Free Republic

HARD LINERS WANT THE HEAD OF ALI AKBAR MOUSAVI-KHO’EINIA Iran Press Service March 8th 2004 Paris, France TEHRAN, 8 Mar. (IPS) Mr. Ali Akbar Mousavi-Kho’einiha, a reformist lawmaker came under strong attacks from the conservatives-controlled media on Monday for his remarks in the Majles on Sunday, criticising the Assembly of Experts for not doing its job properly in controlling the actions and performances of the leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameneh’i. As Mr. Kho’einiha was addressing the outgoing House, accusing the leader-controlled institutions such as the Council of the Guardians of trying to transform the Majles into a rubber stamp parliament, hard...

Tens Die in Smash of Rebellion in Marivan SMCCDI (Information Service) Feb 15, 2004 Tens have died and injured in the deadly smashing of a riot which embrazed, today, the western City of Marivan. Confirmed reports are stating about the degree of extreme violence and the use of deadly force, by the Islamic regime's heliported forces sent to back the ground forces engaged in the repression of the local demonstrators who had started a peaceful action in order to protest against the persistent repression in Iran. These forces were sent as the repressive ground forces witnessed the demonstrators' armed support...

IRAN was plunged into political turmoil yesterday when it emerged that unelected hardliners had disqualified hundreds of reformist candidates from standing in parliamentary elections next month. President Khatami promised a legal challenge of the decision and warned of a “harsh reaction” within the country if the ruling was upheld. “I’m against such disqualifications. There are legal ways to fight,” he said after an emergency Cabinet meeting. Scores of reformist politicians walked out of parliament, which they dominate at present, in protest at what one called a “coup d’état”. Later about 60 MPs began a sit-in at the parliament. Muhammad Ali...

The main reformist party in Iran has expressed fears that conservatives will prevent them from taking part in parliamentary elections next February. The comments come as the registration of would-be candidates begins. Reformist leaders say they fear that a powerful conservative watchdog body, the Guardian Council, could veto their members' attempts to run for office. The BBC reports the biggest of the reformist factions that currently dominate parliament, The Participation Front, has said it will take part in the race. However, it reserves the right to pull out if too many of its entrants are disqualified. At present much of...

The main reformist party in Iran has said it may boycott the country's general election if too many of its members are barred from standing. The registration of candidates began on Saturday, but leaders of the Participation Front fear their candidates could be vetoed. The unelected Guardian Council has previously disqualified candidates without explanation. Widespread public disillusionment could result in a low turnout on 20 February. Mohammad Reza Khatami leads the reformist Participation Front The current parliament, or maglis, is dominated by reformists who have won all major national elections since 1997, but they have been able to achieve little...

"Why should I bother to vote?" asks 25-year-old Dariush, one of the millions of young Iranians who helped put reformists in power during the last parliamentary elections in 2000. "The reformists have done nothing. Khatami has had the backing of 22 million people yet he hasn't stood up to the conservatives," he says of embattled President Mohammad Khatami, whose pledge of 'Islamic democracy' saw him win landslide victories in 1997 and 2001. In just over two months, Iranians will again be deciding on the way forward for the quarter-century-old Islamic republic. Will it be yet more struggling between elected reformists...

It's hard to have fun in Iran -- that is, if you're one the more than 45 million people under the age of 35 looking for casual ways to socialize with members of the opposite sex. Conservative authorities in the Islamic Republic are taking steps to shut down Western-style establishments that proved popular gathering places for young Iranians. But social experts say such moves may only end up widening the value gap between conservatives and Iran's young majority. Prague, 9 December 2003 (RFE/RL) -- Until recently, Sormeh, a single Iranian woman in her 20s, was a regular patron at Apachi,...

Ayatollah Ali Meshkini stood erect in the pulpit of this holy city's central mosque, delivering the political portion of his Friday sermon by engaging the 3,000 worshippers in a familiar volley of call and response. "The first issue and only issue is Palestine," said Meshkini, a lean figure who wore a white turban. "The Great Satan is supporting Israel unconditionally. That's why they are repressing the Palestinians." "Down with the U.S.A.," chanted the faithful. A few blocks down Riverbank Street, Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri sat in the house where Iran's government kept him locked away for five years. His...

Washington -- The growing opposition to the Islamic regime in Iran found expression during an intercontinental radio talk show connecting Iranian opposition supporters with Iranian Americans December 3. The event was organized by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington and was broadcast live by the Farsi-language radio station "Radio Sedaye Iran (KRSI)" that broadcasts daily into Iran from Los Angeles, California. A panel of Iranian-American activists invited by AEI joined in the discussions with opposition activists from within Iran participating by phone. The callers from Iran, who used pseudonyms for security reasons, were united in their belief that the so-called...

Iran Reformers Protest Clerics' Crackdown By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Hundreds of reformist lawmakers, students and political activists held a daylong fast Monday to protest a crackdown on freedoms by Iran's hard-line clerics. ``We are refusing to eat and drink today to protest the lack of legitimate freedoms and violation of the basic human rights of political prisoners,'' leading reformist lawmaker Ali Shakourirad told The Associated Press. Shakourirad is among more than 110 fasting reformist lawmakers from Iran's 290-seat parliament. Iran has been embroiled in a power struggle between elected reformers supporting President Mohammad...

Iran’s"Crisis of Legitimacy" Could Prompt Authoritarian Political Alternative August 29, 2003 EurasiaNet Afshin Molavi The political gridlock caused by infighting between conservative and reformist forces in Iran has fostered what analysts in Tehran characterize as a "crisis of legitimacy." Growing popular apathy towards the political process is preparing the ground for a possible authoritarian alternative, some observers go on to warn. Payman Morteza, a 26 year-old graphic designer, is one member of Iran’s legion of disillusioned. Morteza recalls how he was optimistic about Iran’s future after attending a 1997 campaign rally for the reform-minded cleric Mohammad Khatami, who went on...

Iran Minister Takes on Conservatives ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Posted on Sun, Aug. 10, 2003 TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's reformist interior minister ordered the closure of offices set up by hard-liners to screen candidates for next year's legislative elections. Members of the hard-line Guardian Council have vowed to reject reformist candidates who seek major changes, and having the offices would allow the council to learn the views of would-be candidates. Abdolvahed Mousavi Lari told provincial governors to shut down the supervisory offices of the Guardian Council throughout the country, the government-run daily Iran reported Sunday. The council has quietly...

IRAN’S REFORMISTS’ LAST-DITCH ATTEMPT TO THWART CONSERVATIVE FOES By Afshin Molavi 7.17.2003 WASHINGTON (EurasiaNet-PS) Reformist forces in Iran are making what some observers have described as a last-ditch effort to thwart the country’s increasingly defiant conservative minority, which controls the key levers of power in the Islamic republic. The reformists have appealed to the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Khameneh’i, to embrace democratic reforms over dictatorship "to save the country and repel foreign threats." In recent years, reformers have suffered a seemingly unending string of political setbacks at the hands of their conservative rivals, who have forcefully resisted all attempts at...

July 10, 2003, 9:00 a.m. July 9, 2003 Our struggle continues. Are you hearing us? By Koorosh Afshar 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...

Vigilantes attack Iranian protestors By Robin Gedye, Foreign Affairs Writer (Filed: 10/07/2003) Hundreds of Iranian Islamic vigilantes, police and pro-democracy youths fought running battles near Teheran university last night on the anniversary of 1999 student unrest. Despite the risk of violence from the authorities and religious zealots, thousands of Iranian protesters took to the streets. Police were reported to have fired teargas and engaged in fist fights with plainclothes Islamic militiamen to prevent them from attacking the demonstrators in further running battles with the youths. Large numbers of protesters' vehicles were seen driving around Enghelab (Revolution) Square. Earlier in the...

We have been reporting the jamming of the uplink signals of the LA based Iranian broadcasters. Here is the first detailed story on it.... U.S. satellite feeds to Iran jammed May be linked to the anniversary of student uprisings By Robert Windrem NBC 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...

Thousands more protest in main US and European cities By SMCCDI (Information Service) Jul 9, 2003, 4:43pm Thousands more of members of Iranian Diaspora gathered, today, in order to protest against the illegitimate rule of the Islamic republic regime and to ask for its change into a Secular regime. Thousands of Iranians living in main US gathered in cities, such as, Washington DC, New York, Austin, Chicago, Phoenix, Atlanta, Dallas, Seattle and San Francisco; An thousands of others, living in Europe gathered in cities, such as, Paris, Hamburg, Stockholm, London, Den Hague, Oslo, Brussels and Barcelona. All of them asked...

Thousands defy demo ban By World News Jul 9, 2003, 4:12pm TEHRAN - Tens of thousands of Iranians converged on an area around Tehran University in their cars late Wednesday 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.

KNC Statement of Support for Kurdish Demonstrations in Iran 07-07-2003 Source: Kurdish Media Last Sunday, June 22, 2003, Iranian security forces occupied the University of Kurdistan in Sena (Sanandaj). Over the past several weeks, a popular uprising against the brutal clerics regime in Iran has swept through the country. The Kurds, along with other groups, are active participants in the uprisings which ostensibly started as student demonstrations, but quickly attracted people from all walks of life—all united in their opposition to the clerics in power. The Kurdish people in Iran have opposed the current government from its inception. In a...

Will liberal clerics save Iran? 4 July Daily Star The mullahs who rule Iran are fending off street protests at home and criticism abroad, but the biggest challenge to nearly a quarter century of Islamic rule comes from within their own ranks. Dissident Shiite clerics are openly challenging the theological bedrock on which Iran’s Islamic Republic stands that in everything from judicial appointments to declaring war, the final say goes to senior clerics unaccountable to public vote. They’re doing so, moreover, in increasingly visible and outspoken ways, through internet websites, media interviews and even the distribution of cassette tape recordings...