Free Republic

Iran is in its worst economic situation in 42 years, and the threat of a widespread uprising that may lead to the regime’s overthrow has become more serious than ever. When Khomeini was alive, no authority dared to dispute his orders and decisions, and everyone had to obey him. In today’s Iran, Khamenei still has the final say on all internal and international matters. But unlike Khomeini, he has not been able to keep all political factions in Iran at bay. Although Khamenei has not wasted a moment in suppressing its opponents, even those very close to him and his...

Iran’s former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who registered on Saturday for next month’s presidential election, is disliked among regime hardliners for criticizing the crackdown that followed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's disputed re-election in 2009. This pragmatic moderate, who in 2011 lost the post of head of the Assembly of Experts that supervises the activities of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has never hidden his intense opposition to Ahmadinejad who beat him in the 2005 presidential election. … Rafsanjani—president from 1989 to 1997—is considered to favor rapprochement with the West. He played an important role in the election of the reformist Mohammad Khatami,...

NEW YORK — After the epic disaster of , one might imagine the United Nations would tread carefully before launching any new and controversial efforts. Hardly.Still reeling from scandals on many fronts, the U.N. has launched another questionable initiative, called the , which is due to hold its first meeting this weekend in Spain. The program has been widely touted by U.N. Secretary-General as a bridge across cultural and religious divides, but it involves a daisy-chain of dubious associations that casts serious doubt both on the project itself and on the U.N.’s ability to cut loose from the scandals of the past...

The World Economic Forum in Davos is a sanctuary for America-bashers. John Kerry was the star there yesterday. In case you missed it, Allah's got video and the lowdown. All I can say is: Thank God for the Swift Boat Veterans. Davos is getting feedback. LGF'ers are leading the charge. Matt at Blackfive notes that while Kerry schmoozed former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, evidence of Iranian special ops orchestration of the horrific attack on US troops in Kerbala is building.

A Jewish advocacy group is urging the Bush administration to deny a visa to former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami, who has lecture dates in New York and Washington next week. In a letter to President Bush, Rabbi Marvin Hier, the founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said allowing Khatami to enter the United States rewards the Iranian leadership for their "policy of confrontation and hated towards the United States and her allies."Khatami has been invited to speak at a U.N. conference in New York. After that, on Sept. 7, he's scheduled to discuss the role of Christians, Muslims...

On Friday, Sept. 8, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) will host a dinner for former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami at the Marriott Crystal Gateway in Arlington, Va. The theme of his address at the CAIR dinner will be "The Dialogue of Civilizations: Five Years After 9/11." Khatami will be in Washington, D.C., to take part in an event at the National Cathedral. WHAT: CAIR Hosts Dinner for Former President of Iran WHEN: Friday, Sept. 8 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. (A private reception with President Khatami, including a photo opportunity, will precede the dinner at 6 p.m.) WHERE:...

It seems like an attack on Iran is coming soon. Place your bet as to when the attack will begin. Whoever gets closest to the date and time wins. Attack time must be specified in Month, Day, Year, Hour, and Minute For the hour, don't forget to specify what time zone you are referring to. There is no decision on a prize to be awarded yet except for bragging rights.

DAKAR (IRNA) -- President Mohammad Khatami rejected Saturday U.S. charges of human rights violations in Iran, denouncing Washington's own record in abusing prisoners in Iraq, Afghanistan and Cuba. "Of all the people entitled to speak about human rights, we don't regard the Americans as having the right to talk about the respect for human rights in Iran," he told reporters here. The United States was quoted Thursday as having expressed 'grave concern' over the human rights situation in Iran and potential court action against 2003 Nobel Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. Khatami said, "I believe the Americans' claims of human rights...

TEHRAN (MNA) –- President Mohammad Khatami said here on Tuesday that the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime, ethnic disputes, and terrorism are the main threats to the Islamic world. He made the remarks in a meeting with Algeria’s new ambassador to Iran, Mohammad Amin Dragi, saying the two countries should step up efforts to confront common threats and pursue bilateral interests. Khatami praised Algeria for its independence struggle, progress, and development, stressing that the two countries should strive to exploit their potential in the best way possible. The president stated that he had held constructive talks with Algerian officials...

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 22 (AFP) - The United States has no plans to attack Iran to thwart what it claims is the Islamic republic's pursuit of nuclear weapons, but has not formally ruled out any options to deal with the matter, US Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday. Instead, Powell told reporters that Washington and its allies were concentrating on a diplomatic and political route to force Iran to come clean about and abandon the alleged program within the auspices of the UN system. "I'm not aware of any plans to attack Iran," he told reporters on the sidelines...

TEHRAN (MNA) -- President Mohammad Khatami asserted on Saturday that Iran is very powerful and that no country would dare to entertain the idea of engaging in military adventurism in Iran. Khatami warned that any U.S. attack on Iran would be "suicidal". "The Americans have to deal with their problems in Iraq first," the president told a news conference. "I believe the Americans are still rational enough not to repeat their mistakes," he added, referring to the occupation of Iraq by U.S. forces. Commenting on Israel's threat to attack Iran's nuclear installations, he said he believes that the Zionist regime...

TEHRAN (IRNA) -- Niger's Foreign Minister Aichatou Mindaoudou conferred here Monday with President Mohammad Khatami and submitted to him a written message from his Niger's counterpart. At the meeting, President Khatami highlighted the principled policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran which underlines expansion of relations with world countries based on mutual respect and voiced Tehran's willingness to broaden ties with the African countries and the Islamic states in particular. Last century was a century of independence for African continent from claws of colonization, he said adding that Africa should keep up with ongoing developments and make good on its...

<p>June 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. diplomats are meeting Iranian government officials to try to secure the release of three Royal Navy patrol boats and eight crew members seized yesterday by Iran in the Shatt al-Arab waterway between Iran and Iraq.</p>

TEHRAN, April 16 (AFP) - Iran will not defend neighbouring Syria militarily against the United States, Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Wednesday. "We support Syria which is on the front line against the Zionist regime and defends the Palestinian cause, but that does not mean we are going to enter a military phase" to defend Syria against an eventual attack, Khatami said after his weekly cabinet meeting. "I hope the US threats against Syria are bluffs,... I don't think the United States has the capacity to attack Syria, since the world situation does not allow a repetition of what happened...

Filed at 7:04 p.m. ET TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Four student leaders who were arrested for organizing protests over a death sentence against a prominent university professor were released Wednesday but still face charges of endangering state security. Saeed Razavi, Abdollah Momeini, Mehdi Aminizadeh and Akbar Atri were ordered to appear Saturday before the hard-line Tehran Revolutionary Court for further questioning, Atri's brother, Morteza, told The Associated Press. In Washington, asked about the arrests in Iran and a ban on demonstrations, State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said the United States stands the quest by many Iranians ``for freedom, for civil...

For the older generation it must have been like traveling back in time to late 1970s. Thousands of Iranian students have protested in the streets of Tehran every day this past week or so shouting slogans like "This is our last warning to you," "Iranian students are ready for an uprising" and "Death to dictatorship." The target of those slogans this time wasn't the Shah, but rather the militant religious clerics who led those protests two decades ago. The students have even taken to tweaking the nose of those clerics by singing "Ey Iran," the nation's anthem under the Shah....

TEHRAN -- The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei here Monday called on officials to step up efforts to address people's problems, warning that if the three branches of the government fail to do so, he himself would intervene to mobilize the people to act on their own. Ayatollah Khamenei, in a meeting with state authorities, called the three branches of government as the basic tools of the leadership in satisfying the supreme goals of the Islamic Revolution, promoting justice and fighting corruption and discrimination. He cautioned the Executive, the Judiciary and the Legislative to consider people's...

TEHRAN, Nov 7 (AFP) - Outspoken Iranian pro-reform journalist Hashem Aghajari, who was arrested on charges of "insulting the prophet", has been sentenced to death, his lawyer said Thursday. Lawyer Saleh Nikbakh told AFP that a court in the western city of Hamedan imposed the sentence on Wednesday. Aghajari is a member of the secular leftist Organization of Mojahedin of the Islamic Revolution (OMIR) and is politically close to reformist President Mohammad Khatami. He was arrested in August after saying in a speech that Muslims "should not blindly" follow religious leaders and calling for a "religious renewal" of Shiite Islam.

TEHRAN, Sept 24 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami will have no choice but to resign if the Islamic republic's powerful conservative camp continues to stall his reforms, his brother warned Tuesday. "The president is seeking to find legal solutions to the problem," Mohammad-Reza Khatami, who heads the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), told reporters after a parliament session marked by a reformist bid to boost presidential powers. But if they (the conservatives) wish to hold the president back with tension and political crisis he will have no choice but to resign," he added, reiterating a frequent threat from the...

President Mohammad Khatami Monday called on Iranian students and teachers to launch a six-month study to identify the reasons for Iran's backwardness as well as the exit routes, and report the outcomes to the administration, IRNA reported. Khatami, speaking at a ceremony in a girls' school southwest of Tehran to mark the beginning of the new Iranian academic year, urged students, particularly high-school students and their teachers, to inform the administration of proposals to promote Iran's status in the world's educational arena. "Iran, with a glorious history, has been a major bricklayer of civilizations that once reached the highest levels...