NiteOwl’s GreenBrief #61-62

The Green Brief #61-62 (August 26-27 – Shahrivar 4-5)

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 and Thursday, August 26-27 – Shahrivar 4-5.

Protests / Unrest

August 26

1. Reports have emerged that there is a strong possibility of workers’ strikes in Iran. Reports suggest that over 200,000 workers have not been paid their wages in months and this could lead to strikes in the very near future. This comes as the workers in Fars province’s main automobile factory have been on strike over the issue for the past five days. Other reports suggest that unemployment in Tehran alone has risen by 3% in the past few months.

August 27

2. Reports of a small gathering of Greens in a park in Oromieh have surfaced. The greens gathered together to break their fast on the night Thursday and prayed for the release of prisoners and the success of the Sea of Green. Pictures: http://bit.ly/30b9D

Opposition

August 26

3. Hashemi Rafsanjani’s family has filed a lawsuit against Ahmadinejad for his statements during the presidential debates and sent an official complaint to the Judiciary, according to Mehdi Rafsanjani – Rafsanjani’s son. Ahmadinejad had accused Rafsanjani of corruption during the debates.

4. Reports have also emerged that Hashemi Rafsanjani has sent information about two detainees who’re victims of rape in Iran’s detention centers to Khamenei, Grand Ayatollah Montazeri and Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Full confirmation of this is not at hand. The unconfirmed report names one of the victims as Ghaim Montazer who had been raped with a bottle.

5. Grand Ayatollah Montazeri called Iran’s government a dictatorship in the name of Islam. He said that it was neither Islamic and nor a republic. He further added that the true color of the system was shown after the election when thousands were arrested and then brutally tortured. He added, “The biggest oppression … is despotic treatment of the people in the name of Islam,” he on his website, “I hope the responsible authorities give up the deviant path they are pursuing and restore the trampled rights of the people.”

6. Karroubi has sent a congratulatory letter to Sadegh Larijani – the new Judiciary Chief – telling him that he has the responsibility to restore national trust after the blatant law-breaking that has taken place in the aftermath of the elections.

7. Mohammad Khatami has dismissed the confessions and trials once again. He also rejected the allegations leveled against him during the most recent trial by Kayan Tajbakhsh. He said that contrary to what the confesser claims, he has not met with George Soros in New York. George Soros is a billionaire philanthropist who has been linked with the Rose Revolution in Georgia in the past.

8. Mehdi Hashemi Rafsanjani also denied allegations that were leveled against him. Mehdi Karami – One of the men on trial – had claimed that Mehdi had used government money to fund his father’s campaign in 2005.

August 27

9. Shirin Ebadi condemned the trial of reformists and other Iranians linked to protests following the elections once again.

10. The government is creating fake blog entries in the name of reformist leaders to show that they are being treated fairly. Abtahi’s blog is the latest that is being updated.

11. Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani has held a meeting with Ayatollah Sane’ie about the recent developments. The meeting has been held at Ayatollah Sane’ie’s residence. Further details will be released at a later date.

Government / International

August 26

12. Khamenei confessed that he had seen no proof that opposition leaders were linked to foreign agents, mainly the US and the UK. However, he added that the mass protests had been planned in advance and there was no doubt about it.

13. Hamidreza Katouzian said that the parliament was investigating the claims of the killings and mass burials of protesters in Beheshte Zahra. Katouzian is a member of the parliamentary commission to investigate the condition of detainees.

14. Conservative MP Ahmad Tavakkoli asked Sadegh Larijani to put Tehran’s Attorney General Saeed Mortazavi on trial for banning Etemaade Melli. According to Tavakkoli, Mortazavi did not have the authority to ban Etemaade Melli according to the country’s media laws.

15. An unidentified MP told Parlemaan News that it had been proven that several detainees had been raped with batons and bottles. The MP is also a member of the parliamentary commission to investigate the condition of detainees, according to the website.

16. Ali Larijani has admitted that the trials that are being held have their flaws. According to reports, Larijani said this after an MP from Semnan Mostafa Kavakabian criticized the way the trials were being held and said that they did not meet the standards set by the constitution.

17. Partially confirmed reports suggest that the government is preparing itself for another wave of protests very soon and deems the situation far from stable. This was echoed by the Deputy Chief of Staff Jazayeri today, who warned that the turmoil was not over and could resurface at any time.

18. “Since Basij forces entered the scene on June 16, they never used any weapon in the missions entrusted on them and they were just equipped with some tools for their personal defense in their missions,” General Abdullah Araqi, an IRGC Commander in charge of Tehran Province, said today.

19. An unnamed conservative MP has divulged that he no longer believes in the reports by the parliamentary committee to investigate the condition of detainees. According to the MP, the family of a detainee who had been raped contacted him and he forwarded their contact and information to the committee. Later the family contacted him back and told him that they are now under pressure to recant their claims.

20. A group of former governors and other former government officials from the reform governments have sent a letter to Sadegh Larijani asking him to take a bold step and release all prisoners.

21. Reports have emerged that both France and the US are planning on imposing tougher sanctions against the Iranian regime.

22. Reports have emerged of a meeting between the Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and the Canadian Foreign Minister during a summit in Turkey. This could not be fully confirmed off hand. The story published on Mehr News does not provide many details. In the past, the Iranian media have published similar reports about international leaders that have proven false.

August 27

23. Reports have emerged that several key government ministers will be speaking at Friday prayers in Tehran and possibly other cities.

24. An unnamed MP has confirmed that Hossein Fedaie – an MP from Tehran – was directly involved in the prisoner abuse in Kahrizak. Two other MPs, Parvez Sorouri and Alireza Zakani were also aware of the situation at Kahrizak. (The GB reported weeks ago about Fedaie’s role in the abuse). All three MPs are former Basijis.

25. Germany and France have threatened to impose tougher sanctions on Iran unless it shows willingness to discuss its nuclear program.

Arrested / Released / Killed

August 26

26. Reports have emerged that at least two – and possibly three – faculty members of Tehran University were arrested last night. This report could only be partially confirmed at this point.

27. The former head of Beheshte Zahra Cemetery’s management office denied that any mass burials of dead protesters had taken place at the cemetery. Scroll down to watch pictures of the unmarked graves of dead protesters in Beheshte Zahra:
http://norooznews.ir/news/13653.php

28. Karroubi’s son Hossein Karrubi and Mohammad Javad Haghshenas, the
editor-in-chief of Etemaade Melli – who had been arrested and released on bail on August 25 will be facing charges of publishing ‘unsubstantiated accusations’ in court.

29. Iranian Ambassador in France has accuse French citizen Clotilde Reiss of ‘nuclear espionage’.

30. University student Saeeda Kurdinejad has been released.

August 27

31. Saeed Hajjarian’s doctor has told his daughter that he strongly suspects her father had been drugged prior to his trial.

32. Several political activists were arrested from Mashhad on Monday. These include Farshad Azizi who is a member of Mir Hossein Mousavi’s campaign. They were arrested on Monday evening from the city and their current location is unknown.

33. Human rights activist and lawyer Abdolfattah Soltani has finally been released from Evin on bail. Also released was journalist Farbia Pajooh.

Media

August 27

34. Reports have emerged that IRIB and Keyhan have been explicitly ordered not to publish anything against Rafsanjani.
Miscellaneous
35. Graffiti in support of the Sea of Green in different Iranian cities: http://bit.ly/11Nm43
36. Ahmadinejad’s poster greened in city of Kerman: http://bit.ly/B6p3F

International Protests / Events / Warnings / Efforts

37. A petition to be signed and sent to ambassadors as well as their contacts: http://docs.google.com/View?id=dcnj8jzc_8dxb9vbgf

38. PLEASE READ THIS FOR YOUR SAFETY’S SAKE: Safeguard Your Personal Info and Your Finances! – Why We Protest – IRAN

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

40. For a list of protests that are being planned in Germany, please visit this link: Julia’s Blog: Protests and rallies in Germany (subject to change w/o notice) (Courtesy of @jkshalmani)

41. 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

*Correction: In the last Green Brief, it was erroneously reported that Ahmadinejad had called the husband of proposed Health Minister a peach and very edible. In fact, Ahmadinejad had called the outgoing Health Minister a peach and expressed the desire of consuming him.

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.