_47 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

– (A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

– A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

Report on the Trial of Reformists (August 1 – Mordad 10)

Trial Proceedings

Today, the Iranian government put more than 100 detainees on trial, who according the government, were responsible amongst other things for sabotage, anti-government activity, subversion and the instigation of a ‘Velvet Revolution’ with help from foreign elements. Prominent reformists were among the detainees, including:

– Mohammad Ali Abtahi: A former Vice President of Iran and a close associate of former President Mohammad Khatami. He is a member of the central council of Association of Combatant Clerics (Majma’e Rowhaniyoon-e Mobarez).

– Mohsen Mirdamadi: Leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front.

– Behzad Nabavi: A former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran and one of the founders of the reformist party Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization.

– Mohsen Aminzadeh: Deputy Foreign Minister under Khatami.

– Abdollah Ramezanzadeh: A former spokesman and secretary of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran under Muhammad Khatami.

– Mohammad Atrianfar: The head of the “Policymaking Council” of the daily newspaper Shargh, a member of the Executives of Construction Party, a senior political advisor to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former elected a member of the City Council of Tehran from 1999 to 2003 and the Vice Minister of Interior in Politics under Minister Abdollah Noori as well as a vice president in Defence Industries Organization of Iran and a former editor-in-chief of the newspaper Hamshahri.

Other detainees included prominent political activists, reporters and other important Iranian personalities. The presiding judge was Judge Salavati of the 15th circuit of the Revolutionary Courts (could not find his first name). The government had previously announced that only 20 people would be put on trial on similar charges. It is worth noting that the lawyers of many defendants were not present during the trial. Saleh Nikbakht, who’s been appointed by the families of Abtahi, Nabavi, Safaie Farahani and Aminzadeh to represent the defendants, later claimed he had not been allowed to be in court for the trial.

The government’s prosecutor quoted a ‘spy’ the government had apprehended and that could not be named because of ‘security’ reasons. According to the prosecutor, the spy had entered Iran recently. The prosecutor then continued to explain how the spy was involved in planning a ‘velvet revolution’. (I cannot confirm the name of the spy at this point as only one source has made a claim about his identity.)

The prosecutor then talked about ‘velvet revolutions’ that were held in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. He named some prominent politicians, activists, feminists and reporters who had taken part in the planning and attempts at executing the said ‘revolution’.

Some of specific charges against the defendants were:

– Attacks on Military Installations with firearms and bombs.
– Attacks on government buildings and setting them on fire.
– Destruction of public and private property.
– Creating fear amongst the populace.
– Establishing contacts with militant organizations.
– Beating of ordinary citizens.
– Distributing leaflets against the government.
– Beating security forces.

The prosecutor also connected the defendants with George Soros – a billionaire who regularly helps fund ‘revolutions’ according to the prosecutor – and the US State Department. He said that the connection was established to coordinate the ‘revolution’.

It was claimed, during the initial trial, that some of the defendants had acknowledged the accuracy of the elections’ results and had denied that any fraud had taken place. Later, during ‘confessions’, Abtahi and Atrianfar declared that no fraud had taken place during the election. Abtahi also said that Rafsanjani, Khatami, Karroubi and Mousavi had made a pact to back each other up to discredit Ahmadinejad, in case he won the election.

He also went on to say that the ‘velvet revolution’ had agents who were to incite women, minorities, human rights activists, laborers, NGOs and students to take part. He blamed Shadi Sadr and Shirin Ebadi for inciting women. Nowsheen Hamadani Khorasani, an unknown individual, was also blamed for inciting women.

He further blamed, as being the ‘brains’ behind it, Hadi Qayemi – spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign in Iran – Mansoor Asanlo in charge of the Laborers wing, Sohrab Razaqi and Baqer Namazi of the NGOs wing and Abdul Kareem Sorosh.

Later, four of the defendants, Abtahi, Atrianfar, Tajbakhsh and Mazyar Bahari (an Iranian-Canadian journalist) faced the government media for questions. Some read their ‘confessions’.

Excerpt of Mohammad Ali Abtahi’s media ‘confession:

“After the election [Mohammad] Khatami and Rafsanjani had sworn to have each other’s back, and I don’t understand the point of it, knowing the difference [in votes between Ahmadienjad and Mousavi] was 11 million….Hashemi wanted to take revenge on Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader….

Mousavi probably did not know the country, but Khatami, with all due respect… knew all the issues. He was aware of the capability and power of the leader, but he joined Mousavi and this was a betrayal, …I see myself as a reformist but stated that Khatami did not have the right to force [this] on Mousavi. I did not agree with Ahmadinejad’s presidency but believe in people’s votes, and congratulated as people’s choice as the president.

It was wrong of me to take part in the rallies, but [Mehdi] Karroubi told me that we cannot call the people onto the streets with such a meager number of votes, so we had better go to the streets ourselves to demonstrate our protest.”

Abtahi’s full confession in Farsi:

The prosecutor also accused many defendants of participating in ‘terrorist’ activities against the state of Iran. He also accused them of being in touch with the MKO – a leftist Iranian paramilitary organization. He claimed they had been trained at Ashraf Camp in Iraq with American Forces. They had received logistic and financial support from America together with intelligence. Reza Khademi, Naser Abdolhosseini, Mohammad Noori, Hossein Shermohammadi, Azra Saadat Qazi, Naseh Fareedi, Amir Hossein Fotoohi, Mahdi Shirazi, Hassam Salamat, Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani, Ahmad Karimi and Hamed Rohinezhad were all accused of taking part in these ‘terrorist’ activities.

Government Reaction

The only government reaction came from Tehran’s representative in the parliament, Hamid Rasayee, who said that the trial had paved the way for the government to prosecute the real leaders of the riot (this is only partially confirmed at this point).

Opposition Reaction

Mousavi’s statement:

“It is being said that the sons of revolution have confessed to planning to overthrow the Islamic Republic and the role of foreigners in this. I personally and carefully examined their words and did not find any truth to any of them… What we saw and you saw is nothing but an unskilled preparation for the start of the government’s term. They want a court that is fraudulent to find instances of fraud in the elections.”

He added that the defendants should know that people know the confessions were only made to save the lives of the defendants.

The IIPF released a statement which says, “The coup d’état led by the totalitarians has entered a new phase by the comedy show they have staged – disguised as a snazzy courtroom to put a number of the detainees on trial”.
Full Statement here: IIPF Statement – Why We Protest – IRAN

Abtahi’s wife said that Abtahi had been forced to take psychoactive medication, to break him down and to force him to say whatever he was told. Her statement was corroborated by Mohammad Reza Tabesh – a reformist member of parliament. He also condemned the trials as a sham. Abtahi’s wife called the trials inhumane and senseless.

Mohsen Mirdamadi’s wife said that family members of defendants were not allowed to talk to them, before or after the trial and they were taken away just as soon as the session was adjourned. She said that her family were not even allowed to be present during the trial.

Sayed Mohammad Khatami said the trials were against the constitution and that such acts were deeply endangering the regime.

Rafsanjani’s office dismissed allegations of Rafsanjani’s participation in any ‘velvet revolution’ and called all statements against Rafsanjani ludicrous.

Famous Iranian lawyer Mohammad Hossein Aghasi spoke to Voice of America from Iran and said that the trial could not be called one. He added that it was like ‘a theatre act’ staged by the government.

International Reaction

Reporters Without Borders released a statement calling the trial a joke and condemned it.

Iranian Media

Reformist media outlets were completely barred from attending the trial and the only news coming out was through government-run media.

Fars News reported a statement attributed to Abtahi which was markedly different from what he actually said in court.

Keyhan News used the trial for its front page headline. It accused reformist leaders of attempting to hold a ‘velvet revolution’ and called the confessions proof of what had actually occurred.

For a compilation of videos related to the trial: Video Blog…

(Excerpts were also used from Enduring America and Fereshteh Ghazi’s report on the trial.)

The Green Brief #46 (August 1 – Mordad 11)

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 Saturday, August 1 – Mordad 11.

The Report on the Trial of Reformists is at the end of the Brief

Protests / Unrest

1. A protest has been planned for today at 11 AM Tehran time, in front of the Judiciary Chief Shahroodi’s office. The protest is being held against the trial, by the Iranian government, of around 100 reformist leaders, political prisoners and journalists. The families of the detainees have released statements asking for the people of Iran, to stand by them, in this time of need.

2. Protests are also planned for August 3 – the day of Ahmadinejad’s official appointment by Khamenei, as Iran’s president, August 5 – the day of Ahmadinejad’s inauguration – and August 7 – Imam Mahdi’s birthday celebration.

3. A group of students from Tehran’s San’ati Sharif University, held a candlelight vigil to mourn the death of protesters during the violent crackdown by government forces.

4. People are planning to overload electricity during the times when IRIB will be broadcasting the ‘confessions’ of the detained reformists.

5. There were reports of an extremely loud explosion in the southwestern city of Ahvaz today. The cause could not be confirmed.

6. People again climbed on their roofs and chanted Allah o Akbar, continuing their nightly ritual. Tonight, chants of “Free Political Prisoners!” could also be heard.

7. A new petition in support of Human Rights has been created. 28,000+ have already signed it. (Including me)
Here’s the link if you want to join the petitioners: http://bit.ly/DRrQa

Opposition

8. In an interview with GhalamNews today, Mousavi said that the Sea of Green had no contact with foreign elements. He also denounced propaganda aimed at connecting the Sea of Green with foreign countries. He said the Sea of Green was a public uprising, aimed at getting their deserved rights, guaranteed to them by the constitution. Mousavi added that people’s demands were within the framework of the Islamic Republic’s constitution and laws.

9. Conservative MP Emaad Afroogh said today, he was curious as to how the government intended to prove that a ‘Velvet Revolution’ was being planned. He added that calling people’s legitimate demands a ‘Velvet Revolution’ was an insult to the Iranian people and anyone propagating such insults should be prosecuted.

10. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s office today dismissed Mohammad Ali Abtahi’s ‘confession’ which implicated him in the ‘Velvet Revolution’. According to the office, Rafsanjani had not made a pact with Karroubi, Khatami and Mousavi that he would not support them in any ‘revolution’. They further asserted that Rafsanjani had, at no point, been involved with the protests and had not declared his support for any candidate during the elections.

10. Khamenei’s brother Hadi Khamenei, today criticized the government’s actions in the post-election violence. He said the cases of detention centers that have been closed, because of the inhumane conduct with detainees, needs to be investigated and the people involved violating human rights should be prosecuted. In a meeting with freed prisoners, Hadi Khamenei – who is a member of the Imam’s Way faction of parliament – said that the Guardian Council had erred in supporting a specific candidate and that the killing of peaceful protesters must end.

12. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Rafsanjani has moved out of Tehran to a safer area close to the city. This has been reportedly done to ensure his safety.

13. Members of the Imam’s Way faction of MPs will be holding a meeting with Mahdi Karroubi tomorrow.

Arrested / Released / Killed

14. It has now been confirmed 3 American hikers, have been arrested by Iranian border guards, after they mistakenly entered Iranian territory while hiking in Northeastern Iran. The Iranian media ran the story saying that the hikers repeatedly ignored warnings by the guards. The US has asked the Swiss Embassy in Tehran – which carries out diplomatic ties on behalf of the US with Tehran – to intervene and secure the release of the hikers as soon as possible.
(This might not seem relevant to the Iran Elections – yet we all know that this COULD become ugly if Iran decides to use the hikers to blame the US of intervention in Iran.)

15. Behazad Mohajer is the latest protester whose death has been confirmed. His body, which was kept at Kahrizak’s morgue, was handed over to his family yesterday. He was 47.

16. One of Mousavi’s close aides, Alireza Beheshti – the son of Ayatollah Beheshti – has stated in an interview they have so far gathered the names of 1,700 detainees whose whereabouts are unknown.

17. Reports from Mashhad indicate that during the protests on Thursday, more than 30 people were arrested.

18. The Association for the Defense of Children’s Rights have sent a letter to Ayatollah Shahrodi – the head of Iran’s Judiciary – asking him to investigate the cases of underage detainees who were arrested in the post-election turmoil. The association has also shown a willingness to represent these children in court, if they were put on trial.

Media

19. Keyhan Daily has published a report claiming evidence of Mousavi and Khatami’s betrayal of Iran has been gathered and will be published soon.

20. Press TV published an article today, citing government sources, saying that the Sea of Green was planning on planting bombs to create an atmosphere of unrest and violence in the country.
(Don’t worry, this is the least bit of shocking news you’ll get.)

Picture of the day (Front Page of Keyhan Daily): http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b…g?t=1249226639
(The large red circle says: “Evidence of Mousavi’s Betrayal of Iran Exposed!” while the small red circle says: “Evidence of Inhuman Torture of Detainees by Americans in Bagram Prison [Afghanistan]).

Report on the Trial of Reformists

Trial Proceedings

Today, the Iranian government put more than 100 detainees on trial, who according the government, were responsible amongst other things for sabotage, anti-government activity, subversion and the instigation of a ‘Velvet Revolution’ with help from foreign elements. Prominent reformists were among the detainees, including:

– Mohammad Ali Abtahi: A former Vice President of Iran and a close associate of former President Mohammad Khatami. He is a member of the central council of Association of Combatant Clerics (Majma’e Rowhaniyoon-e Mobarez).

– Mohsen Mirdamadi: Leader of the Islamic Iran Participation Front.

– Behzad Nabavi: A former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Iran and one of the founders of the reformist party Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution Organization.

– Mohsen Aminzadeh: Deputy Foreign Minister under Khatami.

– Abdollah Ramezanzadeh: A former spokesman and secretary of the government of the Islamic Republic of Iran under Muhammad Khatami.

– Mohammad Atrianfar: The head of the “Policymaking Council” of the daily newspaper Shargh, a member of the Executives of Construction Party, a senior political advisor to Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former elected a member of the City Council of Tehran from 1999 to 2003 and the Vice Minister of Interior in Politics under Minister Abdollah Noori as well as a vice president in Defence Industries Organization of Iran and a former editor-in-chief of the newspaper Hamshahri.

Other detainees included prominent political activists, reporters and other important Iranian personalities. The presiding judge was Judge Salavati of the 15th circuit of the Revolutionary Courts (could not find his first name). The government had previously announced that only 20 people would be put on trial on similar charges. It is worth noting that the lawyers of many defendants were not present during the trial. Saleh Nikbakht, who’s been appointed by the families of Abtahi, Nabavi, Safaie Farahani and Aminzadeh to represent the defendants, later claimed he had not been allowed to be in court for the trial.

The government’s prosecutor quoted a ‘spy’ the government had apprehended and that could not be named because of ‘security’ reasons. According to the prosecutor, the spy had entered Iran recently. The prosecutor then continued to explain how the spy was involved in planning a ‘velvet revolution’. (I cannot confirm the name of the spy at this point as only one source has made a claim about his identity.)

The prosecutor then talked about ‘velvet revolutions’ that were held in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan. He named some prominent politicians, activists, feminists and reporters who had taken part in the planning and attempts at executing the said ‘revolution’.

Some of specific charges against the defendants were:

– Attacks on Military Installations with firearms and bombs.
– Attacks on government buildings and setting them on fire.
– Destruction of public and private property.
– Creating fear amongst the populace.
– Establishing contacts with militant organizations.
– Beating of ordinary citizens.
– Distributing leaflets against the government.
– Beating security forces.

The prosecutor also connected the defendants with George Soros – a billionaire who regularly helps fund ‘revolutions’ according to the prosecutor – and the US State Department. He said that the connection was established to coordinate the ‘revolution’.

It was claimed, during the initial trial, that some of the defendants had acknowledged the accuracy of the elections’ results and had denied that any fraud had taken place. Later, during ‘confessions’, Abtahi and Atrianfar declared that no fraud had taken place during the election. Abtahi also said that Rafsanjani, Khatami, Karroubi and Mousavi had made a pact to back each other up to discredit Ahmadinejad, in case he won the election.

He also went on to say that the ‘velvet revolution’ had agents who were to incite women, minorities, human rights activists, laborers, NGOs and students to take part. He blamed Shadi Sadr and Shirin Ebadi for inciting women. Nowsheen Hamadani Khorasani, an unknown individual, was also blamed for inciting women.

He further blamed, as being the ‘brains’ behind it, Hadi Qayemi – spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign in Iran – Mansoor Asanlo in charge of the Laborers wing, Sohrab Razaqi and Baqer Namazi of the NGOs wing and Abdul Kareem Sorosh.

Later, four of the defendants, Abtahi, Atrianfar, Tajbakhsh and Mazyar Bahari (an Iranian-Canadian journalist) faced the government media for questions. Some read their ‘confessions’.

Excerpt of Mohammad Ali Abtahi’s media ‘confession:

“After the election [Mohammad] Khatami and Rafsanjani had sworn to have each other’s back, and I don’t understand the point of it, knowing the difference [in votes between Ahmadienjad and Mousavi] was 11 million….Hashemi wanted to take revenge on Ahmadinejad and the Supreme Leader….

Mousavi probably did not know the country, but Khatami, with all due respect… knew all the issues. He was aware of the capability and power of the leader, but he joined Mousavi and this was a betrayal, …I see myself as a reformist but stated that Khatami did not have the right to force [this] on Mousavi. I did not agree with Ahmadinejad’s presidency but believe in people’s votes, and congratulated as people’s choice as the president.

It was wrong of me to take part in the rallies, but [Mehdi] Karroubi told me that we cannot call the people onto the streets with such a meager number of votes, so we had better go to the streets ourselves to demonstrate our protest.”

Abtahi’s full confession in Farsi:

The prosecutor also accused many defendants of participating in ‘terrorist’ activities against the state of Iran. He also accused them of being in touch with the MKO – a leftist Iranian paramilitary organization. He claimed they had been trained at Ashraf Camp in Iraq with American Forces. They had received logistic and financial support from America together with intelligence. Reza Khademi, Naser Abdolhosseini, Mohammad Noori, Hossein Shermohammadi, Azra Saadat Qazi, Naseh Fareedi, Amir Hossein Fotoohi, Mahdi Shirazi, Hassam Salamat, Mohammad Reza Ali-Zamani, Ahmad Karimi and Hamed Rohinezhad were all accused of taking part in these ‘terrorist’ activities.

Government Reaction

The only government reaction came from Tehran’s representative in the parliament, Hamid Rasayee, who said that the trial had paved the way for the government to prosecute the real leaders of the riot (this is only partially confirmed at this point).

Opposition Reaction

Mousavi’s statement:

“It is being said that the sons of revolution have confessed to planning to overthrow the Islamic Republic and the role of foreigners in this. I personally and carefully examined their words and did not find any truth to any of them… What we saw and you saw is nothing but an unskilled preparation for the start of the government’s term. They want a court that is fraudulent to find instances of fraud in the elections.”

He added that the defendants should know that people know the confessions were only made to save the lives of the defendants.

The IIPF released a statement which says, “The coup d’état led by the totalitarians has entered a new phase by the comedy show they have staged – disguised as a snazzy courtroom to put a number of the detainees on trial”.
Full Statement here: IIPF Statement – Why We Protest – IRAN

Abtahi’s wife said that Abtahi had been forced to take psychoactive medication, to break him down and to force him to say whatever he was told. Her statement was corroborated by Mohammad Reza Tabesh – a reformist member of parliament. He also condemned the trials as a sham. Abtahi’s wife called the trials inhumane and senseless.

Mohsen Mirdamadi’s wife said that family members of defendants were not allowed to talk to them, before or after the trial and they were taken away just as soon as the session was adjourned. She said that her family were not even allowed to be present during the trial.

Sayed Mohammad Khatami said the trials were against the constitution and that such acts were deeply endangering the regime.

Rafsanjani’s office dismissed allegations of Rafsanjani’s participation in any ‘velvet revolution’ and called all statements against Rafsanjani ludicrous.

Famous Iranian lawyer Mohammad Hossein Aghasi spoke to Voice of America from Iran and said that the trial could not be called one. He added that it was like ‘a theatre act’ staged by the government.

International Reaction

Reporters Without Borders released a statement calling the trial a joke and condemned it.

Iranian Media

Reformist media outlets were completely barred from attending the trial and the only news coming out was through government-run media.

Fars News reported a statement attributed to Abtahi which was markedly different from what he actually said in court.

Keyhan News used the trial for its front page headline. It accused reformist leaders of attempting to hold a ‘velvet revolution’ and called the confessions proof of what had actually occurred.

For a compilation of videos related to the trial: Video Blog…

(Excerpts were also used from Enduring America and Fereshteh Ghazi’s report on the trial.)

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_46 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

http://torir.org

Tor Browser Bundle

IIPF Statement

In the Name of God, the merciful, the compassionate

The coup d’état led by the totalitarians has entered a new phase by the comedy show they have staged – disguised as a snazzy courtroom to put a number of the detainees on trial.

What was of most importance in today’s trial was the prosecutor’s statements which were expected to be serious and strong given that detainees had been at their disposal for more than 50 days under pressure and in isolation. But they are in such rage and shock of the failure of their coup d’état that the result [the statement] was nothing but a headline from Keyhan [the pro-Ahmadinejad newspaper famous for its lack of journalistic integrity and sensationalized headlines] which would even make a dead chicken laugh. They have been so hasty in preparing the statement that they have even made errors in the naming the members of the Participation Front, which are all readily available online. For example, they have named Dr. Tajik, who headed the Center for Strategic Studies under the Khatami administration, as a member of the Participation Front! Unfortunately, in this heavily politicized, unprofessional and baseless document, the analysis presented was just as inaccurate.

In this statement, which was sent to Farsnews (as the main propaganda machine of the leaders of the coup) before all other media outlets, the depth of hatred these leaders feel towards the eight years of reform, its remarkable achievements, and its leader, Seyed Mohammad Khatami was widely seen.

This statement has at times turned into a full blown defense of socialist countries where stealing votes was rampant. In other places, in order to prove accusations of a velvet revolution in Iran, they have compared our country and our system to that of socialist systems. To do so, they’ve used fabrications offered by security forces which only seem to show their low IQs and scattered minds.

What is interesting is that in this statement they have shown their own goals in their coup d’état. The inauspicious aim was to silence reformist factions and independent non-governmental organizations. To do this, they’ve iterated baseless accusations, inline with irrelevant observations which have nothing to do with what the aim of their statements.

They have stolen our documents and now claim to have made a great discovery. In their statements, they’ve used quotes out of our document called “A Contemplation into Taking Forward our Political/Organizational Goals” (which they wrongly quote as “A Deal for Taking Forward our Political/Organizational Goals”) [Note: “Contemplation” is ta-amolot and “deal” is ta-aamolat in Persian]:

“In the first step [we aim for] presence in the presidential body, parliament and city councils. And in the next steps, having members in the Council of Experts is a good strategy for those who strive for democracy and the rule of the people”

Now we must ask those who’ve prepared this document after 50 days of silence and oppression: is it unlawful for a legal party to plan and strategize for winning people’s votes and being legally elected into political bodies? Or are political parties simply there to blindly approve and cheer anything that is dictated from above? In another place in this document, we’ve written of finding strategies to turn crises and disorder into opportunities for reinforcing the democratic aspects of the system, we’ve written about negotiations ( instead of creating more disturbance and chaos) as the only way to create a stable system and real unity. And you have called this an unforgivable crime?! What can we call your words but treason? Since when are those who create chaos to destroy the democratic aspects of the system considered “servants” to the system and those who strive for calm and creating unity traitors? How well you have shown your hatred and enmity of democracy and human values. It is this exact hatred which creates a suspicion of voter fraud. You want us to believe that those who, upon hearing words like “the nation’s vote” or “democracy”, burn like small ashes on a great fire from their anger, won’t touch the people’s votes if the opportunity presents itself? Who are these statements truly hurting? Unknowingly, these statements are against the totalitarians themselves.

In regards to the confessions of Hojatolleslam Abtahi, the position of the Participation Front is what it has always been in the face of other such farce trials and confessions. In our view, Abtahi’s opinions on what he was asked in court are those that were available on his weblog before he was detained. Those opinions which he has reiterated, time and time again when not under pressure, not in solitary confinement, and not in custody. Just like in the past, when we saw that when the prisoners were released they insisted on their previous views [and not on what they said during forced confession]. Thus, we see this as a futile attempt which only serves to pain us and the vigilant, intelligent people of Iran.

The Islamic Iran Participation Front hopes that the continuing days of this trial will be different than the useless, disgraceful and nauseous path it took today. We request that the hostages be allowed to see their families, and that their lawyers have access to their documents. And we warn the current establishment that such petty trials will not result in anything and will not serve as an excuse for their violent rampage and murder. Instead of propping such advertising campaigns, it would be better for you to think of a way to answer to an entire nation that has seen your true face in the past 50 days, has seen the body of their martyrs in bewilderment and mourning. People who have courageously appeared on the frontlines despite your bullets and batons. The real courtroom, before the courtroom of the Lord, shall be in their presence.

The Islamic Iran Participation Front

10/05/88

(August 1st, 2009)

The Green Brief #45 (July 31)

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 Friday, July 31.

I am writing a one time only special report on today’s trials. Should be out soon as I want to pay attention to other matters in GB 46.

In German: http://tinyurl.com/kqw6yx

Protests / Unrest

1. Hundreds of citizens of Qazvin have sent protest letters to Ali Larijani – head of Parliament – and to their two representatives in the legislative body. They have demanded the elections be annulled, fresh elections be held, all prisoners to be freed and the people responsible for violence against the protesters be put on trial.

2. 12 prominent Iranian filmmakers also sent a letter to members of the parliament asking them to do their constitutional duty and help solve the crisis. The filmmakers have demanded the release of the detainees and a peaceful solution to the turmoil that has been plaguing the country for weeks.

3. The government is now indiscriminately blocking access to satellite channels in a bid to stop the flow of news to the protesters. The tactic is reportedly an attempt by the government to stop the protesters from knowing about other protests being held around the country.

4. In Thursday’s protests, Iranians burned a Russian flag. Picture: http://bit.ly/19jsNv

Opposition

5. Reports suggest that the majority of Iranian Ayatollahs are conducting frantic meetings across the country, in an attempt to sway each over the conflict.

6. Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers has issued a statement urging the protesters to continue their protests and that the protestors had the support of the Assembly. The statement called the violence against the protestors following the election, one of the worst acts that one could commit. The Association’s members include prominent clerics such as Ayatollah Mohammad Va’ez Abaee-Khorasani, Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi and Ayatollah Asadollah Bayat-Zanjani.

7. The son of Ayatollah Beheshti – one of the founders of the Islamic Republic – Alireza Beheshti, said in an interview that the regime never thought the people would stand behind Mousavi. He also added that the real number of people arrested was unknown and hinted that the government was deliberately attempting to distort the facts about detainees, making it more difficult to obtain their release.

8. Ayatollah Hojjati Kermani, today in an interview questioned the validity of the government’s claim that post-election violence was the work of foreigners. He said in the past 30 years the government had used ‘blaming others’ for too many problems. He added that the country’s freedom was at stake, people’s lives and their faith was in danger.

9. During Friday prayers in Qom, Ayatollah Ebrahim Amini said that the youth wanted change and couldn’t tolerate tyranny, so they would always rebel against it. He said that their voices needed to be heard if their demands are legitimate. He also asked for prisoners to be treated humanely and within the law, welcoming the Judiciary’s order to complete investigations within a week about all detainees.

10. Sayed Mohammad Khatami, today met with the families of protesters who were killed in the past few weeks, again. He met the families of Ashkan Sohrabi and Kyanosh Aasa at Sohrab A’rabi’s house. He also met with the family of Masood Hashemzadeh. He asked each of the families for details about the death of their loved ones and asked the government to investigate the cases of the protesters who’ve been killed as well as the detainees.

11. The spokesperson for the US State Department on Thursday criticized the Iranian government for using force against peaceful mourners and protestors.

Government / International

12. A German firm which had warned its employees they could risk getting fired if they protested in Iran, in any way, has withdrawn the threat. Knauf Gips KG had issued a letter – written by Isabel Knauf – threatening all employees in Iran they would be dismissed if they took part in political demonstrations. German Firm Withdraws Threat to Fire Employees in Iran: http://iranquest.com/blog/?p=8695

13. Khamenei has supposedly ordered a commission to be formed to meet with the families of protesters who have been killed and detained in the past weeks. The commission will address the families’ grievances. To date the commission has met with the father of Mohsen Rohulamini.

14. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday said that his relationship with Khamenei was like that between a father and a son and that it will not deteriorate. Ahmadinejad who is in Mashhad also said that Ejaie had reportedly not carried out some of his orders and indicated that it was part of the reason why Ejaie had been dismissed.

15. Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, yesterday claimed that the West had directly interfered in Iranian affairs during the election. It blamed the UK especially and said that foreign countries had used their media outlets to instigate protests, which had shown protesters how to make explosives and commit violence.

16. In his Friday Sermon, Ayatollah Jannat warned those responsible for the protests that they will be prosecuted and that the situation was not going to remain the same forever. He blamed Mousavi and Karroubi for the death of protesters, asked them to apologize to the families of those protesters and to take the blame. He said that protesters who had committed violence will not be released and yet again called the elections free and fair, adding that the opposition couldn’t see a man like Ahmadinejad be elected by the people.

Arrests / Releases / Deaths

17. Three American tourists were arrested by Iranian border guards in northwestern Iran after the tourists, who were on a hiking trip in Iraq, mistakenly crossed the border into Iran.

18. The government has confirmed the arrest of at least 50 mourners from Beheshte Zahra on Thursday. Detainees include at least one cleric, Hojjatul-Islam Dr. Soleimani – a member of the Assembly of Qom Seminary Scholars and Researchers.

19. It has now been confirmed that Ali Asghar Hadizadeh, a gold medal-winning para-Olympian and a former MP, has also been arrested from Enghelab Square on July 15.

20. The parliamentary commission assigned to report on the condition of detainees and their cases has not been allowed by the government to meet with political prisoners. The spokesperson for the commission, Mahdi Sanayee told ILNA that as of yet, he wasn’t sure when the government would allow them to meet with political prisoners.

21. A political prisoner who was recently released from Evin recounts that they were interrogated specifically to get confessions that implicated a foreign hand in the recent unrests.

22. Maryam Khazayee, a children’s rights activist, has been detained by intelligence agents. Her whereabouts are unknown at this point. Seema Nasrati, blogger and reporter, has been released from prison.

23. Mohammad Aowlyaee-fard, an prominent Iranian lawyer, stated in an interview that there are other clandestine detention centers where prisoners are being treated the same as they were being treated at Kahrizak. He said that they were looking into the matter and details would be released soon.
Media

23. Fars News has asked the government to detain and prosecute Rafsanjani, Khatami, Mousavi and Karroubi for instigating violence and disrupting the country’s peace.

24. Keyhan Daily criticized Shirin Ebadi for her statements and actions during the post-election violence and called her a ‘murderous hag’.

25. On Friday, IRIB finally stopped playing Shajarian’s patriotic songs after several complaints by him and other organizations.

26. Fars News has published an outrageous report. It is so shocking that you just have to read the source: Fars News Agency :: Thousands of Inmates Freed in Iran after Amnesty by Leader.

Miscellaneous

27. Statues in Italy, adorned with green ribbons and bands:
IranianZ.com ~ PersianToronto.com

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_45 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

http://torir.org

http://torir.brokep.com

The Green Brief #44 (July 30)

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, July 30.

For Yesterday’s Brief: http://tinyurl.com/lavmp8

In Polish: http://glosiranu.blog.pl/archiwum/in…p?nid=14426314

In German: http://kyrah.net/gr88/gb44.html

Protests / Unrest

1. Protesters all over Iran were prevented from mourning the death of other protesters today. Reports suggested that Khamenei had asked for no violence but unfortunately this was not the case.

2. In Tehran, the plan was for people to first gather at Beheshte Zahra Cemetery, recite Koran and then head towards Grand Mosalla through Khosravi Avenue. There the people were supposed to gather and listen to the reformists and other clerics speak about the protesters who had lost their lives.

3. Around 30-40 thousand people tried to gather at Beheshte Zahra Cemetery throughout the morning. As more and more people arrived, it became difficult for everyone to enter the cemetery. Thousands stayed outside and gathered around the perimeter. Security forces had blocked entrances to Khosravi Avenue where Neda was killed.

4. Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mahdi Karroubi, Mousavi’s wife Zahra Rahnavard, Abdollah Nouri, Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi and Haji Mahdi Ghaffari all came to Beheshte Zahra Cemetery separately. Mousavi was immediately escorted off the grounds of the cemetery by the security forces before he could make his way towards Neda’s grave. Karroubi was able to give a speech. Sohrab A’rabi’s mother also managed to make it to the Cemetery and spoke to the mourners. Sohrab’s brother read the names of many of the fallen protesters.

5. At least 200 security forces had gathered at the Cemetery. They tried to block the area around Neda’s grave and other prominent protesters’ graves called area 257. However, as Karroubi entered the cemetery, protesters broke through the security forces and thousands gathered around Neda’s grave.

6. Thousands of protestors gathered across Tehran at Valiasr and Vanak Squares, at Beheshti, Motahhari, Hafez Shamali, Zartusht and Fatemi Avenues. Others gathered at Sayed Maidan and Hafte Tir Square. Many other areas of Tehran also saw large gatherings of protesters and mourners. By far the largest crowds were gathered at Valiasr with witnesses describing thousands of protesters chanting anti-government slogans.

7. The Basij and other security forces used brutal tactics against the people, yet again. In the morning, they closed the doors to Mosalla, stranding people outside. The security forces used extreme force to remove people from the area. Several videos show them firing tear gas into the crowd of protestors. Yet again several protestors were badly beaten with batons.

8. Protesters were also beaten at Beheshte Zahra where one man’s skull was fractured after being hit repeatedly by batons. Security forces tried to remove protesters – many of them women – from around Neda’s grave injuring many of them. Despite having 200 security forces at the cemetery they failed to stop the people from gathering around Neda’s grave.

9. Away from Beheshte Zahra and Mosalla, clashes were reported all over Tehran. At Valiasr, protesters were beaten with batons, then tear gas was shot into the crowd, finally, after they refused to disperse, bullets were fired directly at the people. At least ten people have been injured and one fatality has been confirmed. The people had tried to give the security forces flowers and in return the security forces attacked them with tear gas.

10. On Amirabad Street and Abbas Abad Street the clashes were less violent although 10 people were still injured. Shots were heard from Amirabad. Clashes were also reported from Beheshti, Motahhari, North Hafez, Zartusht and Fatemi Avenues. At Vanak, people threw stones at security forces to try and drive them back. Riot police also smashed the windows of cars with no regard for the safety of the driver or passengers.

11. Helicopters flew above Beheshte Zahra from early morning; they also flew over other parts of Central Tehran. SMS was completely shut down. In many areas, people set garbage on fire and smoke could be seen all over Tehran’s skies.

12. Security forces also video-taped protesters so they could be identified and arrested later. Hundreds of protesters also gathered round the Ministry of Interior and the IRIB building. Slogans chanted today were, “Iranian Republic, Independence, Freedom,” “Death to the Dictator,” “Death to Russia,” and other slogans against Mojtaba Khamenei (Khamenei’s son). Protests in Tehran continued very late into the night.

13. The attitude of the security forces appeared weaker today. The number of protesters arrested from many areas of Tehran cannot be confirmed, but it appears the number was lower than the previous protests. Reports indicated that Mosalla was packed with Basijis and other special forces wearing black uniforms. They stormed out of the building and attacked people – although this can only be partially confirmed. A few Basijis were injured in the clashes and were taken from the scene by ambulance.

14. Outside Tehran, protesters and mourners gathered in Shiraz, Ahvaz, Isfahan, Rasht, Mashhad, Mahabad, Oromieh, Kermanshah, Arak and Tabriz. Clashes were reported from Isfahan, Shiraz, Ahvaz, Rasht, Mashhad, Mahabad and Oromieh.

15. 5-6 thousand people gathered in Maidane Enghelab, Ayeneh Khaneh Park, Sio-Seh Bridge and other parts of Isfahan. Security forces clashed with protesters violently. Reports of injuries or deaths could not be confirmed at this time. Tear gas again was used to disperse the crowds. Protesters were holding green placards with the names of the detained or dead protesters.

16. In Ahvaz, hundreds of protesters gathered at Kyanpars Avenue and chanted against Ahmadinejad and the regime. The weather was very hot, but protesters stayed for hours. At least 30 protesters were arrested after clashes with the security forces.

17. Close to 2,000 people gathered in Rasht. The protest was less violent than in other parts of Iran. Protesters filled the central part of the city while security forces largely stayed a few meters away and watched.

18. In Shiraz, a few hundred protestors gathered around the main Gas Plant in the city as well as in Azadi Park. They sang Yaare Dabestani and chanted slogans. Security forces later dispersed the crowds.

19. Smaller crowds gathered at Mellat Park in Mashhad. Clashes between protesters and security forces were reported, but no further information could be obtained at this point.

20. Neda’s mother held a silent candlelight vigil at a park near her home. She had previously said that she would not go to Neda’s grave at Beheshte Zahra Cemetery because she didn’t want the blame for anyone’s injury or death.
Here is a picture of her in the park (Courtesy of Enduring America): http://tinyurl.com/lbr6kw

21 All around the world people have held vigils for Neda and the other fallen protesters. A vigil was held at Union Square in New York City tonight, candles were lit and mourners sat in silence, holding pictures of Neda. In San Francisco, around 200 mourners gathered at the UN Plaza and held a candlelight vigil between 8-9pm. People handed out signs with the photo and name for each of the fallen. Everyone was requested to sit on the ground, while the name of each person who had fallen was read, followed by the sound of a bell. As the names of the fallen were read, the person holding the sign with the name of the fallen and stood in respect. The reading of the names was followed by 15 minutes of silence, after which, there was singing and chanting.
Pictures: (Courtesy of Dana – @dakster9) on Flickr – Photo Sharing!.

22. In Europe, vigils and flash demonstrations were held in many cities. In Flensburg, German, dozens of people gathered outside a Lutheran church to mourn Neda and the other protesters who have been killed by the security forces. Mourners sang songs, prayed, read anthems and poems and placed flowers in front of a picture of Neda. The gathering was organized and attended by “Deutsch-Iranischer Freundschaftsverein”, which has been recently formed in support of the Green Movement. Picture (Courtesy of Paleene): http://tinyurl.com/n66ue6

23. In Vienna, a flash demonstration was held in front of the parliament building. Around 25 people gathered, dressed in black and green, some of them carrying red roses. At 6:30 Vienna time the demonstration dropped themselves to the ground and lay motionless for 2 minutes. Pictures (Courtesy of @Kyrah) : ازادی

Opposition

24. In a meeting with parliament members from the Imam’s Way faction, Khatami today said that the government needs to prosecute the people who are responsible for killings and torture. He dismissed the government’s closing of Kahrizak, saying that torture had happened all over Iran and in other prisons as well Kahrizak. He also criticized the government’s decision to close Kahrizak just as a parliamentary commission was established to investigate the condition and treatment of detainees.
Government / International

Government / International

25. Reports indicate that the former Minister of Intelligence, Ejaie is forming a group with other disgruntled officials from Ahmadinejad’s government to oppose him. Full confirmation has not yet been received.

26. It has been reported and confirmed that several supporters of Mousavi and elements within security forces that are sympathetic to the protesters’ cause have been sacked or transferred away from Tehran.

Arrested / Released / Killed

27. Kazem Jalali, spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s Special Committee, following up on recent events, announced today that Saeed Hajjarian has been moved from prison to a governmental housing facility. Jalali quoted Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran’s attorney general, saying that the new housing facility is equipped with welfare and medical facilities and that Mr. Hajjarian’s family is allowed to visit him at this new location.

28. The government has stopped Alireza Avaie from visiting Evin prison. He was turned away from the gates, by guards, after he went to prepare a report about the condition of detainees. Avaie is a high-ranking official in the Judiciary, responsible for an office within the Judiciary, whose responsibility is to investigate human rights abuses against the citizens of Tehran province.

29. Mahnaz Mohammadi, Jafar Panahi and Rukhsareh Ghayem-Magham who had been arrested earlier today have been released. Panahi and Mohammadi work in Iranian cinema and Ghayem-Magham is a renowned documentary maker.

30. Reports of the release of Mahsa Amrabadi are false.

31. Two more protesters have now been confirmed to have died:

– Mostafa Kya Rostami was killed two weeks ago during Rafsanjani’s sermon. He was 22. He succumbed to his injured four hours after being hit repeatedly on the head with batons.

– Saeed Esmaili-Khanbebin’s body was also returned to his family in Tehran after his family paid money to security forces. His funeral was tightly guarded by the police. He was 23. He also died of injuries inflicted by repeated blows to his head with batons.

Media

32. IRNA today published a report calling the mourners violent mobs. The news agency blamed the mourners for breaking the law and called their movement small and insignificant. It also claimed that Iranians wanted the government to suppress these protests as they had made the city insecure.

33. PressTV reported that, “Police have dispersed hundreds of Iranians who sought to gather in a cemetery south of the capital of Tehran to commemorate those killed in the post-election unrest”. The station did not mention anything about violence or other protests around the country.

Miscellaneous

Picture of the day from Tehran: http://bit.ly/OoWw8

Death to Khamenei written on a city bus: 20495517-8476285c09aee819c31e0c3de441ab38.4a7249a7-scaled.jpg (image)

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_44 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. Iranmapping: iranmap.whyweprotest.net ; If you would like to help out with compiling all the news stories from Iran in a geo-spatial context for Iranmapping, please follow the instruction over at IranMapping – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

C. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor and the Iranian Election – Bring down the Iran Curtain | Ian’s Brain

Farsi:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor: آنلاين Tor

Get video torrents and help on Tor here:

Gonzo Times � Torrents List (82 videos)

The Green Brief #43 (July 29)

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 Wednesday, July 29.

In German: http://tinyurl.com/n9l7qv

In Italian: http://tinyurl.com/m8bzrv

Protests / Unrest

1. Gatherings to honor protesters who’ve died in the post-election violence will be held today in Tehran and other parts of Iran. Mousavi, Karroubi and many other reformists are expected to join the protests.

2. Beheshte Zahra Cemetery, where most of Tehran’s protesters who were killed are buried, is currently in a state of lockdown. Plans have been put in place by the government, to stop the flow of protesters into the main grounds of the cemetery.

3 Neda’s mother has declined to join the mourners. She released a statement saying that she does not want to share the blame for the beatings, arrests or deaths of any mourners. However, she has indicated that others could do as they please and join the gatherings if they wanted to. Sohrab A’rabi’s mother will be joining the mourners, though.

4. The main gathering will be at Tehran Mosala, after a visit to Beheshte Zahra Cemetery. Thousands of people are expected to attend. It has been reported that protesters may march towards Neda’s house, after the gathering at Mosala.

5. SMS services have been disconnected throughout Tehran in anticipation of the protests on Thursday. Unconfirmed reports suggest that Khamenei has ordered Basijis and plainclothes men not to interfere with the mourners. He has stated that, at all costs, the Basijis and plainclothes men are to avoid gathering near Mosala. Other security forces are said to be in charge of keeping the peace.

6. At least 50 students of San’ati Sharif University have been forced to write forms stating they will not chant Allah o Akbar from their dorm rooms at night.

Opposition

7. The Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF) – the main reformist party – issued a statement on Wednesday. They stated that the Judiciary Chief’s one-week investigation, into the fate of arrested detainees, is a complete sham. The statement also said that crimes against citizens were continuing and were being perpetrated by the government. The only way to end turmoil – according to the statement – was the fall of Ahmadinejad’s government.

8. Ayatollah Mortaza Motahhari’s son, Mohammad Motahhari, has joined the Green Movement and issued a scathing criticism of the government. Mortaza Motahhari was one of Khomeini’s closest disciples and was a founding figure of the Combatant Clergy Association.

9. Ayatollah Montazeri has, yet again, released a statement criticizing the government, telling it to learn from what happened to the Shah. He added that the shutdown of Kahrizak detention facility was merely a government ploy to distract people. He asked the government to stop the Basij and IRG from killing innocent people and criticized the government for letting a few people control the fate of the whole nation.
Government / International

10. For the first time, the government has admitted that security forces might have been involved in violence during the protests. The overall head of Iran’s security forces, General Esmail Ahmadi-Moghaddam, said today that some members of security forces have overreacted. Moghaddam also added that the government had paid at least 197 Iranians money, to compensate for damages to their property, sustained during the protests. The total amount of payments is about $50,000.

11. Kazem Jalali, the spokesperson for a parliamentary committee that is investigating the condition of detainees, as well as recent arrests, said today that the committee had received news of an underground detention facility, operated by the Ministry of Intelligence. The facility might be located beneath the ministry – according to Jalali. He said investigations were ongoing and declined to comment further.

Arrest / Released / Killed

12. Partially confirmed reports suggest that Javad Abbasi Kangevari – also known as Javad Azadeh Amoli – has been appointed as the chief interrogator for high-profile detainees. He has been appointed after a special order by Khamenei as other interrogators have so far failed to extort confessions from these detainees. Amoli is famous for being a proficient torturer and brutal interrogator. Hossein Ghorbanzadeh – also known as Hossein Gestapo – who is another notorious torturer – is at the moment the main man for extorting confessions from other detainees.

13. Alireza Eftekhari, a former report for Abrare Eghtesad, was killed on June 15 after sustaining massive head trauma. He had been hit badly by security forces armed with batons. It has been also confirmed that Amir Hossein Toofanpour has been killed in the unrest. No other information could be obtained about him or the circumstances of his death. A 16 year old protester Hossein Akbari’s body has also been handed over to his family. He had been missing for a month and his head, chest and limbs had sustained severe injuries from a blunt object – possibly a baton.

14. Saeed Hajjarian still remains in prison, even though it had been reported he would be released today. Today, Shayesteh Amiri – a former aide of Khatami -, Saeed Shariati – a high-ranking member of IIPF – and Fariborz Raees Dana were all arrested by security forces. Emad Behavar – a student activist – and Abolreza Tajik were released today.

15. Reports have partially confirmed that starting Saturday, trials for detained protesters and political prisoners, will commence in Tehran. IRNA also reported on Wednesday, that indictments had been issued against nearly 20 detainees, allegedly involved in “planning and carrying out sabotage”. Their trials are set for Saturday, IRNA reported. Among the detainees are members of MKO, as well as some members of Iran’s Baha’i minority. This could not be confirmed as of yet.

16. PressTV has announced that Iranian security forces have arrested a group of photographers who had been hired by foreign media outlets, to get photos and video of protests in Iran. Majid Saeedi and Satyar Imami – two photographers who have been detained for some time – were forced weeks ago to give confessions and have been introduced to the public as Iranians who are working for foreign elements.

Media

17. Hossein Shariatmadari – the representative of Khamenei in Keyhan Daily – wrote in his column today that the protesters killed in the past few weeks, had been killed by hired thugs, who had been paid for their services by Mousavi and Khatami.

Miscellaneous

18. The Italian government has named a street in Rome after Neda Agha-Soltan. Article in Italian: Neda: Roma le dedica una via

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_42 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. Iranmapping: iranmap.whyweprotest.net ; If you would like to help out with compiling all the news stories from Iran in a geo-spatial context for Iranmapping, please follow the instruction over at IranMapping – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

C. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor and the Iranian Election – Bring down the Iran Curtain | Ian’s Brain

Farsi:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor: آنلاين Tor

Get video torrents and help on Tor here:

Gonzo Times � Torrents List (82 videos)

The Green Brief #42 (July 28)

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 Tuesday, July 28. (Some reports maybe from the 29th as well)

Protests / Unrests

1. The Ministry of Interior refused to issue a permit for gatherings on Thursday for mourning the 40th day of Neda’s death. However, Mousavi and other reformists have indicated that they would proceed with plans for gatherings, even if a permit is not issued. Mousavi and other reformist leaders will also visit the graves of protesters who have been killed during the unrests. Mousavi has reportedly suggested that his supporters make use of religious holy days for gatherings and rallies – full confirmation of this could not be obtained.

2. Two minutes of silence will be publicly observed in many parts of the world on Thursday. For more details on this and how to participate, please follow this link: The Silent Wave. The Silent Wave – Be still for Iran on Thursday July 30, 2009.

3. Saifullah Daad’s funeral will be held on Monday (Iran Time) and many reformists and Green Movement supporters are expected to attend. Partially confirmed reports suggest that Mir Hossein Mousavi will also be present.

4. Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Shirin Ebadi and the Secretary General of Amnesty International Irene Khan have published a joint statement, declaring that the situation in Iran was getting worse. They expressed concern that violent repression was possible in retaliation to protests that might be held on the day of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s inauguration.

5. Mehr News has reported today that a bomb had been defused near Saderat Bank in Karaj. This remains unconfirmed for now.

6. Mousavi stencils in green are appearing all over Tehran. Picture: http://tinyurl.com/mnowfy

Opposition

7. Full Text of Mousavi’s Speech on Monday (English): Mir Hossein Mousavi میر حسین موسوی: Mousavi: “Religious celebrations are opportunities for the display of the “Green” movement’s creativity.” | Facebook (I went through as much of it as I could and the translation seems to be impeccable. Hopefully, those who were looking for it will find it useful).

8. Ninety two professors and faculty members of universities in Tabriz have sent a letter of support to Mousavi. The letter also asks the government to release political prisoners, ensure freedom of speech and stop violently oppressing peaceful protests.

9. Ayatollah Sayed Jalalludin Taheri Isfahani has written a letter supporting Rafsanjani’s stance in regard to the elections. He asked the political elite to join hands in finding a solution for the current turmoil. He stated that the regime and spirituality were in danger because of the present situation.

10. Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani also wrote a letter today to the reformist leadership. The letter states that the blood spilled, during the post election violence, was on the hands of those who have always thought little of people and have ignored their votes. He urged the reformists to continue to stand against the oppression that was taking place and said those who ignore such atrocities also share the blame.

11. In an interview, published in Etemaade Melli newspaper, Fakhrusadaat Mohtashamipour blamed the Guardian Council of overly supporting Ahmadinejad and hurting the oppositions’ campaigns using censor tactics and media as a tool.

12. Reformist leaders continue to meet with the families of protesters who’ve been killed or detained. On Monday, Mohammad Khatami met with the family of detained reporter Mohammad Ghochani and Mahdi Karroubi met with the family of Neda Aga-Soltan. Karroubi told the family of Neda that she had merged into the people’s movement and had become a symbol for freedom.

Government / International

13. Reports suggest that Ahmadinejad has assumed the responsibilities of the Minister of Intelligence after he sacked Ejaie from the post. This can only be partially confirmed at this point. There are other reports suggesting that he has appointed another high-ranking official at the Ministry as the “caretaker”.

14. Congressman Ted Poe, R-Texas, on Monday praised the women of Iran for their bravery in pursuit of their rights and freedoms. He mentioned Shadi Sadr and the fact she had been arrested. Video: YouTube – Congressman Poe Impressed By The Women Of Iran

15. Iranian MP Ali Motaheri today criticized the government’s decision to close just one detention center. He said the closing of only one detention center didn’t mean that there were not other places where people were deprived of their liberty and tortured.

16. Reports suggest that Ahmadinejad is losing support in parliament. At least two parliament members have reportedly suggested in recent days that Ahmadinejad’s government could face a vote of no confidence. However, this remains only partially confirmed. Ahmadinejad is also still under pressure by some conservatives for keeping Esfandiar Mashaie as his Chief of Staff.

17. MP Hamid Reza Katouzian of Tehran today criticized Ahmadinejad harshly over his continued support for Mashaie. He also accused Ahmadinejad of not being loyal to the Supreme Leader. Also on Tuesday, conservative MP Gholamreza Mesbahi-Moghaddam expressed support for Rafsanjani and said that most of the detainees should be released since they were simply young and excited youngsters.

Arrested / Released / Killed

18. After the order by Shahrodi which stipulated a speedy release for detained protesters with minor offences, Ali Larijani – the head of the Iranian parliament – announced today that a special committee would be reviewing the situation from the beginning of the tension. The three member committee will meet with prisoners and write a detailed report about their status, rights and the interrogations they’ve gone through. The committee would also gather complaints from people who’ve been beaten or have suffered financial loss during the unrest.

19. Saeed Hajjarian is reportedly being released today. He is in failing health and human rights organizations have repeatedly warned that if not released, he could die in detention.

20. More deaths during the protests have been confirmed.

– Hossein Akhtar-Zand, 32, was killed by Basijis in Isfahan on June 15th.
It has been alleged that he was thrown from a building. I have seen pictures of his body. I am not going to post the link as they are too graphic.

– Saeed Abbasi was killed on June 20 after being shot in the head on Rodaki Ave.-

– Sajjad Qayed Rahmati, was killed on June 21 by IRG members near Navab Metro Station.

– Davood Sadri, 25, was killed on June 15 after being shot by Basijis from the rooftop of their headquarters at Moghdad near Jinnah Avenue in Tehran.

– Amir Javadi Langroodi has also died after suffering days of torture at Evin.

– A 16 year old detainee was brutally beaten in front of more than 200 other detainees at Kahrizak and died on the spot.

– Hossein Akbari was killed by security forces in the first week of unrests. He had gone missing, but his family didn’t know of his death for almost a month. His body was given to his family on July 22 and he was buried four days later.

– Mansour Ghoujazadeh, a resident of Khoy, was beaten so badly during a protest that he couldn’t survive his injuries. He was quietly buried after his family was threatened by security forces.
(But they aren’t just names, they have faces too: Faces of the Iranians killed and Arrested)

21. Reports today confirmed the detention center, ordered to be shut down by Khamenei, is Kahrizak Detention Center located south of Tehran. Horrendous reports of torture and abuse are surfacing about the facility.

– One detainee reportedly suffered so much trauma to the head at Kahrizak that he went blind and died in detention.

– Detainees are forced to strip, then, electric cables are used to lash them for hours ripping into their bodies and inflicting terrible damage.

– Other detainees are crammed into small cells where many have contracted infectious diseases.

– Tehran’s Police Chief, Ibrahim Reza Radan has personally beaten and tortured detainees on his visits to the facility. His weapon of choice was reportedly a plastic hose.

22. Reports from other detention facilities describe incidents like these:

– A female detainee was supposedly forced to sign a confession to admit she had not been mistreated while in detention. She was repeatedly beaten, harassed by male interrogators, her hair was pulled and male interrogators repeatedly touched her body inappropriately to force her to confess.

– One detainee was forced to lick the commode of the detention facility’s toilet and guards forced his head down to the ground with their boots. He was also repeatedly beaten with batons.

– Guards who would refuse to subjugate prisoners to such torture were reprimanded. One guard was detained and tortured after he refused to torture a detainee.

– One Iranian expatriate, who had been detained after returning from London, was beaten so badly and harassed that he has become mentally unstable. After his release, his family has been forced to restrain him so he does not attempt to commit suicide.

(The committee formed by the parliament to investigate the cases of detainees most probably will not be visiting Kahrizak as it has already been closed. For accounts of what happened at Kahrizak, visit this link: كودن با استعداد: The Holocaust denier is casting his own version)

23. The number of protesters who have been killed in detention or on the streets has climbed to 78. According to multiple sources this number is much higher. Here is an updated list of the dead and detained Leaving Facebook… | Facebook.

24. The government is continuing to charge people money for returning the bodies of their loved ones. They are also being forced to sign papers that absolve the government of the blame for the victim’s death. Unless these two conditions are met, bodies are not returned.

25. Reports suggest that in the past two days, at least 140 prisoners were freed from Evin and other prisons. They include Mohammad Tavsoli who had been in detention for the past 43 days. Aida Mesbahi was also released today. The government has announced that the remaining detainees – which according to it number in less than 200 – have committed major crimes such as damaging property or providing weapons to other protesters that were used in violence.

26. Ali Maghami – a member of Karoubi’s campaign HQ – was arrested yesterday.

27. Unconfirmed reports indicate that two political prisoners were hung in Zahedan, Sistan o Baluchestan province. The prisoners were primarily persecuted because they belong to the Sunni branch of Islam which is a minority in Shia-majority Iran. There is still no news on the fate of seven detained members of the Baha’i faith.

Media

28. Javan Daily has accused the Association of Anonymous Addicts of also having a hand in the current turmoil. (Next, it will be the Pope!)

29. Khanaye Moseeqi (House of Music), an organization of Iranian musicians, has released a letter defending Saeed Shajarian. He has been repeatedly insulted by the government owned media after he asked them to stop broadcasting his patriotic songs.

Miscellaneous

30. Francesco Totti, top Italian footballer, sent a message in Farsi to Iranian youth fighting or their freedom:
YouTube – Top striker Francesco Totti sends…

Note: I thought about cutting down the number of GBs to less than 7 a week. But honestly, so much happens every day that I find it difficult to keep the GBs as brief as they should be. So until further notice, one a day will be the norm.

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_42 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar joon and 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. Iranmapping: iranmap.whyweprotest.net ; If you would like to help out with compiling all the news stories from Iran in a geo-spatial context for Iranmapping, please follow the instruction over at IranMapping – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

C. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor and the Iranian Election – Bring down the Iran Curtain | Ian’s Brain

Farsi:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor: آنلاين Tor

Get video torrents and help on Tor here:

Gonzo Times � Torrents List (82 videos)

The Green Brief #40-41 (July 26-27)

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 Sunday/Monday, July 26/27. (Some reports maybe from the 28th as well)

Protests / Unrest

1. There are reports that a small gathering of people chanting against the government was held on Tuesday held in retaliation of the government’s decision to ban Mohsen Rohulamini’s funeral ceremony from being public. I can only partially confirm this at this point.

2. Plans are underway to hold a day of silence around the world to commemorate the 40th day of Neda’s death (I’m not sure if this has a lot of backing, but here’s the link: Example Tweets for Thursday 3…). Protests are planned in Iran on that day as well.

3. Basijis are apparently wearing jeans and shaving their beards in order to infiltrate the ranks of protesters.

Opposition

4. Mousavi urged the government to not interfere with the mourning gathering to commemorate Neda’s death. He said he hadn’t planned a speech and only Koran will be recited during the mourning. He, however, declared that the Green Movement will continue. The gathering will be held at Grand Mosala. He added, “How can it be that the leaders of our country do not cry out and shed tears about these tragedies?”

5. Two days ago, Hashemi Rafsanjani stated in a meeting with faculty members of a university in Tehran denied there was a power struggle in the nation. But, in order to resolve the current situation, he said that he still stood by his comments made during his Friday sermon.

6. Ayatollah Montazeri has released a statement that expresses concern over the current state of affairs. He also applauded the efforts made by various people to resolve the current state of turmoil. It has been also confirmed that Ayatollah Montazeri has met with Ayatollah Mousavi Ardabeli and Ayatollah Shabiri Zanjani.

7. Partially confirmed reports suggest that Ayatollah Saneie has announced his intention of attending the mourning rallies of the 40th day of Neda’s death. On Sunday, he also criticized the government’s wide-spread clamp downs on peaceful protesters and called on it to release all detainees. In a letter to Mousavi, Khatami and Karroubi, he also said that the path to attaining peoples’ rights must continue without violence or bloodshed. Ayatollah Mousavi Ardabeli also joined his call for the release of all prisoners and asked the government to halt cruelty against peaceful protesters. It is worth noting that both Ayatollahs’ statements come as a response to a letter sent to Iranian Ayatollahs by the reformist leaders, asking for their support.

8. Ayatollah Hassan Zarandi – a member of the Assembly of Experts, representing Kermanshah – has written a letter, supporting Rafsanjani’s Friday sermon.

9. Reformist MP Alikhani has criticized the government’s decision to continue using Russian-made airplanes. He accused the government of treating the lives of Iran’s citizens as worthless.

Government / International

10. It has now been confirmed that the resignation letter of the Minister of Culture has been rejected by Ahmadinejad. So far, only the Minister of Intelligence has been sacked. Reports of the sacking of two other ministers could not be confirmed.

11. It has been confirmed that sacked Intelligence Minister Ejaie has sent a letter to Khamenei criticizing Ahmadinejad rather harshly.

12. Although it had been reported that Ahmadinejad’s inauguration would be held on August 2, new reports suggest that it might have been changed to August 5 and still others claim August 4 to be the day. For now, August 2 seems to remain in effect.

13. MP Hamid Reza Katouzian has stated that Mohsen Rohulamini’s only fault was to Ahmadinejad and called the killing of dissidents by the government ugly and shameful. This is while another MP Ali Motaher – who has sided with reformists in the past weeks – asked Iran’s judiciary to give up the name of Mohsen’s killer.

14. Mohsen Rezaie has thanked judiciary chief Ayatollah Hashemi-Shahroudi for ordering a quick review of the cases of the detainees of the post-vote unrest in Iran.

15. It has been confirmed that besides Intelligence Minister Ejaie, as many as 20 high-ranking officials from that ministry have been sacked. Reports suggest that Ahmadinejad has sacked these officials for their failure to provide concrete evidence that attempts at staging a ‘velvet revolution’ were being made in Iran by foreign powers.

16. As reported in the Green Brief two weeks ago, several prominent Shi’ite clerics are going to make a decision about leaving Iran and settling in Najaf, Iraq. It is expected that the final decision will be made within days.

17. In a meeting held by a committee set up by the reformist camp to investigate the fate of detainees, Ali Larijani – the head of Iran’s Parliament – has asked them to continue their investigation. He has also asked for the release of those detainees who have not committed serious crimes. However, he reiterated that government’s official policy of blaming foreign media outlets for the current unrest in Iran.

Arrests / Released / Killed

18. It has been confirmed that Khamenei has ordered the closure of a single detention center because detainees were being ill-treated there and Iranian laws were broken. Khamenei’s spokesperson – while announcing the Supreme Leader’s decision – said that this had been done to ensure that detainees remain safe from cruelty while in detention. We cannot confirm which prison it is at the moment; however, it seems Khamenei must not be aware of what’s happening at Evin…

19. Famous Iranian actress Pegah Ahangarani has been detained. Partially confirmed reports suggest that prominent feminist, lawyer and human rights activist Shadi Sadr has been released.

20. The spokesperson for Iran’s Judiciary has announced that Shahrodi – the director of the Judiciary – ordered that within a week the fate of all prisoners detained after protests started must be determined. He said that some will be released very soon because they might not have committed any serious crimes, but claimed that only 300 remained behind bars. It has also been confirmed that 7 members of parliament went to visit Evin and Rajayi prison to assess the condition of detainees on Monday.

21. The director of Mazandaran province’s detention facilities has told a human rights organization that the provincial prison at Sari held a thousand prisoners – four times more than it could actually hold. He also claimed that up to 60 people were being held at cells designed for 12.

22. Ramin Qahremani – a protester detained for two weeks – has died only two days after being released because of internal and external injuries. He had been extensively tortured and was reportedly hung upside down for extended periods of time while in detention.

23. Faizullah Arab-Sorkhi, Saeed Hajjarian, Behzad Nabavi and Mostafa Tajzadeh, who are all reformists politicians currently in jail and in bad health, have been moved to IRG Hospital #66. It has been reported that they will be questioned by a special team from now on that is being headed by a representative of the Supreme Leader.

24. In more tragic news, the family of a protester who went to a rally in Rasht was recently notified to pick up his body by the authorities of the city. The protester’s brother was asked upon arrival by the authorities to sign a statement, saying that the protester had died because he was suffering from a terminal illness. When he refused, the protester body was not returned.

25. As chants of Allah o Akbar continue throughout the night, security forces are actively hunting people who are taking part in this form of protest. Reportedly, people are being fined hundreds of dollars if caught in the act.

Media

26. Reformist newspaper Sadaye Adalat’s permit has been cancelled by the government.

27. Several state-owned media outlets, mainly Ansar News, IRIB, PressTV and Keyhan have recently started to criticize Ahmadinejad rather harshly. The spate of criticisms started after Ahmadinejad’s appointment of Mashaie as his vice president and the six-day long battle between Ahmadinejad and conservatives to remove him.

(I don’t particularly like Fareed Zakariya but this is just brilliant!

)

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_41 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. Discuss/Annotate: Green Brief 38 – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

C. Iranmapping: iranmap.whyweprotest.net ; If you would like to help out with compiling all the news stories from Iran in a geo-spatial context for Iranmapping, please follow the instruction over at IranMapping – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

D. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor and the Iranian Election – Bring down the Iran Curtain | Ian’s Brain

Farsi:

Tor Browser Bundle

http://tinyurl.com/m6k3a9

Get video torrents and help on Tor here:

Gonzo Times � Torrents List (82 videos)

Green Brief #39 (July 25)

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 Saturday, July 25 .

Protests / Unrest

1. The most wide-spread protests in the history of humanity were held today in support of Iranian’s rights. (Not in terms of numbers, but in terms of how many and where they were held.) Thousands of people took part in more than 100 cities across the globe. As words cannot describe this event, you are welcome to see a slideshow of the event: United4Iran’s Photostream

For the mammoth Green Scroll in Paris, click here: YouTube – Green Scroll in Paris – Ey Iran – Paris, Mur de la Paix, 25 Juillet 2009

One Green Brief team member reports that during Green Day’s concert in New York, pictures of Iran’s Green Movement were repeatedly shown in the background. Here’s a link to a picture, courtesy PocketDiplomat: Solidarity for Iran during Green Day Concert � Pocket Diplomat

(Several friends and team members of the Green Brief wrote letters about their experiences during the protests – I’m thankful for everyone’s participation. I personally took part in a protest and met with some members of the Baha’i community as well)

2. The protesters in Dubai, however, were told by the government to stop. When they didn’t comply, they were forcibly dispersed by the police. It has been partially confirmed that at least one protester was detained.

3. Hundreds of Iranians rallied in Vanak and Azadi Squares and many other parts of the Tehran today. Protesters chanted anti-government slogans and asked for the release of detained protesters. In the scorching heat, people were served with green soft drinks. Protesters were attacked by plainclothesmen and anti-riot police and several many were severely beaten at Vanak and Azadi. Many others were arrested. The families of detained protesters held a gathering in front of Evin Prison again.

4. Mousavi’s camp has reportedly requested the government to issue a permit to hold a mourning ceremony for the slain on Thursday which coincides with the 40th day of Neda’s death.

5. Protesters have now started to write Ahmadinejad’s name on garbage bags.

Opposition

6. Iran’s PressTV reports: “A Tehran court has found Iranian Minister of Industries and Mines Ali-Akbar Mehrabian guilty of fraud after he registered someone else’s invention in his own name.
The verdict came after plaintiff Farzad Salimi filed a complaint against former municipality officials Mehrabian and Mousa Mazloum over the dishonest registration of an invention dubbed “Safe Room for Earthquakes” in their names.”

7. Ayatollah Mousavi Ardabeli has issued another statement asking the government to release all detainees that have not broken the law. He claimed that the government was losing people’s trust because of the detentions.

8. Ayatollah Ali Mohammad Dastegheyb has issued a statement condemning a letter released in the name of members of the Assembly of Experts that criticizes Rafsanjani. He asked them to immediately renounce the letter and apologize to Rafsanjani.

9. Ayatollah Zanjani has reportedly issued a fatwa calling for a boycott of Ahmadinejad’s inauguration.

10. Leaders of the reformist camps have written a letter to Grand Ayatollahs of Iran to break their silence over the election and the post-election events. Mousavi, Khatami and Karroubi – the principle signatories – asked the Ayatollahs to stop the government from breaking the law and committing atrocities against the people of Iran.

11. In a separate statement released today, Karroubi condemned the wide-spread beatings of women during protests. He accused the security forces of specifically targeting women. Later during a meeting with members of his party, he said that they needed to become firmer in response to the deteriorating situation. He also announced a restricting of the party shortly.

12. It has been confirmed that even though Ayatollah Vaez Tabasi – the most eminent cleric in Mashhad – didn’t greet or meet Ahmadinejad during his visit to that city, he had actually come to the airport to receive Rafsanjani when he visited the city last week.

13. Mohammad Reza Naseri Shohan – a high-ranking member of Etemaade Melli Party in Ilam province – was summoned to appear in court by the judiciary.

Government / International

14. After his appointment as Ahmadinejad’s senior Vice President was revoked, Mashaie has now been appointed as Ahmadinejad’s Chief of Staff and senior advisor.

15. Even though it was earlier reported that the Ministers of Intelligence, Health, Labor and Culture had all been sacked, we can only confirm the sacking of the Minister of Intelligence Mohseni Ejaie at this point. Reports suggest the he may have been sacked because he was partly opposed to detainees’ confessions being broadcasted on IRIB.

16. Partially confirmed reports also suggest that the commander of the Basij, Hossein Taleb is going to be appointed as Ejaie’s replacement in Ahmadinejad’s new cabinet. Taleb has been accused of being the mastermind behind torturing detainees and obtaining confessions from them.

17. Sayed Ali Jafari – the Commander of IRG – has yet again accused reformists of attempting to stage a velvet revolution. He claimed that greatest dangers to stability in Iran came from elements inside the country.

Arrested / Released / Killed

18. Mohsen Rohul-Amini’s father today said that Mohsen had died after being tortured profusely. According to Mohsen’s dad, his jaw had been broken and after bleeding for days, he’d developed meningitis and died as a result.

19. Amir Javadifar – a protester who was detained – has died at Evin. It cannot be confirmed yet whether he died under torture. Family has been told to collect his body on Sunday. He was 24 and a student of Qazvin’s Azad University. It has been reported – but not confirmed – that another detainee Mojtaba Samenezhad has died under torture at Evin.

20. Prisons in Iran have become a hotbed for infectious diseases as the number of detainees soars. The Ministry of health has reported in the past few days, at least 2,000 shots have been sent to prisons across Iran. At least two prisoners have so far died of meningitis in detention. Families of protesters who have died or have been badly injured after torture at Evin are only granted custody of their loved ones or their bodies if they promise to not lodge a complaint against the prison.

21. A number of intellectuals including Fariborz Rayis Dana arrested as they attended a gathering to commemorate the anniversary of Iranian poet Ahmad Shamloo’s birth.

22. The staff at Evin Prison told families of detainees today that the names of none of the detainees they were seeking information about were in the prison’s computerized database.

23. We had reportedly earlier that some detainees were being kept at a make-shift detention center that used to serve as a drug rehabilitation center. Reports now suggest that deep holes have been ground inside the building’s main yard and prisoners are lowered and kept in the holes for days at a time without food or water.

24. Detained reformist Saeed Hajjarian is reportedly

25. Detained journalists, Masood Bastani and Mahsa Amrabadi were allowed to meet each other briefly today. Mahsa is heavily pregnant.

*One blogger made some pictures of how Iranian banknotes might look like when the Green Movement succeeds. (That’s right, WHEN, not IF.)

**(Apologies for the lateness and briefness of the brief. My commitment to this cause has NOT and WILL NOT change. But as everyone kept telling me to take a break, I have decied to spend some time with a friend to cool off a little bit. kudos to her and thank you all for your vigorous support!)

*Discuss/Annotate: Green Brief 38 – Anonymous Intelligence Collective ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: The Green Briefs

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. Discuss/Annotate: Green Brief 39 – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

C. Iranmapping: iranmap.whyweprotest.net ; If you would like to help out with compiling all the news stories from Iran in a geo-spatial context for Iranmapping, please follow the instruction over at IranMapping – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

D. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor Browser Bundle

Tor and the Iranian Election – Bring down the Iran Curtain | Ian’s Brain

Farsi:

Tor Browser Bundle

http://tinyurl.com/m6k3a9

The Green Brief #37 (July 23)

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, July 23 .

In German: http://tinyurl.com/ld63l5

In Hebrew: http://tinyurl.com/mnyuvq

In Italian: http://tinyurl.com/ktc5bo

In Polish: http://glosiranu.blog.pl/archiwum/in…p?nid=14413966

In Russian: http://tinyurl.com/ljbs3j

Protests / Unrest

1. Dozens of Iranian-Armenians and Iranians protested in front of Caspian Airline’s office in Tehran today. A journalist covering the protests was arrested, but later freed. The protesters demanded to know why a Caspian Airline’s flight from Tehran to Yerevan, Armenia crashed near Qazvin more than a week ago. Security forces dispersed the protesters. Iranian Government Officials have said that it will take another 2 months to complete their investigation.

2. The hunger strike in front of the UN building in New York continued today, despite the pouring rain. Protesters sang songs from the revolution of 1979 and demanded that Iranian rights be safeguarded. Protesters declared their opposition to any military action against Iran. See pictures below – compliments of Mehdi Saharkhiz: onlymehdi, People singing so many ppl even in the rain

3. The citizens of Tehran have planned a protest for this Saturday. Details of the protest will be provided after it has transpired. People continued to chant “Allah-o-Akbar” last night in Tehran. Others walked the streets chanting “Death to the Dictator,” and “Allah-o-Akbar.”

Opposition

4. In a statement released today, Mousavi said, “We will not stop until the last detainee has been released by the government.” Mousavi’s wife, Zahra Rahnavard, stated, “The government can fabricate as many lies as it wants to, but the people of Iran will never believe any of the allegations against my detained brother.” She added, “My brother is only one amongst many other Iranian brothers and sisters who have been imprisoned – this is why I have not given his name to the media.” Lastly, she indicated that she will fight for her brother’s freedom.

5. Hossein Khomeini – a grandson of Imam Khomeini – has told the BBC in an interview that an Islamic Government had no legal basis in Islam unless the prophet or one of the 12 Imams was leading it. Hence, hinting that the current regime had no legal basis in Islam.

He also added that the current constitution and government could not be changed until a post for a spiritual leader as the country’s Supreme Leader existed, adding that spiritual leadership was for the prophet and the 12 Imams – 11 of which are dead and one is believed to be in hiding for more than a millennium. He condemned the government’s killing of peaceful protesters and of the indiscriminate arrests.

Government / International

6. It has been confirmed that Mohammad Yazdi – Secretary of the Assembly of Experts – has written a letter condemning Rafsanjani’s speech during Friday Prayers. Yazdi has asked him to revoke his stance. Although the letter is being circulated in the name of the entire Assembly, reports indicate that only a quarter of the members have signed it – another quarter has declined to do so.

7. IRIB has published Ahmadinejad’s letters of appointment for several of his new staff members. The list includes:

1: Asfandyar Rahim Mashaie as 1st Vice President
2: Mehrdad Bazrpash as Director of the National Youth Organization
3: Parvez Davoodi as 1st Advisor to the President
4: Sayed Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi as 1st Assistant to the President
5: Ali Akbar Salehi as Director of the National Atomic Energy Agency
6: Mohammad Javad Hajali Akbari as Presidential Advisor on Youth Affairs
7: Masood Zaribafan as Director of Martyrs Foundation and Veterans Affairs
8: Hamid Baghaie as Director of the Office of Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts

8. The Minister of Communication announced that SMS services will be reactivated step-by-step. SMS services have been essentially suspended in Iran for more than a month. Protesters were thought to rely on SMS services for coordinating their protests.

9. Ahmad Khatami – a member of the Assembly of Experts Leadership Council and hard-line cleric – announced today that, “Ahmadinejad will prove his loyalty to Khamenei by quickly removing Mashaie from his post as VP.” Khamenei has already shown his express desire for Mashaie’s removal.

10. In a statement released today, Ayatollah Dastegheyb yet again praised Rafsanjani’s Friday Sermon and asked the government to listen to Mousavi, Karroubi and Rezaie’s demands. He called for unity among Iranians. He added, “Foreigners are never going to be Iran’s friend- unity among Iranians is the only solution to Iran’s problems.”

11. On the other spectrum, Ayatollah Ali Akbar Gharshi also released a written statement that was sent to government officials and opposition leaders criticizing Rafsanjani’s Friday Sermon. Gharshi – who is a representative for Western Azerbaijan Province in the Assembly of Experts (which Rafsanjani heads) – told Rafsanjani, “It caused me much pain and distress to see that you were unable to keep yourself away from the turmoil on the streets.” He asked Rafsanjani to stop before his “achievements and bright past” go to waste.

12. Ayatollah Abolghasem Khazali has also criticized Rafsanjani’s Sermon and said that the elections had been a marvelous event. He hinted that prisoners should not be released because they had been implicated in violence. It is worth mentioning that Ayatollah Khazali’s son was detained during the protests and has now been freed on bail.

13. In an interview with the BBC, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “The internal debates going on inside Iran have made it difficult, if not impossible, for them to pursue any diplomatic engagement, not just with us but anyone, like the P5+1 [permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany]. There is so much that is on hold.”

14. Sweden – which heads the rotating presidency of the EU for six months – has asked the Iranian Government to promptly release Clotilde Reiss, a French citizen who has been imprisoned at Evin Prison for weeks.

Arrested / Released / Killed

15. Saeed Shojaiezadeh and Khosro Mousvivand – students at Ahvaz’s Naft University – were detained yesterday. The father of martyred protester, Masood Hashemzadeh has been detained from his house by plainclothesmen. His house was searched and many items belonging to Masood were confiscated. Masood died during protests on June 21st on Shademan Ave, north of Azadi Street.

16. More people have been detained during the past few days including: Ahmad Bahri – the founder of Mahabad Monthly who was arrested in Mahabad, Jafar Agha-Mohammadi – an activist from Maghan who was arrested in Maghan. Ramin Sultankhwah, Saeed Kashani, Zafar Mogheemi, Saeed Shamsaie and Abbas Zareh-Haqeeqi were arrested in Gonabad.

17. More reports indicate that missing protester, Alireza Eftekhari, was actually killed during protests. Mohsen Rohulamini – the son of the former Director of Pasteur Institute in Tehran – who was feared to be in detention, has now also been confirmed to have died during the protests. Fahimeh Solahshoor – another protester – is confirmed to have died at a hospital after sustaining head injuries during protests on June 14th. Finally, Maisam Ebadi – a 17 year old protester – has also been confirmed to have died on June 13th.

18. The son of Isa Saharkhiz, Mehdi Saharkhiz, has reported that his father called home from Evin Prison. According to Mehdi, his father is currently being held in solitary confinement. Mehdi said that his father reported of having several broken ribs. He did not reveal if he had been tortured or not.

19. Partially-confirmed reports indicate that many detainees are now being held in a building that was previously used as a drug rehabilitation center in Shorabad (close to Beheshte Zahra Cemetery in Tehran). According to the reports, Evin Prison is now full to capacity and only important prisoners are being kept there. The rest of the “street protesters” are being moved to temporary holding spots.

20. It has been confirmed that Khamenei has plans to pardon and/or reduce the sentences of many detainees in order to foster reconciliation.

21. The mothers of Sohrab A’rabi and Ashkan Sohrabi went to meet Neda Agha-Soltan’s mother today. Many other feminists and women’s rights activists accompanied them.

22. An Iranian photographer, Ali Zareh, who was detained and released after 40 hours in detention by the security forces has released a Youtube video chronicling his arrest, detention and torture. In the video, Zareh confirms that two of the men responsible for his arrests were Lebanese. The Green Brief has repeatedly confirmed the presence of foreigners amongst the ranks of Iranian Security Forces. This is the first solid confirmation. Here’s a link to the video: YouTube – Ali Zare, photographer, talks about his detention in Iran

Media

23. Ayatollah Nasser Makarem-Shirazi today criticized IRIB for using what he called ‘aggressive’ and ‘unfriendly’ language against the opposition and asked for compassion and friendship.

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_37 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wana republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: For Bloggers, News Sites and Forum who want to republish the Green Brief Plesae Read! – Why We Protest – IRAN

***For Radio Broadcasters: Green Brief Pronounciation Guide – Why We Protest – IRAN

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html]The Green Briefs

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. Discuss/Annotate: Green Brief 37 – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

C. Iranmapping: iranmap.whyweprotest.net ; If you would like to help out with compiling all the news stories from Iran in a geo-spatial context for Iranmapping, please follow the instruction over at IranMapping – Anonymous Intelligence Collective

D. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

http://torir.org

http://torir.brokep.com

http://img1.anonbw.com

http://tinyurl.com/lexowb

Farsi:

http://torir.org/index.html.fa

http://tinyurl.com/m6k3a9

The Green Brief #36 (July 22)

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 Wednesday, July 22 .

In Polish: http://glosiranu.blog.pl/archiwum/in…p?nid=14412443

In German: http://tinyurl.com/mb2aae

In Spanish: http://tinyurl.com/n7a4wp

In Swedish: http://tinyurl.com/n5k97p

Protests / Unrest

1. Dozens of people gathered nearby Sohrab A’rabi’s house in Tehran tonight. They chanted “Death to Dictator” and demanded freedom for the Iranian people. A’rabi is among those killed during the aftermath of the elections by the Iranian government.

2. Families of detainees again rallied in front of Evin Prison. Dozens assembled to ask for the release of their loved ones. Others demanded to know the whereabouts of their missing family members. The whereabouts of large numbers of Iranian protesters detained are unknown and the government refuses to provide information about them.

3. The planned hunger strike in support of the Green Movement commenced in front of the United Nations building in New York today. Akbar Ganji is one of the organizers of the event. Participants include Gogoosh -Iran’s most famous Pop Diva, and Shohreh Aghashedlo- an Academy Award-nominated Iranian actress. It is worth mentioning that many other prominent Iranians and non-Iranians were present as well. The strike is planned to last until July 25th. Here’s BBC’s page on the strike with a video: http://tinyurl.com/nsbqyx

Opposition

4. Mir Hossein Mousavi met with university professors and reporters in Tehran, where he criticized the government and said, “They can’t even tolerate the presence of people like Rafsanjani today.” He went on to say, “People should continue their quest to ensure that their demands are met in a civil manner.” He again asserted the election results as fraudulent, and said that, “A government that does not have legitimacy would only increase internal and external problems for Iran.” Mousavi went on to say, “People have the key to resolve the question” and “I do not recognize Ahmadinejad’s Government.” He stated, “We all witnessed the power of the people as they gathered under the same banner – regardless of their affiliations.” Mousavi affirmed his intent of creating a new political front – one that would include several well-known politicians. The new front’s main objective will be to achieve the demands of the Iranian people, and that it would be unveiled next week.

5. In a separate two-hour meeting with reporters and other media personalities, Mir Hossein Mousavi discussed the current situation in Iran. He called for the immediate release of detainees and asked the government to ensure press freedom and to lift the media censorship.

6. Abdollah Nouri – another reformist who has joined the Green Movement – said that in the mid 70s, “No one thought that the Shah would be overthrown one day and that he would be forced to flee the country.”

7. Ayatollah Sayed Ali Mohammad Dasteghaib – an eminent cleric from Shiraz – has announced his support for Rafsanjani’s sermon. He is now backing Mousavi and Karroubi and asked other clerics to join the growing support for the reformists. He stated, “Clerics should NOT be divided on an issue that has so much mass support amongst its people.” During the past month, several Ayatollahs have made their position well-known. For a full listing of Ayatollahs and their positions, please visit Tehran Bureau’s website (I can attest to most of its authenticity): http://tehranbureau.com/ayatollah-watch/

8. Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani – in response to a question from one of his followers – said, “The appointment of someone to a leadership position who’s gained it through fraud is illegitimate.” He added, “However, people need to have evidence and need to be certain that such an individual had indeed used illegal means to get to that position for his presidency to be illegitimate.” He acknowledged, “Complaints of other candidates cannot delegitimize a president unless those complaints are found to be accurate.” He clarified, “Only the Presidency would lose its legitimacy; not the Regime nor the people working for the Regime.”

9. Partially-confirmed reports indicate that Ayatollah Wahid Khorasani – another important cleric – warned Sadegh Larejani today that, “He would ruin his afterlife if he accepts the appointment to head Iran’s Judiciary.” Sadegh Larejani is a member of the Guardian Council, and is a staunch conservative being groomed to replace the current head of Judiciary. Larejani had reportedly stated in 2006 that people’s vote didn’t give a government its legitimacy.

10. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s brother – Mohammad Hashemi Rafsanjani – has dismissed claims made by Mojtaba Zounnour (Khamenei’s representative to the Revolutionary Guard) that he had donated more than five million dollars to Mohsen Rezaie’s campaign. Mohammad declared that he did not donate money to any of the candidate’s campaigns. Rezaie’s camp on the other hand, vowed that if Zounnour could not prove his allegations, they would take him to court.

11. Mohsen Rezaie blamed Ahmadinejad’s supporters of attempting to damage his credibility. According to Rezaie’s website, an active campaign primarily instigated by Ahmadinejad’s Party, had begun to discredit him and his achievements.

12. A committee that has been formed to follow the cases of detainees and to provide legal help to their families met with Mahdi Karroubi for the third time today – and asked for his continued support. Karroubi asked the committee to designate lawyers for following the cases of individual detainees as soon as possible. The committee later announced that they will soon be holding meetings with the Parliamentary Commission on National Security and Judicial Affairs as well as Iran’s Attorney General.

13. Mohammad Khatami reiterated his position today and called for a referendum on the government’s legitimacy. He insisted that people needed to make their voices heard. He said, “If this demand is not accepted, all legal channels for people to reach their goals would be closed.” Khatami criticized detractors of claiming that he, Mousavi, and other reformists were working against the regime. He stated, “The referendum is an insurance policy,” and urged the government to hold one as soon as possible.

Government / International

14. Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi has joined the battle over the appointment of Asfandyar Mashaie as one of Ahmadinejad’s Vice Presidents. He called his appointment “absolutely illegitimate.” Khamenei has opposed Mashaie’s appointment, yet Ahmadinejad has refused to back down. Mashaie released a statement today on his official blog, calling himself “a staunch conservative.” He declared that his earlier statement, in which he called “The people of Iran friends of the Israeli people,” was the official government position at the time. It has also been partially-confirmed that during today’s Cabinet meeting, Ahmadinejad had a verbal altercation with Hossein Saffar Harandi -Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance – over Mashaie’s appointment, causing Harandi to leave the meeting.

15. Ahmadinejad signed into law – and issued an order for its implementation –a decree that severely damages freedom of expression in Iran. According to Press TV, the law requires internet service providers to save virtually ALL data that has been sent and received by their clients for a period of three months.

16. Mojtaba Zounnour – Khamenei’s representative to the IRG – declared today, “Protesters armed themselves with pickaxes, shovels, and even purchased tear gas BEFORE the election in order to take part in post-election violence.” He proclaimed that an “underground armed resistance group,” with over 300,000 members, had been formed before the election. He insisted, “This group’s mission was to trigger a revolution against the Islamic Republic – with help from the BBC.” He also confirmed that at least two Basiji Members had been killed by protesters during the violence.

17. UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, announced today that the British Government supported the rights of the Iranian protesters. He called the arrests of British Embassy staff and the expulsion of two British diplomats “unacceptable.” Because of mounting international pressure, all staff members were released. Brown told reporters, “We have to be concerned if individual rights of citizens are being affected.”

18. Reports indicate that 306 conservative clerics of the Qom Seminary Teachers Association have released a statement in support of Ayatollah Yazdi’s dismissal of Rafsanjani’s demands during his Friday Sermon.

19. Swedish Foreign Minister, Carl Bildt, told reporters yesterday, “The legitimacy of Ahmadinejad’s Government was being challenged by the people.” Sweden currently holds the rotating presidency of the EU for six months, so this comes as more of a European position than a Swedish.

Arrested / Released / Killed

20. Three journalists have now been confirmed to have been detained by the government. They include: Sayed Emar Kalantari – the editor-in-chief of Ayandeh website, Hossein Aghaie and Reza Rafi’ee Foroushani. Mohammad Reza Azeemi and Mostafa Sha’bani were also reportedly arrested today. Both men are lawyers who work for Raad – a legal institution that operates in Tehran.

21. Towhid Begi, Karroubi’s campaign photographer, and Mojtaba Tehrani, a photographer working for Etemaade Melli Newspaper, were released today.

22. Reports surfaced yesterday that two people had died and several were injured in clashes with security forces in the city of Orumieh in Western Azerbaijan Province. Based on reports from today, I can now partially-confirm this.

23. Mohseni Ejaie, Iran’s Minister of Intelligence, has recently said that more confessions of detainees will be broadcasted soon on National television.

24. The Revolutionary Road blog has published the names of 65 people who they claimed have died in the unrests, along with many more who have been detained. I cannot confirm the list, but here is the link for your review: http://tinyurl.com/lz6gcg

Scott Lucas, and his team over at Enduring America, has kindly translated all the names to English. If you want to see the list, please check-out their very informative and accurate website: http://tinyurl.com/lu6a6g

**Special Note: This is a personal request. Today, a very disturbing picture was disseminated on Twitter. It contained several dead bodies piled-up against a wall – with the poster claiming that these were the bodies of tortured detainees from Evin Prison. The picture was later discredited as being from Iraq. In the future, if such pictures make their way to you, please make sure it is authentic. Graphic pictures cause extreme pain and trauma to many people who are following and reporting on Twitter. Thank you.

*Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_36 ; Create it if it doesn’t exist.

**If you wanna republish the Green Brief, please visit this page: http://tinyurl.com/mjxrz3

***For Radio Broadcasters: http://tinyurl.com/nmvxpk

****(A list of all the Green Briefs: http://ded1.hybrid-optix.com/greenbriefs.html]The Green Briefs

*****A hearty thanks to Sahar 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.

Read this if you want to help or get help!

Helpers:

A. You can retweet this link and help others know what is going on in Iran.

B. Discuss/Annotate: http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/Green_Brief_36

C. Iranmapping: iranmap.whyweprotest.net ; If you would like to help out with compiling all the news stories from Iran in a geo-spatial context for Iranmapping, please follow the instruction over at http://aic.openmsl.net/wiki/index.php/IranMapping

D. The government in Iran is still increasing internet filtering and throttling in an attempt to silence their people. Anonymous info shows that many in Iran are looking for proxy and Tor information in Tehran and all around the country. Please donate your bandwidth to help bring down the Iran Curtain. Here are links on how to help and get help on this:

English:

http://torir.org

http://torir.brokep.com

http://img1.anonbw.com

http://tinyurl.com/lexowb

Farsi:

http://torir.org/index.html.fa

http://tinyurl.com/m6k3a9