Free Republic

Iran's reforming President, Mohammad Khatami, put his future in the hands of the Iranian public yesterday, offering his resignation after weeks of violent student protests and attacks from hardline conservative and liberal politicians. In a speech that was censored by Iran's state-run newspapers and television stations, Mr Khatami said he would resign if the people wanted him to, recognising disappointment over the slow pace of promised reforms. "We are not the people's masters. Rather, we are the servants of the people," he said. "If the nation says, 'we do not like [you],' we will quit. A society should be so."...

TEHRAN, IRAN — July 9, 2003, proved to be another important date in the contemporary history of my nation. In Engelab Square in the heart of Tehran, right outside the University of Tehran, the Iranian people once again demonstrated their desire for freedom — and willingness to fight for it. I know, I was standing there. The scene of the battle was a familiar one. Unarmed citizens vs. the troops of oppression: heavily armed riot police, right-wing radical bloodthirsty thugs and vigilantes working for the mullahs. People of my great nation poured into the streets to prove to the world...

Tens of thousands of Iranians converged on an area around Tehran University in their cars to mark the fourth anniversary of bloody pro-democracy student riots, defying a huge deployment of riot police and hardline vigilantes.Despite a blanket ban on any gatherings, masses of vehicles were seen jammed around Enghelab (revolution) square and the tense city-centre campus.The facility itself was closed by authorities in what had been part of a determined bid to prevent any display of public anger against the clerical regime.Hundreds of anti-riot police, decked out in combat fatigues and protective gear, lined the streets, while members of...

U.S. satellite feeds to Iran jammed May be linked to the anniversary of student uprisings By Robert WindremNBC NEWS PRODUCER NEW YORK, July 9 — U.S. government officials as well as Iranian Americans and communications satellite operators confirm that all U.S.-based satellite broadcasts to Iran are being jammed by an unknown group or individual, possibly Iranian agents operating out of Latin America.    OVER THE PAST several months, private Iranian-American groups have begun increasing their broadcasts into Iran using Telstar-12, a communications satellite over the eastern Atlantic. All are trying to encourage protests against the regime in Tehran.   ...

<p>Members of Congress yesterday joined a raucous crowd of roughly 1,000 Iranians on the lawn of the Capitol to voice their support for student uprisings against Iran's Islamic fundamentalist government.</p> <p>"We are here to stand with the Iranian people, who are resisting an oppressive regime, a regime that has refused to reform," said Sen. Sam Brownback, Kansas Republican, who led the crowd in chants of "Iran Ahh-zad," which means "Free Iran."</p>

Shrugging off death threats by government paramilitary forces, tens thousands of Iranian students took to the streets Wednesday night, burning at least three government banks, calling for the country's democratization and the death to its extremist leader Ayatollah Ali Khameini. The demonstrations, banned by the Mullarchy, came on the 4th anniversary of 1999 pro-reform protests which triggered a violent regime crackdown, the death of one student and the arrest of thousands. Opposition group leaders hailed Wednesday's demonstrations the culmination of month-long anti-government activities as a deadly blow to the repressive regime, saying it edges Iran ever closer to a democratic...

Today, in New York City, at Dag Hammerskold Square, about 2000 supporters of Iranian Freedom gathered in sresponse to a world wide call from the Students in Iran. I was there with Freeperette Firebrand, gladly standing and marching in support of the people of Iran. What is unfortunate, is that there was only about 5 or 6 people who were not Iranian! But, it is good we showed up, because we get to tell you all what we saw, and why it is necessary.

It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack!!!!It's July 9th and once again we celebrate National Firearm Purchase Day!! This is our way of protesting the UN's policy of gun destruction. So get on down to your local gun store and buy that gun you've been wanting. If they don't know about National Firearm Purchase Day, let them know! Heck, maybe we can even get July 9th recognized as a National Holiday! (YEAH RIGHT!!!) At ARM USA, we're giving away these REALLY COOL NFPD t-shirts with every firearm purchase for the week of July 8-12!! Thanks for your support in the past - hope to see...

With the leaders of the latest round of student protests now in jail, the freedom movement in Iran has taken up spray paint and slogans to express its displeasure with the ruling clerics. "They must go!" declares one popular slogan, painted on the wall of a Tehran house. "Khatami the incompetent, accomplice of crime!" announces another, referring to Iran's so-called "reformist" president who recently ordered his police to crack down on the students. Every night, as new slogans appear on the walls of Tehran, squads of basijis (paramilitary Islamic volunteer forces) armed with paint buckets roam the streets trying in...

Israel Radio's Farsi (Iranian language) radio broadcasters report receiving numerous calls from within Iran predicting a popular uprising against the government there. The state-funded radio station today broadcast recordings of Iranians speaking angrily about the regime. "It is incumbent upon us to rise up," one caller said. One Israel-based Farsi broadcaster predicted that an Iranian national uprising is a matter of time. He cited Iranians' anger at poverty, drug addiction and support for international terror. Protests involving thousands have been regular occurrences in Iran recently. The Jerusalem-based station broadcasts Iranian-language talk shows on short-wave frequencies that can be heard in...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Armed Iranian Islamic vigilantes seized three student leaders on Wednesday as they left a news conference where they announced they had canceled protests to mark the anniversary of 1999 university unrest, witnesses said. Authorities have banned off-campus rallies, closed campus dormitories, postponed summer exams and vowed to deal strictly with any unrest after arresting 4,000 people during 10 nights of sometimes violent protests across the country in June. "After the news conference when some of our friends wanted to leave, armed plainclothes men in three cars attacked the students and kidnapped three members of the Office to...

Support Democracy in Iran: Protests Tonight and Tomorrow By Andrew L. Jaffee, July 8, 2003 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Tomorrow marks an important day for Iranians fighting for democracy. Demonstrations are scheduled to be held all over the world tonight and tomorrow in support of democracy in Iran. You can support democracy in Iran. See below. On July 9, 1999, Iranian students protested against their dictatorial, Islamist government. The students were demanding democratic reforms. Their government responded with violence. Since 1999, July 9 has marked an important anniversary for freedom-loving Iranian citizens. The Iranian government is now acting to try to suppress...

For those of you in Houston i found the exact location for the demonstrations and i've included it on top. There are a couple of additions. Also Persian Satellite TV was able to gather 37k from donations to take out a full page ad in either July 8th, or July 9th edition of Washington Post. Anyone in the D.C. Area please pick up a copy. Houston, Texas Date: Tuesday, July 8, 2003 Time: 06:00 PM Location: Voss Street between Saint Felipe and Westheimer Pheonix, Arizona Date: Wednesday, July 9, 2003 Time: 10-2:30pm Location: Federal Building For more information: 480-991-3020 (MIGHT...

Urgent request for help. The Student Movement Coordinating Committee for Democracy in Iran (SMCCDI) has just posted a press release in response to the recent statements made by our Secretary of State Colin Powell. In these statements, Secretary Powell called the crisis in Iran a “family” feud and called Iran “a democracy.” Below you will find a letter detailing the statements and a response. His statements have had a demoralizing effect among the Iranian people seeking to overturn the present regime. They asked me to encourage all Americans to read their statement and if they agree with them to then...

I was amazed! These Iranians sound more like conservative Republicans than a bunch of insurgents in their open letter "To the Free People of the World" that can be found at their website, "Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran". Although lengthy, it's truly an enlightening message that is well worth reading. Again, the old rubric "never assume anything" rings true. Before reading their communiqué of June 22nd, I thought of the Iranian dissidents as dyed-in-the-wool socialists that were thoroughly in sync with the pro-Palestinian, pro-Arafat drivel almost universally espoused throughout the Islamic world. Gee, was I wrong! Don't...

Will July ninth be Iran's July Fourth? Diana West (back to web version) July 7, 2003 On July Fourth, most Americans saw only an abundance of red, white and blue. It was up to the brave men and women of the thin blue line to differentiate between shades of code yellow and orange on this second Independence Day since the war on Islamist terror began. Such a spectrum takes its toll. The Wall Street Journal has described the burden local police departments now carry since the post-9/11 redeployment of nearly 700 federal agents from bank robbery, drug smuggling and white-collar...

Date: Wed. July 9, 2003 Time: 10:00 Location: US Capital Square, In front of Capital Building, West Front area Source: contact: 800-662-8196 or www.tazahorat.org In Attendence: Senator Sam Brownback, Senator Brad Sherman and others. Support Iranian Students In Their Quest For Freedom & Democracy The young people are investing their lives for freedom in Iran. All they are asking from you is to invest only a few hours of your time. On July 9th, 2003, the fourth anniversary of the Islamic Regime's savage massacre of the university Students in Iran, the Coalition for the Pro-democracy Iranian groups in cooperation with...

Date: Wed. July 9, 2003 Time: 10:00 Location: US Capital Square, In front of Capital Building, West Front area Source: contact: 800-662-8196 or www.tazahorat.org In Attendence: Senator Sam Brownback, Senator Brad Sherman and others. Support Iranian Students In Their Quest For Freedom & Democracy The young people are investing their lives for freedom in Iran. All they are asking from you is to invest only a few hours of your time. On July 9th, 2003, the fourth anniversary of the Islamic Regime's savage massacre of the university Students in Iran, the Coalition for the Pro-democracy Iranian groups in cooperation with...

I read somewhere that "the whole story of the progress of human liberty shows that concessions yet made... have been born of earnest struggle... If there is no struggle, there is no progress." I believe all human beings are privileged to have liberty of life. Prejudiced, medieval-like actions must and should be eliminated in this 21st Century. The pinnacle of cruelty must and should be obliterated in our new era. Human beings are obliged to look forward to a brighter and more enlightening future and work hard to bring prosperity, not only to this generation, but also to the generations...

The demonstrations that shook Iran for the better part of two weeks have died down, but the aftershocks continue to unnerve the mullahs in the run-up to the general strike called for the 9th of July. Even today, the Shiite storm troopers at the service of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and ex-president Mohammed Hashemi Rafsanjani prowl the campuses and go door to door from one youthful leader to the next, arresting and imprisoning all those believed capable of mobilizing a national uprising against the failed regime. From this distance it is impossible to predict what will happen in the next...

he demonstrations that shook Iran for the better part of two weeks have died down, but the aftershocks continue to unnerve the mullahs in the run-up to the general strike called for the 9th of July. Even today, the Shiite storm troopers at the service of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and ex-president Mohammed Hashemi Rafsanjani prowl the campuses and go door to door from one youthful leader to the next, arresting and imprisoning all those believed capable of mobilizing a national uprising against the failed regime. From this distance it is impossible to predict what will happen in the next...

WASHINGTON - U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback today announced he will speak to a large group of Iranian-Americans at a July 9th rally in support of the pro-democracy demonstrations occurring inside Iran. July 9, 2003 marks the fourth anniversary of the original student protests in Iran which were brutally put down by the current regime. The rally will take place on July 9, 2003 at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol. Sen. Brownback will address the crowd at noon. Currently in Iran, we are seeing a constant display of courage on behalf of the Iranian people against their terrorist governmentBrownback...

ROME 28 June (IPS) On the initiative of a group of Iranian intellectuals and journalists in Italy and in collaboration with "Il Riformista" newspaper, a hundred of leading Italian personalities of all walk announced their support for the Iranian student’s freedom seeking protest movement. "On 9 July, all of us we shall be Iranian", wrote Marco Follini, the General Secretary of the "Unione di Centro Democratice" (Union of Democratic Centre), referring to the fourth commemoration of the first major student’s protest revolt against the Islamic Republic, seeking freedom and democracy. The 9 July 1999 rebellion, started as a peaceful protest...

TEHRAN - Disappointed Iranian students issued a "final warning" Thursday to the ruling Islamic establishment, saying their wrath was about to explode as security agents continued arresting classmates in a bid to undermine plans to mark the fourth anniversary of a fatal raid by hard-liners on a university dormitory. "We openly declare that these words are the final words of dialogue between the student movement and the ruling establishment," students said in a strongly worded letter addressed to President Mohammad Khatami. Signed Thursday by 106 prominent students, the letter protested the trampling of legitimate freedoms and a government ban on...

Hundereds of those arrested in the last [Iranian] riots will be brought to speedy trials in order for the public to witness the decision of Islamic 'justice' on their cases.Sources within the regieme are confirming the decision made in an extradordinary meeting of the National Security Council to issue and execute death penalties against many of them for 'Spying for the United States,' 'Attempts Against National Security' and 'Armed Action Intending to Overthrow the Islamic State.' The move intends to go on by a series of public executions and to spread information on the cases of other protestors who are...

TEHRAN, Iran (Reuters) - Iran said Monday it would ban demonstrations outside universities during next month's anniversary of 1999 student unrest after protesters threatened to adopt more violent methods following a government crackdown. While recent nightly protests demanding an end to clerical rule have fizzled out, authorities are eager to keep them from erupting again around July 9, the anniversary of an attack on a Tehran University dormitory that sparked days of rioting. "The Interior Ministry will not give permission to any gathering outside universities," government spokesman Abdollah Ramazanzadeh told a news conference, adding the ban included vigilantes who attacked...

'Dubya' is coming to 'Essay' United States President George Bush is to meet President Thabo Mbeki on July 9, a government official has said. Bush's visit would be part of a tour of Africa that had been planned for January, but was postponed during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq. "I don't know when (Bush) is arriving in South Africa," presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said on Sunday. "All I know is that he is meeting the president on the morning of the 9th. They will have lunch together, after which (Mbeki) will fly to Maputo for the African...

Thousands and thousands have rushed toward the southern poor suburbs of Tehran in order to help or support, by their presences, those who defied the Iranian regieme this afternoon in order to make a massive protest in the localities of Nassim Shahr and Eslam Shahr.Heavy traffic jams are blocking most major traffic arteries which is unprecented for this area and shows the cement of unity solidifying between the different layers of the population. Violent clashes rocked the area earlier in the afternoon as groups of demonstrators tried to approach the warehouses of the GTC where food and different items are...

Drums are beating for something happening in Iran on July 9, when pro democracy demonstations are planned.English Conservative Andrew Sullivan calls for turning worldwide blogosphere attention on Iran leading up to July 9.He asks bloggers to make their own plans and send it to him.I will continue to link to prominent bloggers in Iran who write in English and I suggest doing the saame. As the network of links widen we will bring more of the worlds attention to these people some who are reporting from the scene.That is our greatest power, our only power and their only power, the...

British and American Intelligence and Special Forces have been put on alert for a conflict with Iran within the next 12 months as fears grow that Terhan is building a nuclear weapons program.Iran has been constructing a nuclear civil power program for some years. It is due to start generating electricity for the national power grid in two years.However, United Nations, American and European Union experts have become alarmed at the extent of nuclear power plants in Iraq and many are of a sophistication that suggests they are for a weapons program rather than for civil use. A full report...

While the recent protests seemed to be disorganized, with no clear leaders, some demonstrators vowed to keep up the pressure until next month's anniversary of the much larger and violent protests in 1999.

The history of U.S.-Iran relations for the past 50 years has been plagued by a series of well-intentioned, but ill-advised U.S. policies toward Iran -- all of which later came back to haunt American interests in the Middle East. America needs to break free from this vicious cycle of misguided polices. The solution is to support Iranian students, and the time is now. Iranian students, increasingly joined by the general public, have held demonstrations denouncing the tyranny of the theocracy for the past two days. These spontaneous outcries for freedom are but preludes to plans for countrywide demonstrations against the...

PARIS, June 11 (IPS) Iranian authorities confirmed Wednesday that students and ordinary people had clashed with security forces and protested against the Islamic Republic system. Thousands of students protested late Tuesday evening at government plans for privatising some of the country’s universities, but when they came out of their dormitories, they were joined immediately by ordinary people and slogans and demonstration’s chants became political, mostly against Ayatollah Ali Khameneh'i, the leader of the regime. Demonstrators did not even spare the lamed President Mohammad Khatami, calling on him to resign. "Khatami, Khatami, resign, resign", one slogan said. "Death to Khameneh'i"; "Death...

Greetings Compatriots- The anniversary of the July 9th national uprising is near. The uprising was doubtlessly an event that not only caused the night worshipping manipulators of religion ruling our country to tremble but it also revealed the democracy seeking struggles of the third generation. Indeed, the worshippers of the night carried out an assault on the university. They attacked, murdered, set fires, and left, but the doves of freedom remain incarcerated. Doves such as Manoochehr Mohammadi, Abbas Deldar, Akbar Mohammadi, Ahmad Batebi, Mehrdad Lohrasbi, Javid Tehrani, Mostafa Piran, Ali Afshari, Koroush Sahti, Abbas Fakhravar, Mehdi Sanjari, Abbas Amir Entezam,...

The Islamic republic regime has increased its massive crackdown on opposition networks. Tens of opponents and freedom fighters have been arested in the last 2 days in the cities of Tehran, Esfahan, Ghom and Shiraz. These arrests are made by joint repressive teams composed by members of the Intelligence section of the militia and the narcotic affairs during nightime or in the streets during daylights. The regime intends to dismentale, by this way, any organized popular riot at the approach of July 9th Student Uprising's anniversary.

TEHRAN, 7 June (IPS) Iranian authorities, in the framework of a campaign aimed at preventing demonstrations on 9 July, the fourth anniversary of the student’s anti-regime revolt, renewed the ban on leading journalists and scholars to talk to some foreign-based radio and television stations. Independent journalists Emaddedin Baqi and Mohsen Sazegara have been summoned by the Intelligence Ministry on Saturday and were told that they should stop talking and giving interviews to radio and television stations that aim at destabilising the Islamic Republic of Iran. With almost one month to the date on which the authorities savagely crushed a nation-wide...

The use of lethal force has been granted to the Islamic republic regime's special forces in order to overcome of any type of insurection. The special order has been sent from the office of the Supreme leader to several commanders of units within the Pasdaran Corp. and the Bassidj forces and especially to the Ashoora division which its well trained members will be deployed in the cities of Tehran, Esfahan, Shiraz and Tabriz. This measure which has been adopted intend to abort any wide spread riot from taking place at the occasion of the popular demonstrations planned for the anniversary...

PARIS 5 June (IPS) Almost one month to go to the fourth anniversary of Iranian students uprising of 9 July 1999, Iranian authorities are actively preparing a multiple-faceted plan to prevent the population to commemorate the historic event. Thousands of Iranian students, backed by the population, took to the streets in Tehran and other major cities on 9 July after the authorities had unleashed Law Enforcement Forces (LEF), special units of the Intelligence Ministry and plainclothes men from the Ansar Hezbollah thugs on a raid the night before on student’s dormitories in the Capital, beating savagely the students, throwing some...

ANKARA, Turkey - The son of the late shah of Iran has said he believes there will be protests, strikes and a non-violent uprising against the Iranian regime in July, a Turkish newspaper reported Wednesday. Reza Pahlavi, in an exclusive interview with the daily Vatan, hinted that stopping production in Iran's oil industry would be key to changing the regime dominated by religious leaders into a secular democracy. Pahlavi proposes that Iranians choose a system of governance through a referendum. "Wait for important developments in Iran in July," Pahlavi told Vatan in an interview in Washington on Monday. "There will...

PARIS, 25 Apr. (IPS) As President George W. Bush has also warned the Islamic republic to stop meddling in Iraqi affairs, an influential French daily says Iranian officials are worried by the "obvious pro-Americanism sentiments" of " the Iranian people". Iranian officials are worried. Worried of the American presence next to their doors, on the East as well as to the West, worried of the invasion of Iraq "with so little popular resistance", worried of the fast fall of the Baghdad regime, worried of the sidelining of the UN, worried of the total disillusion of the Iranian people that, since...

The July 9 general strike called by opponents of the regime in Tehran imposes a deadline for the Bush administration to sort out its Iran policy. It would be about time. On July 8 of last year, the State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, was asked about Iranian demonstrations scheduled for July 9, 2002. His response was one of the most memorable defaults of all time. QUESTION: Scheduled for tomorrow, there are supposedly going to be major demonstrations in Tehran. Does the State Department have a message for the demonstrators, given U.S. interest in this recently? MR. BOUCHER: No. QUESTION: You...

WASHINGTON — Mark the date: July 9. That’s when opponents of the Iranian regime have called a general strike that they hope will expand to topple the government there and bring freedom and democracy to the Iranian people. The strike is being organized by profreedom student groups to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the last student uprising in Iran that saw thousands of students take to the streets against the Islamic Republic’s ruling mullahs. The planned event — indeed, the Iranian freedom movement as a whole — could take on a new dimension now that Iran’s western neighbor, Iraq,...

WASHINGTON — Mark the date: July 9. That’s when op-ponents of the Iranian regime have called a general strike that they hope will expand to topple the government there and bring freedom and democracy to the Iranian people. The strike is being organized by profreedom student groups to coincide with the fourth anniversary of the last student uprising in Iran that saw thousands of students take to the streets against the Islamic Republic’s ruling mullahs. The planned event — indeed, the Iranian freedom movement as a whole — could take on a new dimension now that Iran’s western neighbor, Iraq,...