Free Republic

While there is not much time left until June 18, the day of the presidential elections in Iran, the war between the two factions within the regime for winning this seat has escalated. On April 25, a letter signed by 220 members of the Iranian parliament was published in the media. The MPs asked Ebrahim Ra'isi, the head of the regime's judiciary, to run for the presidency. The letter was published contrary to the usual custom of non-interference of the legislature in the affairs of the executive branch. Ra'isi's endorsement is also interpreted as an attack against the current president,...

Power struggle at the head of the ruling regime in Iran Since the Iranian revolution in 1979, understanding the structure of the ruling system in Iran and the decision-making mechanism, at times, has sometimes been challenging and difficult to understand and analyze. Although the "Vali-Faghih or the Supreme Leader" is at the top of the system's pyramid of power, the president holds the executive power. Still, the order of decision-making institutions in Iran is not clear, and this has long led to a dispute over authority between leaders of the regime who are at the center of its influence and...

Al Quds Al Arabi on Saturday cited reliable sources in Tehran who said Iranian authorities ordered the arrest of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his visit to the city of Shiraz and that the arrest was made with the approval of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei after his remarks had been described as inciting unrest. The independent pan-Arab daily newspaper, published in London, learned that the authorities intended to impose house arrest on Ahmadinejad. Two weeks ago, on the Thursday that saw the start of anti-government protests in Iran, the former president, said in a speech to a crowd of residents...

Ahmad Jannati has been chosen to lead Iran’s new assembly of experts, the body which oversees the work of the country’s supreme leader and will elect his successor. Jannati was voted chairman of the 88-member Assembly with 51 votes. The 90-year-old is said to be dismissive of President Hassan Rouhani and his attempts to end Iran’s global isolation by normalizing ties with the West. He is also the leader of the Guardian Council, a hardline vetting body that disqualified thousands of reformists from standing in February’s elections for the assembly and parliament. …

<p>With some lawmakers chanting "Death to the America," Iran's parliament voted to ban access to military sites, documents and scientists as part of a future deal with world powers over its contested nuclear program.</p> <p>The bill, if ratified, could complicate the ongoing talks in Vienna between Iran and the six-nation group — the U.S., Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany — as they face a self-imposed June 30 deadline. The talks are focused on reaching a final accord that curbs Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of economic sanctions.</p>

Iran’s electoral watchdog will consider on Monday whether to disqualify a centrist cleric from running for president, just days before Friday’s election, Iranian media reported. The semi-official Mehr news agency, citing an unnamed source, said the Guardian Council would consider barring Hassan Rohani for revealing what it said was classified information on Iran’s nuclear program in a televised presidential debate and for some slogans chanted by his supporters during rallies. Rohani is the most prominent moderate approved to run by the Guardian Council, a vetting body made up of clerics and jurists. The slate of eight candidates is dominated by...

Tehran - Iran's powerful Guardian Council said Sunday there were some irregularities in the June 12 presidential election, which has been widely disputed and triggered bloody street protests. The Guardian Council admitted that the number of votes collected in 50 cities was more than the number of eligible voters, the council's spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei told the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) channel. He said this amounted to about 3 million questionable votes, but added that "it has yet to be determined whether the amount is decisive in the election results."

Top News Story Khaleej Times Online TEHERAN - Iran would fully go nuclear with the current Persian year, which started simultaneously with spring on March 20, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Saturday. Our enemies try to prevent our scientific progress through wide- spread propaganda but inshallah (God willing) this (new) year will be the year when the Islamic Republic of Iran will fully avail itself of peaceful nuclear technology, Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the news agency ISNA. In a meeting with visiting Syrian Vice President Farouq al-Shara, Ahmadinejad said Irans use of peaceful nuclear energy will...

Top News Story IAEA: Iran's nuclear program more advanced than previously thought. Vital Perspective reported that the IAEA now has evidence that Iran's nuclear program is more advanced than previously thought.The Guardian reported that inspectors of the IAEA revealed that the Iranians are in the process of achieving a "technological leap" by making operational a cascade of 164 centrifuges to enrich uranium for power plants or warheads.   China and Russia united on Iran. Reuters reported that China said that Beijing and Moscow are in accord on Iran's nuclear standoff with the West.   Why the Russians are helping...

Top News Story Congress reduces pro-democracy funds for Iran. House Appropriations Committee in a press release announced that the committee did not fund the $75 million requested by the Administration for the promotion of democracy in Iran because it was poorly justified. Instead, $56 million was provided through proven, existing programs that will have an immediate, positive impact on the fostering of democratic ideals in Iran.   Ahmadinejad strengthens ties to Al Qaeda. Adnkronos International reported that an Iranian source close to the reformists confirmed that "With the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad relations with al-Qaeda have been resumed and...

Top News Story UN Security Council meeting on Iran postponed. ABC News reported that the U.N. Security Council postponed a meeting Tuesday on Iran's suspect nuclear program. The lack of any significant movement after 10 days could lead the Western nations to abandon the presidential statement, in favor of a resolution. This would force Russia and China to approve, abstain or veto action against Iran.The Wall Street Journal reported that with Russia opposed to any punishment for Iran, Britain has privately suggested that Tehran be offered a new package of incentives. The letter warned, "We are not going to...

Top News Story Daylight savings confuses Iran's hardliners. Adnkronos International reported that daylight saving has been abolished by president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the grounds that when the legal hour changes many faithful have difficulty in knowing when to pray. The Iranian New Year: messages and reports. DoctorZin's Norooz greeting. Photo.Reza Pahlavi's Message On the Occasion of Persian New Year 2006 (Nowrooz 1385).Brooding Persian published a sober Norooz greeting. Photo.Iran va Jahan examined Norooz and its symbolism.SMCCDI reported the start of the Iranian New Year.   Senior Foreign Ministers meet on Iran. Reuters reported that senior foreign affairs officials from...

Top News Story UN Security Council Meet on Iran. The Washington Post reported that Monday top U.N. members will try to break the stalemate on Iran.   BBC signs deal with Iran. Iranian.ws reported that the Iranian regime has signed a huge ad campaign with the BBC.   US students rally in support of Iranian students. The Boston Globe reported that approximately 100 students gathered in Harvard University's Leverett House last night for a concert and rally to denounce repression of students in Iran. More events are scheduled at other campuses.Rooz Online reported that a new wave of attacks...

Top News Story Middle East Newsline Tehran - Iran's largest reformist party called on Sunday for dialogue with the United States and a freeze on sensitive nuclear work to head off an escalating crisis with the international community. The party is the Participation Front, headed by Mohammad Reza Khatami, the brother of Iran's former reformist president Mohammad Khatami They said: "In order to break the international consensus, we are proposing a return to previous policies and the voluntary suspension of all nuclear fuel-cycle work to resolve this crisis and re-establish confidence." The United Nations security council is considering what...

Top News Story Middle East Newsline BAGHDAD -- One of Iraq's most prominent Sunni Arab organizations was fuming on Saturday over a key Shia leader's recent appeal for Iran to open a dialogue with the United States on the situation in Iraq. "We are indignant over the request made to Iran by [Iraqi] political parties to open a dialogue with the Americans on their differences regarding Iraq," said the statement by the hardline Muslim Scholars Association. "The interference of Iran in Iraqi affairs is nothing new," said the statement, explaining that the call "does nothing more than legitimate this...

Top News Story UN Security Council meets on Iran. Bolton "very encouraged." Reuters reported that John Bolton told reporters, "I would describe today's meeting as the best we have had so far. There are still areas of disagreement ... but I am very encouraged."Reuters reported UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program is the toughest test in diplomacy.CBS News reported U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Iran to resume negotiations over its nuclear program, while also calling the country a central banker for terrorism.The White House released their National Security Strategy of...

Top News Story DoctorZin reports, 3.15.2006: The day before the UN Security Council meeting on Iran. Reuters reported that the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council failed again on Wednesday to reach agreement on a draft text aimed at reining in Iran's nuclear ambitions after a fifth round of negotiations.Dow Jones Newswires reported that the U.K. is considering a push for a weapons embargo on Iran.MSNBC reported that U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, compared the threat from Iran’s nuclear programs to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.Reuters reported that the White House said an international...

Top News Story Again the MSM ignores: Massive Iranian defiance of the Islamic Regime. Iran Press News reported that the Iranian regime failed to stop ancient Persian festival & New Year celebrations tonight which the regime considers to be religiously prohibited or unclean.Photos of the festival of fire celebrations in Tehran.SMCCDI reported that Islamic regime's security forces attacked Iranian celebrators/demonstrators in several cities by beating brutally women and especially young kids using clubs, chains and even knives have been used by foreign speaking militiamen.SMCCDI reported that an increasing number of Iranians went into most Iranian into the streets in...

Top News Story UN Security Council deadlocked on Iran? Yahoo News reported that the five veto-wielding members of the U.N. Security Council are deadlocked over the best way to pressure Iran. China's Ambassador Wang Guangya told The Associated Press as he left the meeting. "I think they want to be too tough."   Iran speeds towards a confrontation with the UN. The New York Times reported that Iran has decided to shift course and confront the United Nations head-on. Ahmadinejad portrayed that position not as obstinate or rigid but as a reflection of strength. "We know well that a...

Top News Story Tehran's secret underground bunkers. The Telegraph reported that Iran's leaders have built a secret underground emergency command centre in Teheran as they prepare for a confrontation with the West.   Iranians claim US wants peace talks. US denies. The Times reported that a senior Iranian intelligence official claimed to have a letter in Persian purportedly signed by Zalmay Khalilzad, the US ambassador in Baghdad, inviting Iranian representatives to Iraq for talks. Khalilzad denied the report.   Iran threatens to use the oil weapon, again. Canada.com reported that Iran threatened to use oil as a weapon if...